Dear Fellow Reader,

I know, I have fallen behind again(!). It seems that I catch up and then fall terribly behind. I have four books that I need to review and that doesn’t count the books that I read on my own.

I am still keeping up my goal to read one non-fiction book a month. But it is now the 18^th of June, and I haven’t read a non-fiction book yet this month. In February, I started King: A Life by Jonathan Eig. I was going along enjoying it, and then stopped to catch up on something else I needed to read. I haven’t gone back to it yet. It is a long boo,k so I’m not sure I will be able to finish it this month. But I have been listening to a book entitled The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly by Margareta Magnusson. She is the author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. I think I will finish that audiobook and then go back to King on July 1.

But let’s look at the first book I have for you today. It is time for the disclaimer – I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Red House by Mary Morris is the story of a woman looking for her mother. Her mother disappeared when she was 12. One minute she was there, and the next minute she was gone and was never found. The family, which consisted of Laura, her younger sister, and her father, never rebounded from the loss. As the book opens, Laura is in her 40s as the book opens and is at loose ends. Her marriage is dull, she has had an affair, but she doesn’t care about him, and she just feels the need to find out about her mother.

Laura’s mother, Viola, was Italian. She met her husband in Italy, where he was stationed during the war. They stayed in Italy after the war for six years. Laura was born in Italy. When they moved back to the States, her mother worked to fit in and didn’t talk about her life in Italy at all. Laura’s family was very loving and happy up until the day Viola disappeared.

Laura is an artist like her mother. She has several images of a red house that her mother had painted. On the back of the paintings are the words (in Italian) “I will not be here forever.” Laura starts her journey in Brindisi and then goes to Puglia in search of her mother’s life.

This book operates on a split screen. Part of it is Laura’s story in the current day and part is her mother’s story in the 1940s. Laura learns about her mother’s life, which was nothing she would have ever expected. We also learn at the end of the book what happened to Laura’s mother.

This book is not a light, breezy book. It is interesting, it holds your attention, but it is a bit dark. I did enjoy it and it kept me reading to find out the next thing that happened to Viola. There might be a few times when you want to slap Laura and tell her to get it together. The book is about flawed people who are trying to make it.

I wouldn’t suggest this as your next beach read, but on the right rainy or snowy day, this book would be perfect. Add a blanket and a fire.

Thanks for reading!