My Rating : 3.5🌟
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Thankyou so much Netgalley and the author Karen Kelly for the review copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.
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This book follows the life and struggles of two women who seem to hate each other at first but still try to do the right thing after the death of a family member.
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First, I am a huge fan of dual/multiple timelines and read about multiple perspectives. With that being said, I had high expectations for this story when I read the blurb. The starting was really weird to be honest with all the graveyard talks, but finally I got into the story after a few chapters.
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Second, I loved that the writing was quite simple and it complemented the multiple perspective timelines as well. I especially loved the way the daughter-in-law / mother-in-law dynamic was portrayed. It gives you a good lesson that, Sometimes you don't start off as besties but if you put in effort to understand people, it can change lives.
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Now coming to the actual story, even though I am a huge fan of multiple perspectives, the names and the nicknames and the confusing timelines at times really threw me off. I had to give my reading a break and re-read at times to figure out what happened. Unraveling the mystery of the past was a good addition, but I didn't feel the pull towards the characters or feel bad for them when things happened.
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Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book. Even though it wasn't my favourite, it still was a very good read.

In Karen Kelly's debut novel, she brings together the stories of two families who lived in Bethlehem during the days that steel was king.
After her father-in-law's death, Joanna Collier moves in with her mother-in-law, Susannah, who really doesn't want her there. After a while, she starts to discover secrets about past tragedies and things Susannah believes are better kept hidden.
A book that will keep you reading.

Joanna Collier, her husband Frank, and their two young children move from the Philadelphia area into Frank's palatial family home in Bethlehem, PA. Frank's grandfather was the founder of Bethlehem Steel and Frank is working at the family business. His hours are long and he often travels for the business. His family's home is a richly decorated, enormous mansion; very different from the home Joanna grew up in. Frank's mother and grandmother still reside in the mansion, and the history of the family is told in chapters which alternate with the time of the story, 1962. There is romance, grief, secrecy and as Joanna gradually adjusts to her opulent surroundings and her husband's frequent absences, she learns how everyone, rich or not, makes choices that can reverberate for years to come.

This was an absolutely wonderful read. I just loved it. I am very familiar with Bethlehem and really enjoyed the descriptions of the town and its streets. The writing was excellent. It was smooth and elegant and held my interest completely. I very strongly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author Karen Kelly, and the publisher St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC I was given. This is my honest opinion.

Can I just be honest and respectfully say I found this really boring. I’m not a fan of dual timelines but I thought I’d like this since it was both in the past but all the characters got me a little confused and uninterested.
I quit after 60% and for this reason I will not write a public review.

A beautifully written story. One town, two families, three generations. Past and present. 1962 being the present. We meet three woman who, over the course of time show true love and compassion and a mothers determination to protect their children. We meet three men who are strong men not afraid to
Love completely. Reading this you may think I’m referencing three couples. I’m not. I’m referencing mothers, daughters, brothers. I’m referencing families who are human but still love completely and without judgement no matter how difficult the circumstances. I am blessed to know such love from my own mother which could be part of the reason this book touches me. My family loves like these two families did.

This book is a feel good story even though it’s full of tradegy. It shows that no matter what, love will lift us.

Thank you to the author Karen Kelly, the publisher St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

I thought that this story would be more about the town of Bethlehem and the steel industry than it was. However, it was just a story set against the backdrop of the town. I would have liked to see more about the industry.

The story was interesting, but I found it confusing. There were 4 generations of the family which switched back and forth between the 1960's and the 1930's . And every character had a name and then a nickname. I honestly couldn't keep all of the characters straight.

Having said that----it was an interesting story and I was anxious to finish it. I think that this book could be made better with some clarity provided by a good editor.

I was pleasantly surprised about this dual time line historical fiction as it was more captivating than I thought it would be. It centred around two families in the 1920’s who merge into one through marriage by the 1960’s. There are secrets and deceptions in the former timeline that alter and define some of the characters as they navigate love and life. The latter timeline is more of a conduit to discovering these historical secrets and has a small storyline of its own.

My first thought is that this book could’ve been five stars with a little more depth and clarity. The two timelines don’t mesh all that well and I never really connected with the characters. I will agree with other reviewers that the names are very confusing with the characters each having formal and nick names that are used interchangeably. Plus some of the inter generational characters have the same names or names that sound alike. For the longest time I kept confusing Joanna with Suzannah.

What drew me in was the poignant love story amidst the 1920’s historical backdrop. This storyline was engaging and I could feel some emotional depth. Likewise, the challenges that Joanna faced in the 1960’s added a humanistic component that was both relatable and heartfelt. I just wish the whole plot had gone deeper and focused more on these two tangents.

I received a widget of this book from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review. I hope that this author continues to write more of this genre as I can see future stories overcoming some of the shortcomings of this book.

