Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Sibling Rivalry in the Depression Era


The sisters, Ruth and June, have very different lives. Ruth is struggling to raise her four daughters and keep the farm working while her husband, John, is incapacitated with sleeping sickness, a victim of the dread disease that has felled many people around the country. June is the golden girl, married to a wealthy doctor, she is also one of the Betty Crockers, women who work in the test kitchens and are the women behind the face of Betty Crocker.

Ruth has always envied her older sister who she perceives as having everything, but she has one thing June wanted, her husband John. Now John is out of her reach and she feels lonely and rejected, but hasn’t her whole life been that way? She has no way of knowing how difficult June’s life is and how she still feels the loss of John.

When their mother, Dorothy, brings them together at Ruth’s farm, the stage is set for confrontation and old secrets emerge.

I found this book rather slow. It is a character driven story and for me, none of the characters was appealing. Ruth is angry and June, who appears to have everything, can’t seem to accept how lucky she is. I think the author did a good job describing how difficult life was for so many people during the depression. However, my favorite scenes were with the Betty Crockers. I found it fascinating how women were so drawn to them and the betrayal they suffered when they discovered the character was more than one woman.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.


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