The Harrington family takes her in and disbelief quickly turns to joy. They're grieving a terrible tragedy of their own and the beautiful baby fills them with hope, lighting up the house's dark, dusty corners. Desperate not to lose her to the authorities, they keep her secret, suspended in a blissful summer world where normal rules of behaviour - and the law - don't seem to apply.

But within days a body will lie dead in the grounds. And their dreams of a perfect family will shatter like glass.

Years later, the truth will need to be put back together again, piece by piece . . .

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

Tour Stops

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you've no doubt noticed I have a thing for family sagas.  Give me a thick, juicy multi-generational tale and you won't see me for hours.  Stories like that just have it all—adventure, romance, mystery, suspense, etc.  Have you ever considered that these same elements exist in everyone's family?  That your own history may be just as exciting—perhaps even more so—than those you read about in books?  It's true.  With a little bit of digging, you can uncover remarkable stories about your own ancestors.  Better yet?  You can do it while sitting at home in your PJs.  Check out familysearch.org, a free, user-friendly site where you can build your family tree, search thousands of historical records, and collaborate with others to piece together the stories of your ancestors.

Don't be surprised if after running a few searches you find yourself completely addicted to researching your family history.  It's fun, fascinating stuff.  It can also be frustrating and, at some point, you will probably need some professional advice to help you flush out hard-to-find ancestors.  This is where conferences come in.  I attended RootsTech a couple years ago; it was helpful, but I actually learned more from the 2016 Conference on Family History & Genealogy at Brigham Young University, which I attended last week.  The annual event's smaller, more intimate setting kept me from feeling too overwhelmed, but I still came away from it with some great information and helpful hints and tools to use in my own research.

The conference stretched over four days and offered classes for genealogists at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.  A large variety of topics were discussed, including how to track immigrant ancestors across the pond, how to search un-indexed probate records, ways to do family history work on your phone/tablet, and different approaches to publishing your own story.  There was also a track for teens as well as one for those trying to complete ICAPGen requirements.  Classes were taught by genealogy professionals with years of experience.  I especially enjoyed classes taught by Michael Strauss, Lisa Louise Cooke, and Paul Milner.  The keynote addresses this year were also excellent.  Paul Cardall, a concert pianist with congenital heart disease, gave an inspiring talk about how researching his wife's roots in Slovenia changed his life.  Steve Rockwood, president/CEO of FamilySearch, also gave a touching presentation about making family history more accessible to people all over the globe.  "We are here to save families," he said, "and to save the family."

Conference attendees were reminded many times of the vital role that historical records play in family history research.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been engaged for many years in preserving and digitizing these valuable resources.  Despite long-term efforts to index millions of records (making them keyword searchable for FREE to anyone with an Internet connection), only about 30% of the records published on FamilySearch have been indexed.  That means there is much, much more to be done!  If you're not already in on the Church's online indexing effort, consider volunteering.  It's a fun, easy way to make sure records are preserved and can be easily found.  You don't have to be LDS to join in.  For more information, visit https://familysearch.org/indexing/

Thanks to BYU, my husband and I ("official conference bloggers") were able to lunch in the Morrison Center cafeteria every day.  When we were poor college students, we used to pool our pennies and buy ice cream sundaes there to share, so it was a blast from the past.  It also gave us the opportunity to get to know other attendees, like Diana and Nicole from the Family Locket (they have a fun book club feature you might want to check out).  We enjoyed swapping stories and family history tips with all our tablemates.

As you can tell, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the conference this year.  We also had fun just being back on BYU campus, where we met each other as freshmen in 1994.  If you've never been to Provo, you're missing out.  It's a beautiful, family-friendly city surrounded by towering mountains.  Although my favorite time to be in Utah Valley is during the splendorous Fall season, summer is an excellent time to visit as well.  The nights cool off nicely, making the evenings perfect for enjoying a drive up the canyon, taking in a play at Sundance, or exploring the restaurants and shops downtown.  BYU is also a fun place to roam around.  It has a large family history center, free museums, a bowling alley, and, most important of all, the BYU Creamery.  I worked at the original Deseret Towers location for two years, so I can say with authority that it has the best ice cream in town (I recommend Pralines and Caramel and Bishop's Bash).

One word of warning: if you're planning to attend the conference next year (and you totally should), bring a seat cushion.  Your buns will thank you.  Also, if you're cruising up from Arizona, consider driving a convertible.  We traveled in my husband's Mini Cooper and had a blast zipping through the desert.  As we rounded both Mormon Lake and Jacob Lake, we got to inhale the most intoxicating elixir ever—pine mixed with rain—while blasts of cool wind ripped through our hair and our faces got misted with rain.  Pure heaven.

Many thanks to BYU and to Mormon Life Hacker for this fabulous opportunity.  We loved this year's informative, enjoyable conference.  We're looking forward to doing it again next year!

Midsummer's Eve, 1933—Loeanneth, the Edevane Family's summer home in Cornwall, is the sparkling center of a lavish party.  Hundreds of revelers gather on its grounds, sipping champagne, watching a bonfire burn on the lake, and enjoying the perfect weather.  It's a night of enchantment, anticipation, and excitement.  A night that will turn tragic when the disappearance of 11-month-old Theo Edevane is discovered.  With no body, no ransom note, no clue as to what has happened to the child, the case of the missing baby goes unsolved.  Crushed by grief, the Edevanes close up the lake house, never to return.

