About the Book:
“The carnage began with the roses. She hacked at their ruffled blooms until they dropped into monstrous drifts of red on the parched yellow lawn … Only two things kept my mother grounded to us: my uncle Stephen and stories.”
Fourteen-year-old Molly worries about school, friends, and her parents’ failed marriage, but mostly about her mother’s growing depression. Molly knows her mother is nursing a carefully-kept secret. A writer with an obsession for other people’s life stories, Elaine Donnelly is the poster child of repressed emotions.
Molly spends her California summer alternately watching out for her little brother Angus and tip-toeing around her mother’s raw feelings. Molly needs her mother more than ever, but Elaine shuts herself off from real human connections and buries herself in the lives and deaths of the strangers she writes about. When Uncle Stephen is pressed into the limelight because of his miracle cure of a young man, Elaine can no longer hide behind other people’s stories. And as Molly digs into her mother’s past, she finds a secret hidden in her mother’s dresser that may be the key to unlocking a family mystery dating to 1918 New York—a secret that could destroy or save their future.
Told in dual narratives between 1918 New York City and 1955 San Jose, California, Between Before and After, by award-winning author Maureen McQuerry, explores the nature of family secrets, resiliency, and redemption. This is an historical coming-of-age Young Adult story about the complex bonds between mothers and daughters.
Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble
Connect with Maureen
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Review:
"The best stories can be as unpredictable as miracles. They can surprise you, even when you think you know them by heart."
Fourteen-year-old Molly is inquisitive by nature- a writer, like her mother Elaine, Molly seeks out the truth. When her mother's secrets begin to tear apart Molly's family, she decides to seek out the truth from Elaine's past. Molly starts with her Uncle Stephen for some clues, however, soon Stephen's life is turned upside down as the church begins to investigate him for performing a miracle. With the attention that Stephen's miracle brings, Molly and her brother Angus begin to see a different side of their mother, making Molly more anxious for the secrets that her mother is hiding from 1918. While investigating her mother's past, Molly might just create a miracle of her own.
Between Before & After is a heartwarming and gorgeously written story that examines family, secrets and a little bit of magic. Told in a dual narrative switching between Elaine and Stephen's childhood in 1918 Brooklyn and Molly and Angus' in 1955 San Jose, the differences between their lives is highlighted as well as the mental stress of Elaine's secrets. I felt equally drawn to both timeline stories as Elaine's life in Brooklyn quickly changes after the Spanish Flu epidemic and she becomes responsible for her little brother and running the household. The 1918 timeline also had the story of Hansel and Gretel woven throughout that added a fabulous fairy-tale element that strangely connected to Elaine and Stephen's story perfectly. In Molly's timeline the possibility of miracles and exposing of secrets creates mild suspense and drama that slowly teases out the consequences of Elaine's secret. With an emotionally driven story line and seamless writing, Between Before & After will capture your heart.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
“The carnage began with the roses. She hacked at their ruffled blooms until they dropped into monstrous drifts of red on the parched yellow lawn … Only two things kept my mother grounded to us: my uncle Stephen and stories.”
Fourteen-year-old Molly worries about school, friends, and her parents’ failed marriage, but mostly about her mother’s growing depression. Molly knows her mother is nursing a carefully-kept secret. A writer with an obsession for other people’s life stories, Elaine Donnelly is the poster child of repressed emotions.
Molly spends her California summer alternately watching out for her little brother Angus and tip-toeing around her mother’s raw feelings. Molly needs her mother more than ever, but Elaine shuts herself off from real human connections and buries herself in the lives and deaths of the strangers she writes about. When Uncle Stephen is pressed into the limelight because of his miracle cure of a young man, Elaine can no longer hide behind other people’s stories. And as Molly digs into her mother’s past, she finds a secret hidden in her mother’s dresser that may be the key to unlocking a family mystery dating to 1918 New York—a secret that could destroy or save their future.
Told in dual narratives between 1918 New York City and 1955 San Jose, California, Between Before and After, by award-winning author Maureen McQuerry, explores the nature of family secrets, resiliency, and redemption. This is an historical coming-of-age Young Adult story about the complex bonds between mothers and daughters.
Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble
Connect with Maureen
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Review:
"The best stories can be as unpredictable as miracles. They can surprise you, even when you think you know them by heart."
Fourteen-year-old Molly is inquisitive by nature- a writer, like her mother Elaine, Molly seeks out the truth. When her mother's secrets begin to tear apart Molly's family, she decides to seek out the truth from Elaine's past. Molly starts with her Uncle Stephen for some clues, however, soon Stephen's life is turned upside down as the church begins to investigate him for performing a miracle. With the attention that Stephen's miracle brings, Molly and her brother Angus begin to see a different side of their mother, making Molly more anxious for the secrets that her mother is hiding from 1918. While investigating her mother's past, Molly might just create a miracle of her own.
Between Before & After is a heartwarming and gorgeously written story that examines family, secrets and a little bit of magic. Told in a dual narrative switching between Elaine and Stephen's childhood in 1918 Brooklyn and Molly and Angus' in 1955 San Jose, the differences between their lives is highlighted as well as the mental stress of Elaine's secrets. I felt equally drawn to both timeline stories as Elaine's life in Brooklyn quickly changes after the Spanish Flu epidemic and she becomes responsible for her little brother and running the household. The 1918 timeline also had the story of Hansel and Gretel woven throughout that added a fabulous fairy-tale element that strangely connected to Elaine and Stephen's story perfectly. In Molly's timeline the possibility of miracles and exposing of secrets creates mild suspense and drama that slowly teases out the consequences of Elaine's secret. With an emotionally driven story line and seamless writing, Between Before & After will capture your heart.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
About Maureen Doyle McQuerry
Maureen McQuerry is an award winning poet, novelist and teacher. Her YA novel, The Peculiars is an ALA Best Book for YA 2013, Bank Street and Home Book recommended book. Her MG fantasy duo, Beyond the Door and The Telling Stone were a Booklist Top Ten Fantasy/SciFi for Youth and a finalist for the WA State Book awards. Her poetry appears in many journals and anthologies. She lives in Washington State.
Connect with Maureen
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Maureen McQuerry is an award winning poet, novelist and teacher. Her YA novel, The Peculiars is an ALA Best Book for YA 2013, Bank Street and Home Book recommended book. Her MG fantasy duo, Beyond the Door and The Telling Stone were a Booklist Top Ten Fantasy/SciFi for Youth and a finalist for the WA State Book awards. Her poetry appears in many journals and anthologies. She lives in Washington State.
Connect with Maureen
Website | Facebook | Twitter
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