I'm not sure how many people know the history of Bethlehem, PA - but like many industrial boom towns, it had its own heyday. Family, secrets, tragedy, success, and two strong women who are thrown together make up this page-turner. Sometimes, you don't find what you were expecting when you make desperate moves to save your marriage and the life you know, but perhaps you find what you really needed in the end. The characters in this have plenty of depth, and really are what drive the story. A great historical fiction with family at its heart.

Why, why, why didi I wait so long to read this NetGalley book? This was a beautiful and heartbreaking novel. I was riveted and listened to the audiobook in a day. It's a quiet story of families; what it means to be a wife, mother, and lover; along with the secrets kept to keep others comfortable. The dual timelines worked really well for me here. I wanted to know where each character would end up. I know that the line of "I'm not here to judge you, I'm here to help you" will stick with me throughout my parenting journey. If you're wanting a backlist book that'll surprise you and bring you to tears, I highly recommend this one.

I loved the cover and synopsis, they definitely drew me to the book. I was expecting historical fiction, which I love, but this came across more as women's fiction, which is hit or miss for me.

I finished this book a few weeks ago and barely remember it. Perhaps that's a review in itself. I do recall finding the characters uninteresting, but the era is one that usually intrigues me, so I kept reading. It's a family saga with all that entails -- secrets, lies, drama -- but lacked something to really keep my attention. So it's just a shrug.

I had a hard time with this book and getting interested. Overall okay read. I am trying to catch up on my reading.

Unfortunately this book did not work for me. This story was just too slow and it was hard to want to pick back up.

I do love this time period, but this missed the mark for me.

I stopped reading at 38%

This historical novel alternates between two time periods, both in the town of Bethlehem, PA. In the 1910s and 20s, we see the childhood/teenage years of two close families, mostly from the viewpoint of Susannah. And in the 1960s, it’s from the perspective of Joanna, Susannah’s daughter in law, who has recently moved to the town with her husband and kids and moved into the big family mansion with Susannah and Susannah’s mother.

Between the dual time period set up in a big mansion, and the fact that the book’s blurb specifically compares it to Kate Morton, I guess I expected something a bit more gothic, whereas this was a somewhat more standard family saga, though not without a few secrets. It definitely was no Kate Morton though, but few things are! It was a little slow and a little confusing at first, with a lot of character names and nicknames being thrown around, many in both time periods, which had me flipping back and forth trying to get a handle on who was who. Not all the characters felt fully fleshed out either. However, I did enjoy the story in its own slow way. 3.75 stars.

Bethlehem was not what I expected, it was even better. This story is about a young woman who arrives at the grand ancestral home of her husband’s family, hoping to fortify her deteriorating marriage. But what she finds is not what she expected: tragedy haunts the hallways, whispering of heartache and a past she never knew existed.

Very well written

I think that the students in our school library need to hear lots of diverse voices and read stories and lives of many different kinds of people and experiences. When I inherited the library it was an incredibly sanitised space with only 'school readers' and project books on 'the railways' etc. Buying in books that will appeal to the whole range of our readers with diverse voices, eclectic and fascinating subject matter, and topics that will intrigue and fascinate them was incredibly important to me.
This is a book that I think our senior readers will enjoy very much indeed - not just because it's well written with an arresting voice that will really keep them reading and about a fascinating topic - but it's also a book that doesn't feel worthy or improving, it doesn't scream 'school library and treats them like young reading adults who have the right to explore a range of modern diverse reads that will grip and intrigue them and ensure that reading isn't something that they are just forced to do for their English project - this was a solid ten out of ten for me and I'm hoping that our students are as gripped and caught up in it as I was. It was one that I stayed up far too late reading and one that I'll be recommending to the staff as well as our senior students - thank you so much for the chance to read and review; I really loved it and can't wait to discuss it with some of our seniors once they've read it too!

I couldn't get into the story, even when checking it out as a physical book from my local library. It could have been I wasn't in the mood for this type of story or the characters didn't connect with me at the time.

Bethlehem Pennsylvania, in its booming years is portrayed via dual timeline stories (1920's and 1960's) of two women, their romances, secrets, passion, yearnings, family ties and disappointments. With twists and surprises in the plot, this book was well developed and with strong characters. Thank you NetGalley, publisher and author for the e-copy book for review. All opinions are my own.

