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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked this book, but I felt that it was more invested in Benny’s narrative than in Hannie’s.
What really let me down at the end was the discovery of Robin’s papers documenting that the estate was legally Juneau Jane’s/Hannie’s, but was taken by the Gossett family. Isn’t Nate the owner of the house now? Why not give it to LaJuna’s family? Or at least give her and her family something as the descendants of the rightful owner! The whole reveal about Benny’s child at the end threw me right off and it felt like it pulled even more focus from the main point of the story (Hannie’s story and the history of the children Benny teaches, IMO) for a weak ending.
In any case, the rest of the book was good and I liked the inclusion of the Lost Friends ads throughout.
What really let me down at the end was the discovery of Robin’s papers documenting that the estate was legally Juneau Jane’s/Hannie’s, but was taken by the Gossett family. Isn’t Nate the owner of the house now? Why not give it to LaJuna’s family? Or at least give her and her family something as the descendants of the rightful owner! The whole reveal about Benny’s child at the end threw me right off and it felt like it pulled even more focus from the main point of the story (Hannie’s story and the history of the children Benny teaches, IMO) for a weak ending.
In any case, the rest of the book was good and I liked the inclusion of the Lost Friends ads throughout.
I enjoyed the story if Hannie, but the other half of the book, based in the 80s, was a bit strong on the White Savior trope. Another white English teacher saving a bunch of Black kids.. it was a big predictable.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Racism, Kidnapping, Murder
Minor: Rape
The Benny’s story was better than Jammie’s b it Botha suffered from sloppy writing. Think the bones are interesting but the flesh poorly written by the author.
Enjoyed this book. Ending was in need of editing, but otherwise an interesting read. Learned a lot about this time period in the US, a time I knew nothing about.
Edited: two years later and I still think about this book. I loved the “lost friends” aspect…after the civil war in the US, Black people searched for their family members by placing advertisements in papers describing their parents, siblings, or children.
Edited: two years later and I still think about this book. I loved the “lost friends” aspect…after the civil war in the US, Black people searched for their family members by placing advertisements in papers describing their parents, siblings, or children.
Lisa Wingate is an amazing storyteller, who keeps you on the edge of your seat and brings the tears to your eyes. Just as in the first book I read by Ms. Wingate, "Before we were Yours", I was immediately entranced by the characters in "The Book of Lost Friends". Each character is fully fleshed out and in most of the cases their motivations become clear at some point in the narrative. I fell in love with Hannie, the heroine of this book and I became immersed in her struggles. The emotional and physical journey in 1875 from Louisiana through Texas of the recently emancipated, Hannie, her former charge, Lavinia and the mysterious Juneau Jane kept me listening and hoping throughout.
As in "Before We Were Yours", the reader is taken back in time with an anchor character in the modern era (1987) Benny Silva, a young teacher newly arrived in a small Louisiana parish, who is less than confident in her own abilities or her place in the world. The well-worn trope of the young teacher learning from her students is a bit shop-worn at this point, however, it serves to illuminate the reader that Benny is on a similar path of self-discovery as her her 15-year-old freshman English students. Benny, did not appeal to me in the same way Hannie did, until the end of the story, when she is forced to find her own strength and determination.
The only weak character in this novel, is the descendant of the Gossett family, Nathan, in whom Benny finds a kindred spirit. He seemed for all intense and purposes rather cardboard to me.
As in "Before We Were Yours", the reader is taken back in time with an anchor character in the modern era (1987) Benny Silva, a young teacher newly arrived in a small Louisiana parish, who is less than confident in her own abilities or her place in the world. The well-worn trope of the young teacher learning from her students is a bit shop-worn at this point, however, it serves to illuminate the reader that Benny is on a similar path of self-discovery as her her 15-year-old freshman English students. Benny, did not appeal to me in the same way Hannie did, until the end of the story, when she is forced to find her own strength and determination.
The only weak character in this novel, is the descendant of the Gossett family, Nathan, in whom Benny finds a kindred spirit. He seemed for all intense and purposes rather cardboard to me.