Description
Emme Wynn has wanted nothing more her whole life than to feel like part of a family. Having grown up on the run with her con artist mother, she’s been shuffled from town to town, drawn into bad situations, and has learned some unsavory habits that she’s tried hard to overcome. When her estranged grandmother tracks her down out of the blue and extends a job offer—helping to run her booth at an open-air marketplace in small-town Sweetgrass, Alabama—Emme is hopeful that she’ll finally be able to plant the roots she’s always dreamed of. But some habits are hard to break, and she risks her newfound happiness by keeping one big truth to herself.
Cora Bee Hazelton has her hands full with volunteering, gardening, her job as a color consultant and designer, and just about anything she can do to keep her mind off her painful past, a past that has resulted in her holding most everyone at arm’s length. The last thing she wants is to form close relationships only to have her heart broken yet again. But when she’s injured, she has no choice other than to let people into her life and soon realizes it’s going to be impossible to keep her heart safe—or her secrets hidden.
In the magical neighborhood garden in the middle of Hickory Lane, Emme and Cora Bee learn some hard truths about the past and themselves, the value of friends, family, and community, and most importantly, that true growth starts from within.
My thoughts
Heather Webber is like my comfort blanket or a warm hug when I want to read a book that is full of love and friendships and caring, and In the Middle of Hickory Lane delivers all this in spades.
Emme is a lost soul. She doesn’t know who she is anymore or what to do with her life next, so when she receives an invitation from her grandmother to come and stay in the small Alabama town of Sweetgrass she sees it as a lifeline. When she arrives her cousin, Cora Bee, is recovering from a broken heart and a broken foot and Emme moves in to be her assistant and a tentative friendship blossoms. For the first time in her life Emme finds herself surrounded by family and friends who truly care about her.
This is a story about found family and friendships and is beautifully told. In all of the author’s books that I have read there is an element of magical realism but it’s done lightly but interestingly. She has a gentle, calm writing style and I can highly recommend this if you want a book that leaves you feeling happy, relaxed and uplifted.
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
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