“Dovetail” by Karen McQuestion

A haunting and intriguing novel that takes place during two different years: 1916 and 1983.

When Joe Arneson is brought to Wisconsin by a grandmother he was not aware he had, that his terrifying dreams and his grandmother’s tragic life events in her late teens seem to coincide.

As Joe works through his grandmother’s house to get it ready to sell, he uncovers many pictures and items of the past that all have stories behind them, some more meaningful to his grandmother than others, some which trigger Joe’s terror dreams. Slowly he is able to put a lot of pieces together between the stories, pieces of the town as he gets acquainted to them, from his friend Kathleen, and eventually from his grandmother. As more is revealed, each terror dream is resolved and more peace is brought to both Joe and his grandmother until she is eventually able to pass away in knowing she is forgiven by the many she believes she has harmed.

An enticing novel that gets to the core of human nature, the effects of tragedy, family dynamics, love, jealousy, and the power to find peace in ones heart. Karen McQuestion has always had the ability to bring a story alive and relatable for the reader as well as develop wonderfully flawed and human characters that bring the novel further to life. A novel not to be missed.

Rating: 4.8
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


** I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are all my own

I love everything that Karen McQuestion has written and Dovetail is no exception! Wonderfully set in both 1916 and 1983, Pearl is the glue that holds this story together. Oh, Pearl, I want to dislike you but I also can feel sorry for you and forgive you for your past mistakes. Pearl's grandson, Joe, has never met his grandmother but trusts that she is really who she says she is when she arrives at the psychiatric institution where he is being held. Joe is having vivid dreams that seem real and Pearl may be able to help him. I love Joe and Kathleen (newcomer and shop owner) and their budding relationship. I love Pearl's sister, Alice, as well as Ricky. This story has it all: romance, suspense, mystery, murder, self-discovery, and heart. I tend to describe a lot of Karen's books as heart-warming because she does such a wonderful job at character development and relationships. Multifaceted perfection!

In her latest novel, Karen McQuestion "dovetails" parallel narratives set in small-town Wisconsin. She did such an expert job of interweaving the two stories set in 1916 and 1983 that I had to occasionally remind myself which one I was reading in the alternating chapters. I found it to be a very satisfying and emotional read and look forward to reading more of Karen McQuestion's novels. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for introducing me to another must-read author.

Dovetail is the newest book by Karen McQuestion. Pearl Arneson has lived a life of many regrets. She is the only one left who knows the truth about her sister, Alice’s death. The story opens in 1983 when 84-year-old Pearl Arneson seeks out her grandson, 22-year-old Joe, who was placed in a psychiatric treatment center for disturbing dreams with no clear cause or psychiatric break. She has a job for him. The family home in Pullman, Wisconsin needs to be cleaned and the items inventoried in order to sell the house. Joe takes the job, hoping the work can help him figure out these strange dreams. Rewind to 1916, when 17-year-old Pearl, the second of seven daughters, dreams of leaving their tiny town and traveling the world. Her older sister, Alice, is 19 years old and takes care of the family after the tragic death of their mother. That summer a handsome and eligible bachelor comes to the family’s farm to work at the local mill. John Lawrence is immediately infatuated with Alice, much to the horror of Pearl and Frank, the local man who fancies himself Alice’s beau. As the summer progresses and love blossoms between John and Alice, Pearl tries her best to keep them apart, but will her schemes go too far? In 1983, Joe works on the family home and develops a friendship with a local businesswoman, Kathleen, who is hiding a painful past herself. Joe notices a change in his dreams. He finds pieces of his family’s history that he knew nothing about. Will Joe find peace from his dreams? Will Pearl find the forgiveness she is seeking?

