Is courage the ability to speak on the unspeakable or to act upon it. Cissy is willing to guarantee the safety of her sisters, with no thought of the consequences she will face. The struggle of three generations of women at a time when the housekeeper was more of a mother to the children. How do you come together when you've always been an arm length away. Love can heal some wounds and bring us back together.

This book is the definition of family drama! 16 year old Cissy murders her father and sets a chain of events in motion. Cissy had been abused by her father for years. Out of concern for her 2 younger sisters , she sees no way around killing her father. Her mother Caroline doesn't know about the abuse and she blames Cissy. Janelle , Caroline's mother, is the only person Cissy has in her corner. After she is committed to a state hospital, a psychiatrist tries to help Cissy but so many secrets make her issues worse. Janelle and Cissy take off on a road trip and it is amazing for both of them. This is a story of family secrets and drama and of family relationships both good and bad. I really enjoyed this book and I loved the relationship between Cissy and Janelle. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Kensington Books. All opinions are my own.

4 stars

What an interesting book! The story is fascinating and the book just draws the reader in.

Cissy is a much misunderstood sixteen-year old girl. She talks to God. She counts things. Her very strict mother thinks there is something wrong with Cissy; she thinks her odd.

One day Cissy commits an irrevocable deed to protect her younger sisters. For this her mother hates her with all her being. But her maternal grandmother Janelle loves Cissy and tries very hard to protect her.

What follows is Cissy and Janelle’s journey to healing. For Janelle, it is an opportunity to open herself to the love of her granddaughter, something she couldn’t always give Caroline, Cissy’s mother. For Cissy, it is a chance to heal and learn about herself and the world around her.

This book is well written and plotted. It reads rather quickly and smoothly. I liked Cissy and her quirks, although it is easy to see why some people would think her strange. I really liked Janelle and her strength of character. Caroline, not so much. She thought more of her husband than of Cissy and flatly didn’t believe Cissy’s story. I know that this is not an uncommon occurrence in such situations, but the assumption that the child is lying still really frosts my preserves.

This is at once both a tragic and heartwarming story. I strongly recommend it for anyone who likes books about the relationships between generations and women both strong and those more tentative.

I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.