Publishers Weekly
06/29/2020
Carter (We Were Strangers Once) crafts an endearing, sweeping saga of strangers brought together. In three parts, spanning from 1929 to the early 1980s, Carter weaves the tangled web of her characters in fine, poetic detail. She begins in New Rochelle, N.Y., in 1929, with vain Geraldine Wingo, her dependable husband Earle, and their newborn girl, Emilia Mae. Geraldine never overcomes her fatigue from her colicky baby, whom she calls the devil child, and when Emilia turns 15, Geraldine sends her away to live and work as a charwoman at the nearby Neptune Inn. In the same year the Wingos had their baby girl, another couple in a remote Catskills lake town have a baby boy out of wedlock. Named Dillard Fox and raised by the father, Dillard matures into a good-looking, charming young man with musical talent who travels from job to job and town to town. In 1961, he meets the stoic Emilia Mae, now a single mother, and her bubbly nine-year-old daughter. Here, Carter connects the dots, unveiling a picture of an unconventional family made up of three generations of Wingos, their close friends, and Dillard, and the story comes alive through the honesty and raw emotion injected into the characters. Her unflinching look at the characters’ imperfections and boundless exploration into their minds makes for an exceptional tale. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
"Carter crafts an endearing, sweeping saga of strangers brought together...The story comes alive through the honesty and raw emotion injected into the characters. Her unflinching look at the characters' imperfections and boundless exploration into their minds makes for an exceptional tale."—Publishers Weekly
"A sweeping intergenerational story of the intertwined lives of two people who find themselves staying briefly at the Neptune Inn in New Rochelle, New York... A bittersweet tale that follows the twists and turns of love and loss and the painfulness and joy of life."—Kirkus
"One can't help fall in love with each character, mourn each loss, cheer their triumphs, and maybe shed a tear or two."—Library Journal
Praise for WE WERE STRANGERS ONCE
"A moving story of loss, longing, and perseverance."—Real Simple, A Best New September Release
"In this sharply observed historical novel, a web of friendships connect German Jews in pre-Hitler Germany after they emigrate to America. In their complex relationships and struggles both emotional and cultural, we are given insight into life at its most resilient and joyous. An important book to remind us of the humanity in the current wave of immigrants, and how much they have to offer us."—Alice LaPlante, New York Times bestselling author of Turn of Mind
Library Journal
07/10/2020
In 1960s New Rochelle, NY, Dillard Fox steps into the lives of three generations of women. Widowed matriarch Geraldine Wingo fancies him, but it's her daughter, Emilia Mae, who ends up marrying Dillard. Emilia Mae had her daughter, Alice, when she was a teen. Now Alice has a father figure in her life. Emilia Mae doesn't know Dillard's backstory, but she loves him. Dillard knows about Emilia Mae's past and accepts her anyway. But after Alice uncovers Dillard's secret, love may not be enough to heal the wounds. The rich complexities of mother-daughter relationships are explored in this book; the characters are incredibly convincing, warts and all. VERDICT Carter (We Were Strangers Once) writes movingly of a time when gender roles were clearly defined and stepping outside the norm was taboo. This title will appeal to women's fiction and romance readers, and those looking for something a little different. One can't help fall in love with each character, mourn each loss, cheer their triumphs, and maybe shed a tear or two.—Jane Blue, Northumberland P.L., Heathsville, VA
Kirkus Reviews
2020-05-18
A sweeping intergenerational story of the intertwined lives of two people who find themselves staying briefly at the Neptune Inn in New Rochelle, New York.
Dillard Fox is a child, a young man, a middle-aged stepfather, and an aging man in this book. He is also a musician, a teaching assistant, a receptionist, a construction laborer, and a bakery assistant. Emilia Mae Wingo is a baby, a teen, a single mother, a middle-aged woman, and an aging grandmother. Apart from a stint as a hotel cleaner and helper in her teens—resulting in an unplanned pregnancy—she spends her life working in her parents’ bakery. Dillard is gay; Emilia Mae is not. The two marry one another because of their deep yearning for love and comfort and home and family. In the mid-20th century, these options are not available for Dillard with a man—though by the time he meets Emilia Mae and her daughter, Alice, his heart has already been broken by a secret relationship with Nick that ended abruptly and unexpectedly, leaving him unmoored. Emilia Mae, once a colicky baby, has grown up with the knowledge that her mother believes she was born with the devil inside her. It is Alice who binds Dillard and Emilia Mae together. In this sweeping tale that extends through much of the 20th century before ending in 1980s New York City, the reader meets Dillard’s and Emilia Mae’s parents, friends, and lovers and is given a deep, layered look at what events, people, choices, and secrets shape Dillard, Emilia Mae, and Alice into the complicated individuals they ultimately become.
A bittersweet tale that follows the twists and turns of love and loss and the painfulness and joy of life.
