Unfortunately, I was unable to get into this title. It just wasn't a good fit for me. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read this title. I will not be posting a review online, in order not to skew the ratings. Thanks for the opportunity to read it.

I liked this novel but was not able to finish it before it was archived. Thank you for the opportunity.

Evensong is a beautifully written introspective story about a woman at the end of her days looking back at her life. She views her entire life and the choices she made, and how those choices affected her own life, and the lives of her two daughters and granddaughter. If you're looking for action, you won't find it here, but what a treasure this is! This is a book to be savored. A delightful read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and WW Norton & Company for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this excellent book.

A wonderful story of hope...and dreams. Looking forward to reading more of Ms Southwood's work. Have recommended this novel to all three of my local libraries.

Margret Mcguire is an elderly woman whose health is failing so she decides to reflect on her life and to get her affairs in order. There are three people who are very important to her, Joanne and Lee, her daughters, and Melissa her beloved granddaughter.
Joanne, her oldest, has unfortunately the personality and disposition of her deceased father. She is a bully and a very self centered person. Lee is a peacemaker, like her mother, and she is more reflective and subdued. Melissa is sweet and kind and she is the apple of Margaret's eye. How she turned out to be such a kind and independent young women is a mystery to Margaret since she grew up with Joanne as her mother.
I particularly enjoyed the going back and forth in time as Margaret reminisced about her childhood, her relationships with her siblings and later her difficult marriage to Garfield who died in his forties from a sudden heart attack. Margaret then returns to the present and she examines the choices she made, the relationships with her family and her present decisions as she prepares for her death.
This was a very insightful and poignant book for me. Margaret's journey really hit home and her story triggered my own self reflection and memories. As the story came to it's conclusion I felt I was losing a close friend when Margaret resigned herself to what was to come with dignity and with hope of meeting her loved ones who had passed before her.
I received an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

A wonderful story of reflection and hope. Nearing the end of her days, one women questions her choices in life - her husband, her children, her religion - and finds that though she may not change a thing, she hopes her grown granddaughter can be the break in the cycle. A loving and heartbreaking read reminiscent of Alice McDermott's 'Someone'.

The novel just couldn't keep my interest. It just seemed to jumbled and didn't flow.

I loved this book and will soon re-read it. The author poignantly portrays a woman at the end of life as she remembers the good and the bad, questions her choices and tries to reconcile her life as a mother and as a wife. It is beautifully written with compassion and understanding. Families often don't turn out as well as we'd like but life is messy, and at the end, there hopefully will be forgiveness.

This is a quiet, deliberate book about and family and love--or lack thereof. Full confession: at first I did not get into it, largely because I was confused with the cast of characters. I think a page with a family tree would have been a great help. Note: this confusion disipated shortly thereafter because the characters were well drawn and then introduced with greater depth.

The book is Margaret's story--from a young gir/woman, to a dying grandmother. From the blurb:
"By turns tenacious and tender, contrary and wry, Margaret examines her life’s tragedies and joys, motivations and choices... Beautifully rendered and poignantly told, Evensong is an indelible portrait of a woman searching for tranquility at the end of her days." ABSOLUTELY.

There's Margaret, her husband, Garfield [not a particularly nice man], her brother Porter, sister Estelle, children Joanne and Lee, granddaughter Melissa and various parents, spouses and other characters. For a slight book, there's a lot of people to track in the generational life cycle and rhythms that Evensong portrays--how: "Life is bookended with this kind of repose." Southwood depicts everyday events extremely well, thoughtfully, and sometimes with humor.

I loved Margaret--nee Doud, but stuck with Maguire--the surname she got when she married but never fully accepted. I loved her relationship with her sister Estelle [and her reflections after Estelle's death] and her relationship with her granddaughter, Melissa.

Here are some lines that stuck with me:
"... I watched the moths outside trying to get at my fluorescent sink light until I grew sick of the small thud of their bodies..." [I could so hear/see that]

"... while we worked through the wobble in our legs those first months without him."

and in talking about gravesites: "... who hd decided that plumb lines and right angles were most approporiate to death. Why couldn't it be ragged? Why shouldnt it look like raw as a wound, as if, barehanded, someone had torn the earth apart?"

Some humor, but mostly serious ponderings of age and time. Wonderful observances.

My only real criticism. I thought it could have ended with Chapter 34; Chapter 35 seemed a bit unnecessary though I understand a full circle.

a pretty quick breezy read of family secrets and tragedies. I finished it over a weekend plus a work day at school. It is touching in places, but in places it is also maudlin and formulaic. But a quick read and touching for those who like family dramas.
I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was interested in this book because the description referenced readers of Elizabeth Stroud. I have to agree, it did remind me of her books. I did enjoy it and probably will recommend it.