Bethlehem is a book based in the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with its steel industry as a vague backdrop. In dual timelines of the 1920s and 1960s, it tells the story of the lives of Collier and Parrish families through the eyes of Helen Collier (the grandmother), Susannah (the daughter) and Joanna (the daughter in law). It took me a bit of time to get into the book as there were a lot of characters to remember and even after that was sorted, the only character that managed to make an impression was Susannah....she was the only character that to me seemed fleshed out in terms of having an individual personality. The 1920s timeline was written and described very well as I could feel the pulse of that era come alive in the pages; however, the same could not be said about the 1960s timeline... if it wasn't for it being mentioned at the beginning of each chapter that it was 1960s, I kept mistaking it being set in modern times.

Overall, this was a good, quick read and I did get a bit emotional in the end....it was a bittersweet ending.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author Karen Kelly for giving me an e-Arc of this book. I apologise for putting up a review very late since I had finished reading this book in September. A 3-3.5* rating.

Secrets are heavy weights that press on the pits of our stomachs and occasionally push against our throats. Sometimes, we consider that they are all that stand between us and destruction, that our suffering is balancing out the world, but secrets are also like worms. They bore at your essence until you're a shell of your self, your walk forever changed because you swallowed something. They're never really any good, are they?

Bethlehem is the story of two generations of families and all the secrets wound into the fabric of their existence. Secrets between mother and daughter, husband and wife, sister and sister.

Jane, newly moved into the family house to live with her mother-in-law and her aged mother, with nothing to do to kill time, is walking into secrets unawares. About how the peacock window came to be replaced, and why Baby Hayes' headstone has no surname.

If only they knew they did not have to bear their burdens alone. That free is the better way to live.

This was a gentle read. It has some big plot points, but everything is told in a simple easy way so it didn't seem dynamic. Told in two different time lines it starts out with the story of a daughter-in-law, Joanna, dealing with her family's move into her husband's ancestral home with his mother, Susannah, and grandmother. That appeared to be where the story would rest, but instead it's the timeline telling Susannah's story that is the main focus of the story and the more interesting plot.
A good debut novel.

Honestly, I would love to have that cover in a frame in my Victorian house. I think it's gorgeous! That also sums up my thoughts about the book - beautiful! As you know, this is the favorite era in US history - the Gilded Age as industry and new inventions are just beginning to flourish but the mass corruption hasn't quite taken hold. The novel, however, has a dual timeline as it spans the multi-generational story of a family in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the second of which is the 1960s. Bethlehem is a tale of family secrets, heartbreak, survival and, most of all, love. Kelly has created characters that truly represent a generation as a whole and families in general. Most of all, it is a story of forgiveness and is one from which I think many readers and their families might benefit.

Bethlehem is shelved as "historical fiction," and it is that but so much more. I've read where others have suggested that it be classified solely as "women's fiction," but that is selling the book short. Not every historical novel has to deal with major, monumental events in history, nor should they. It is the basic human story that has to be told or else we, as a people, tend to gloss over our past. Families are history. Every day mundane tasks are history. It is how we learn from the past so that we may do better in the future and to that end, Kelly has given us a marvelous example, a wonderful read. This is a must-own book for my shelves and I hope it will be a "must-read" for each of you.

First, that cover is glorious. Secondly, we loved this character-driven historical fiction read. A tad slow to start, we couldn't stop reading once we hit the 75 page mark. Kelly has a lush, beautiful way with words and sometime we found ourselves reading just to admire her style. We loved Sassy!

A family saga, Bethlehem by author Karen Kelly examines such entangling feelings as being in love, experiencing loss, wrestling with regret, struggling with isolation, asking for forgiveness, and persuaded by temptation. A good portion of the opening chapters introduce the list of characters to audiences before the author turns to the characters actions, watching how they react to one another and changing the course of their relationships as they mature.

The author devotes time to describing the atmosphere in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania as the story travels between the 1920's and the 1960's. Inspired by the town's heyday during the American steel boom era, the tale revolves around the women who marry into the wealthy family and worked for the family that made their fortune in the steel industry. The family's ancestral home of Brynmor has correlations to the all girl elite institution of Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

It's 1962 and Frank Collier has taken the reigns of the Bethlehem Steel Company after his father passes away. His new position takes him away on business trips, leaving his wife Joanna and young children Daisy and Charlie alone. He is pressured by his mother Susannah Parrish Collier and his grandmother Helen Collier to move his young family into the family's ancestral home of Brynmor, where these matriarchs live.

Recalling of such family sagas as The Forsyte Saga and The Thornbirds, Bethlehem traverses across three generations in the Collier and Parrish families. It is a story that readers need to stay with in order to develop a connection with these women. The bond that connects Helen, Susannah and Joanna is not obvious but becomes apparent as the story continues to unfold. This is not a quick read but one that demands its readers to spend time learning about the characters, what motivates them and what secrets keep them safe. Understanding the complexity of the entangling relationships is important to identifying the story's significance.