Dovetail is a beautiful, tragic story filled jealousy, guilt, redemption and finding peace within yourself. It is a story of how one tragedy can cause a cascade of poor decisions and life-altering mistakes. In the opening chapter, Pearl admits Alice died because of her foolish pride and with that note, the reader is taken on a journey between 1916 and 1983 as the mystery unfolds. How did Alice die? How is Pearl responsible? How is Pearl’s grandson, Joe, connected to it all? While I had a hard time sympathizing with teenage Pearl, as an older woman, I enjoyed Pearl as she realizes her time is short and wants to make amends or atonement for her actions. I laughed at her no-nonsense attitude. I related more to and enjoyed Alice and watching her fall in love was bittersweet. Even though, I knew from the beginning that she dies, her death was painful, emotional and shocking. I enjoyed Joe’s story and his battle with what he has been told is a mental illness, but he realizes it just doesn’t fit. I also enjoyed the relationship development between Joe and Kathleen. It felt very realistic as a woman who was running from a past bad relationship to be cautious going forward. Joe and Kathleen have a connection they couldn’t explain but they let their relationship flow naturally. The romances in the story are done beautifully. Dovetail is my first Karen McQuestion book and it won’t be my last. I look forward to reading her past titles and eagerly await her new books.

Dovetail
is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

Can you give the first book you read of the year 5 stars? Well I sat on the review a couple of months, and guess what? No book I have read this year compares! I have read some good books this year, but Dovetail is the book that stands out. Dovetail is the book that has it all. Dovetail is the book I recommend the most.

I am a huge Karen McQuestion fan. (If you aren't, you need to read this book, you will be.) I always say Hello Love is my favorite book of hers. Dovetail may have changed my mind, that is how good it is. Dovetail has so many elements in it, that are so engrossing. There are love stories, but that isn't just all. There is mystery, and there is murder, (manslaughter?), there are dual timelines with a character that spans both of them named Pearl that you love to hate and hate to love. There is family drama, and who doesn't love family drama? There is a woman trying to get a fresh start running away from a life filled with with an abusive husband, one who only wants to find her again.

The story just flows so efffortlessly as all Karen McQuestion novels do. Each of her books just keep getting better. I may have found a new favorite, until her next one comes out.....

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, and also from Netgalley and the publisher. I thank them all. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. (less)

What a wonderful tale! For about the first half of the book, Dovetail is a very interesting story about Joe and Kathleen and what has brought each of them to Pullman, a small town in Nowheresville, Wisconsin. It’s 1983. Joe has been having disturbing lifelike dreams and is in a mental health facility when the grandmother he has been told is dead shows up and wants him to come to Pullman with her. Sounds better than where he’s at, so he agrees, with reserve and with a lot of questions. Kathleen ended an abusive marriage, but her ex-husband Rickey is determined not to remain an “ex” so the secondhand store and house left to her in her great aunt’s will seems like perfect timing, the opportunity to get away, even though Kathleen has only been to Pullman a few times, knows nothing about running a store and wasn’t that close to her aunt. Joe and Kathleen meet under ordinary circumstances, but there’s nothing ordinary about their reactions to each other. Neither of them is looking for a relationship, but they have an instant, unexplainable attraction: “It was like her entire being said yes at the sight of him.” Chapters alternate between 1983 and 1916, revealing something about Joe’s grandmother Pearl and Kathleen’s great-aunt Edna and their friends and family in Pullman when they were young women.

But then about mid-way through Dovetail goes from being a very interesting story about Pullman and the people in it, both past and present to being a story that is almost magical. All the loose threads start to weave together and everyday events and facts that didn’t seem to mean much suddenly become significant. At this point I was so intrigued I could hardly put the book down. I wanted to read faster and faster – what’s the connection between Joe and Kathleen, what’s Pearl’s secret, what really happened in Pullman in 1916, and how much danger does Ricky present in 1983?

To say any more would give away too much. You need to read it for yourself. Dovetail is a sweet, sweet love story, full of mystery and surprises and intrigue and danger. It’s bittersweet at times Lives are ruined or lost or wasted, friendships ended, and some things can’t be fixed or changed. But there is also love and hope and that sweetness.

Thanks to author Karen McQuestion for providing an advance copy of Dovetail via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed