Today I’m participating in Cathie Armstrong’s blog tour for her new book, The Edge of Nowhere, just released on the 19th of this month! You can stop by her website and check out the other blog tour stops here.  Without further ado, let’s get to it!  Book review…

Victoria Hastings Harrison Greene has lived a very long life, ais about to die. Her family has grown to despise her, and she can’t blame them, but she wants one last chance to help them understand how she became the seemingly bitter, harsh old woman they know.  Before she dies, she will leave them her story–the story of a woman who will do anything, at any cost, for the family she holds dear.  Oklahoma in the 1930’s is a cruel, dusty place, and the fight for survival will take more from Victoria than she ever dreamed possible.

Poor Victoria.  That’s really the refrain that went through my mind throughout the book.  I couldn’t help getting pulled into her story and sympathizing with her–first a grieving little girl, then a woman in love, and then a grieving woman… Usually you expect a character’s life to improve over the course of the book, but Victoria’s seemed to be a steady downhill spiral to the end, where it leveled off and became manageable.  Not going to lie, it’s depressing.  But I think it is true to life, in that it examines the incredible hardships we can and will endure for the sake of our children.  Everybody hopes and prays they don’t end up going through a life like Victoria’s, but I think we all secretly hope that if by some horrible twist of fate it DID happen to us, we would keep it together and just plow through.

The Edge of Nowhere is historical fiction, but not lovey-dovey historical fiction or a feel-good-ending. It has more of a ring of true life to it– like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas or The Nightingale.  It was well-written and had good flow to it–I was drawn into the story really quickly and just had to keep reading.

If realism is your thing, and melancholy stories make you happy (That sounds very ironic), then you should make sure you get a copy of The Edge of Nowhere and read it asap.  Even if happy-ending books are more your style (not going to lie, they are mine…) this is still a good book to read.  It should make you feel very grateful for your life, if you’ve been blessed enough to have fewer trials than poor Victoria Hastings Harrison Green.

Overall, I really liked it: 4 out of 5 stars