A historical tale that ripples into contemporary relevance, Bethlehem has several layers, which opens the book to group discussion. What one reader picks up in the story another reader may have missed. A multi-faceted tale, readers will find something new in Bethlehem with each read, making its intricacies countless.

A good story, with so many threads woven together.  The framework is in Bethlehem, PA, in the 1920-1960s.  Two prominent families are intertwined.  Karen Kelly takes us on a journey through their lives and ties all those threads together.  We find out that rich people aren't always that much different than we are, but they do have a lot more money and spend it in ways we wouldn't think of.  Turns out that snooty rich people aren't really always so snooty and can sometimes understand just what the rest of us have to deal with.  

I recommend this a good read for someone who wants to follow intriguing family stories.

A family of privilege. A majestic ancestral home. A strained marriage. A tragic accident. A family secret lurking in the shadows. If you like character-driven historical fiction novels that have more than one story-line and provides readers with an atmospheric experience of time and place, this may be the perfect read for you. This is definitely the kind of story I tend to gravitate towards on a lazy weekend when the weather makes staying indoors, curled up with a cup of tea and a book, so appealing. The story starts off rather slowly - more of a slow wandering pace - that is coupled with the author's detail oriented prose. I am a reader who appreciates descriptive setting details and don't mind when a story takes a bit of time to get going. This story isn’t all glitz and glamorous, fancy parties, chauffeur-driven cars and a life of privilege. At its heart, this is a story about love, temptation, regret, loss, acceptance and forgiveness.

As I have mentioned, the author's prose is delightfully descriptive. I found it easy to visualize the grand rooms at Brynmor and the lavish – bordering on decadent – 1920s debutante ball. The two story-lines – one set at the onset of the 1920s focuses on Susannah’s generation and the 1960s story-line representing the 'present day' - work well together. I found myself growing to appreciate Susannah and marveling at her strength. Joanna, not so much, but that stems from my difficulty in seeing Joanna's situation as a hardship or struggle. That being said, this story is strong on relationships and how relationship dynamics can change into surprisingly unexpected friendships. As for the family secret, I admit, I am a sucker for stories with a family secret at its root, and the author has created a lovely web of intrigue that slowly reveals the truth to the reader.

Overall, a wonderful historical fiction story set in the American steel-boom era.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another #NetGalley read done!!! Karen Kelly really sucked me into this read. It's a family saga filled with secrets. The real message for me was all about forgiveness and healing. It was about understanding how keeping a secret helped a relationship heal. Fave line: "Just because skin doesn’t show scars does not mean there haven’t been wounds". It did drag a little in the beginning but the story is definitely worth reading the little details.

This is a story with so many sides, tragedy, love, mystery, secrets and ultimately the people and family and how it all weaves together.

"This was one time when description does not do book justice. This book left me heart-broken, all cried out and wrenched. I felt for the characters for all of them.
Bethlehem is the story of a family through generation. Moreover, it is the story of women in the family (as families are blended with time), of their role and their place in the lives of their men and in the life of the house Brymore.
Three generations of women come together in one house. Upper class and low-middle class America. For some of them the house and traditions will stifling, for some freeing. For all of them secrets will be burning, lies will be heardbreaking and revelations and confessions will be releasing and cleansing.
The lies we tell to safe our loved ones... The hearbreak we go through to keep pretending. The torture we undergo to comply and to fit in... Bethlehem is a wonderful story of unfolding, undoing, unreveling...
The story is told very carefully, very slowly and very protective of its players. The author loves the characters, every one of them and it shows. Amazing work and amazing story."

I loved this unputdownable book!
It was a thrilling, unnerving read. The characters were realistic. The plot was gripping and fast-paced. Run, do not walk, out to get this fab book.
Thank you NetGalley.

I enjoyed this one, right from the start. I have a thing for interesting cemeteries and their caretakers (my grandfather was one after his retirement and he sometimes took me, age 7 or so, to run around while he did his thing) so the first chapter sucked me in.

The cemetery was only one part of the story, but it's where a mysterious headstone is found and imparts some intrigue. A work of fiction about the Bethlehem Steel company in Bethlehem PA and the families behind it, I am not sure now if the wealthy Colliers and Parrishes were real families or not. They are all close friends and then inter-marry. There isn't a lot of action; I just enjoyed reading about them and their relationship struggles. The two storylines are 1962 and 1918- 1924, with the focus being on the females who try to do more than just support their men.

Just one complaint and it annoyed the heck out of me. Several characters were called by their given names as well as their nicknames. With three families in the cast, it's hard enough to keep them all straight. But then add one or more nicknames per person and it gets boggling.

Not for everyone, but it fit my current mood. Thank you to St Martin's Press for the complimentary copy.