Cornwall, 2003—After making a career-ending mistake, London detective Sadie Sparrow is forced to take a leave of absence.  While cooling her heels at her grandfather's seaside cottage in Cornwall, she stumbles across a once grand, now decaying home.  Intrigued by the ruin, Sadie starts asking questions.  When she learns about Loeanneth's mysterious history, she becomes obsessed with the Edevanes.  Determined to find out what happened to young Theo, she seeks out the boy's remaining family members as well as anyone with connections to Loeanneth.

Alice Edevane, now a well-known mystery writer in her late 80s, holds pieces to the puzzle of what really happened on that summer night back in 1933.  But not all.  Although she longs to piece it all together, she doesn't want the exposure.  Can she trust Sadie Sparrow to find answers?  Does Alice really want to know the truths her family has always gone to such pains to hide?

As Sadie comes closer to solving the very cold case, she will make some startling discoveries about the Edevanes, revelations that will lead her to illuminating epiphanies about herself and her own family.  If her manic search for answers about Theo Edevane doesn't kill her first.

It's no secret that I'm a huge Kate Morton fan.  I've read—and loved—all of her novels.  Sure, they're all kind of the same, but I don't care.  I adore them.  The Lake House, Morton's newest, is no exception.  With well-developed characters, intricate plotting, and a compelling mystery, it definitely held my interest.  Some of the story's plot surprises did strike me as annoyingly convenient, but I still very much enjoyed this multi-layered family saga, which kept me guessing nonetheless.  Morton's skillful storytelling never fails to captivate me, even when I see twists coming, which is why she's quickly become one of my favorite authors.  For me, her books are must-read, auto-buy treasures.  If you dig absorbing, suspenseful reads about old houses, family secrets, and past/present mysteries, don't miss The Lake House or anything else by the incomparable Kate Morton.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Kate Morton's other novels, including The Distant Hours; The Forgotten Garden; The House at Riverton; and The Secret Keeper)

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The Kong women are in crisis.  A disastrous visit to her "home" orphanage in China has plunged eighteen-year-old Ari into a self-destructive spiral.  Her adoptive mother, Charlie, a lawyer with a great heart, is desperate to keep her daughter safe.  Meanwhile, Charlie must endure the prickly scrutiny of her beautiful, Bryn Mawr-educated mother, Gran—who, as the daughter of a cultured Chinese doctor, came to the United States to survive Mao's revolution—and her sister, Les, a brilliant judge with a penchant to rule over everyone's lives.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         As they cope with Ari's journey of discovery and its aftermath, the Kong women will come face-to-face with the truths of their lives—four powerful intertwining stories of accomplishment, tenacity, secrets, loneliness, and love.  Beautifully illuminating the bonds of family and blood, The Year She Left Us explores the promise and pain of adoption, the price of assimilation and achievement, the debt we owe to others, and what we owe ourselves.  Full of pathos and humor, featuring a quartet of unforgettable characters drawn from real life, it marks the debut of an important new voice in American fiction.    

As you can probably tell, plot is not something this novel has in abundance.  The story relies on the strength of its characters—not just their individual conflicts, but also the vibrancy of their separate and distinct voices. While the Kong women offer this, to some extent, the fact is, none of them are very likable.  Interesting, yes; engaging enough to want to know better?  Not so much.  This, combined with the novel's weak plotting; caustic tone; and disjointed storytelling made for a disappointing read.  Truth is, I put The Year She Left Us down several times, with no intention of finishing the book.  I did complete it, but, in the end, I found it dull and depressing.  I'm not saying Ma can't write.  She can.  It's just that this particular story needed something more—like a plot—to pull it all together.

(Readalikes:  Reminded me a little of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Lucky Girl by Mei-Ling Hopgood)

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At 98 years old, Grace Reeves Bradley can't stop the old memories that flow constantly through her head.  Or the way the people and places of her past keep mixing with those of her present, making it very difficult sometimes to sort reality from reminiscences.  It doesn't help that a young filmmaker is interviewing Grace about the many years she spent serving the Hartfords, the wealthy owners of Riverton, a sprawling country estate in Essex.  Like any good servant, Grace has kept the family's secrets for years.  She intended to take them to the grave, but with the movie maker's insistence on revisiting a long-ago tragedy that occurred at Riverton in 1924, Grace fears the truth may come out.

Although all have been dead for years, Grace can't forget the charming Hartford children.  The warmth between them cast a spell on her from the very first day she met them.  Now, so many years later, she's still loathe to speak—or remember—ill of any of the three.  Even though they all played a part in the death of a young poet, as did Grace herself.  Does she dare expose the truth?  As the elderly woman's days on Earth wane, she must decide whether to unburden herself of the secret she's kept for nearly one hundred years or to keep the misdeeds of the masters to herself, like the good servant she's always been.

I'm probably the last family saga fan on the planet to read The House at Riverton, Kate Morton's debut novel, but I'm not the first to praise its richness.  Having read two of the author's other novels (The Forgotten Garden and The Distant Hours), I recognize this lushness as Morton's indelible trademark.  It's a trademark I like.  A lot.  I love sinking into books like this, getting to know characters, settings and relationships in depth.  Which is why, even though Morton's books can feel a little too similar, I still really dig them.  Yes, I saw the big reveal at the end coming.  And, yes, the whole story gets a little depressing.  BUT, I still very much enjoyed The House at Riverton.  If you're a fan of fat, juicy family secrets novel, I'm pretty sure you will, too.    

(Readalikes:  The Forgotten Garden and The Distant Hours by Kate Morton)

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