My curiosity for this book began with the enchanting cover, it's beauty instantly drawing me in. Sadly, my excitement was quickly extinguished for several reasons, first being the painfully slow beginning that is diluted with character names and nicknames. I felt so lost, and trying to keep up with which character was which, plus the nicknames, made me almost give up before I really dived into the story itself!

Once I got my bearings as far as the characters and dual plot lines, I was able to properly immerse myself in the drama of the Collier and Parish families. Bethlehem is told through the eyes of matriarch Susannah, flashing back to her youth in the 1920's, and her daughter-in-law Joanna in the 1960's, who's family has come to stay with Susannah and her mother in the family mansion. The views of both women are clear and concise, but despite the depth of the characters themselves, and their stories, I fought to connect with them, despite the depressing and suppressive situations they both find themselves in.

Truth be told, this novel isn't particularly what I had been expecting. To me, it didn't really feel like a historical fiction, which is what I was hoping for, but it's lacking any significant historical events. There are a few cultural references in the flashbacks, but otherwise the story could really fall into any time period.

There is a certain charm to the tale that kept me engaged, especially the 1920's time line. I absolutely adore that era and honestly would've been fine if Joanne's story wasn't even included. It's a strong enough premise to hold its own, and I believe I would've liked it better if it would've been the main focus.

All in all, Bethlehem wasn't a terrible read, but the pace is on the slower side, the entire premise and feel is dark and depressing, and I had really wanted to love it, but it was just ok.

Bethlehem was not my favorite book to read. I struggled to make it far into the work, but I enjoyed the rich setting and the author’s prose though the characters were generally unlikeablr to me,

One of those sweeping family sagas I would read on the beach in high school. Bethlehem is a steel town, and the lives of the families and how they intertwine over the years makes for some good reading.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Bethlehem by Karen Kelly

Brief Summary: This is a multi-generational saga of two families told in alternating timelines between the 1920s and 1960s in the steel age of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I was interested in this story because I don’t know much about the steel industrial age and I typically like historical fiction. I am also a fan of reads published by St. Martin’s Press.

Unfortunately, this book started very slowly for me and never really picked up. It was hard to get engaged with. There were so many characters to remember. I listened to it on audiobook and I especially liked Doe’s calming voice but I can’t give many props. I also didn’t learn much about the steel mill age; I would classify this as women’s fiction set in a historical age rather than pure true historical fiction.

Explanation of Rating: 1/5; I may be in the minority here but this one just wasn’t for me. If you like complex family sagas with lots of characters check this one out.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the free copy to review. I was looking forward to reading about this one, it sounded great, a historical fiction about the steel town of Bethlehem and I was all for it. However upon reading, there was not near as much about the town or the industry as I had hoped, and the timeline from past / present was hard to keep track of as well as the multitude of characters. It did not hold my interest and I was confused most of the time. Unfortunate as I was really looking forward to this one based on the synopsis.

3.5.

I have had Bethlehem on my NetGalley list since early 2019. I have tried multiple times to read it but I would lose interest very quickly. I finally took the time to read and listen to the audiobook this summer. I liked it but it was not a favorite.

The first half of the book is character development and there are a lot of characters. Almost too many. I would get very lost very easily and have to go back and look at my notes on who was who and how they fitted in the family.

I love reading books that go back and forth between current and past and I pride myself on being able to keep everything straight but I could not with Bethlehem. I think I would have preferred to have a two-book series with book one in the past and book two the present.

If you like family sagas this is a great read to fulfill that like but be prepared there are a lot of characters and the book does not pick up until the second half.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, St. Martin's Press, through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

I think this book tried to do too much (how many love triangles can you have in one story!) I definitely tried but I couldn’t get into this one.

What starts out as a simple story soon evolves into a complex web of lies and how far people will go to keep secrets. The book starts off slow but soon finds its footing as we explore the characters, their histories and the prices they paid. Whether it be to keep an old secret or start a new one. It's a well written modern family story. Sassy was a great character and I recommend this book.