piyali 's review for:

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

4.0

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I read this book for the second time with as much anticipation and excitement as I did the first time. The author does such tremendous job of telling the story with 2 voices, one from the past and one from the present (of the book, which is 1987). The technique is so clever as the reader already knows the history through the narrative of Hannie Gossett, the freed slave woman and connects the dots as Benny Silva, the English teacher in Augustine, Louisiana in 1987 discovers that particular nugget of history - the past of the plantation house in the town of Augustine, Goswood Grove. It is a wholesome story that is fulfilling and although we are introduced to extreme cruelty in the form of slavery and greed but we are mostly told the story of human resilience, support and love for each other. There was evil and there continues to be evil and wrongdoing, however, a lot of people tried their best to do good and one needs to remember that when all seems bleak.