The Truth According to Us
Library Journal
★ 04/15/2015
In 1938 Layla Beck is sent from her posh Washington, DC, home to the tiny town of Macedonia, WV. Her father, a U.S. senator, has gotten her a job on the Federal Writers Project as punishment for refusing to marry the wealthy boy of his choosing. Expecting the task of penning the town's history to be a crashing bore, Layla rents a room in the home of the quirky Romeyn family and proceeds to gather data via interviews with Macedonia's founding families. Each interview presents a slightly different view of the community, its founder, and the somewhat scandalous events that have shaped its history. Moreover, her research touches a spark to the smoldering secrets of the Romeyns and sucks her into the vortex of their long-standing conflicts. What looked to be a dull summer turns out to be filled with drama and an astonishing cast of characters who change Layla's life forever. VERDICT Barrows, coauthor of the best-selling The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, hits the mark again with this delightful yet at times heart-wrenching story of life in a Depression-ridden small town. Fans of the first book will find parallels in this novel's blend of narrative and epistolary chapters. A warmhearted Southern charmer that is sure to captivate readers who enjoyed Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Guernsey, and Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. [See Prepub Alert, 3/5/15; ten-city tour; library marketing.]—Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA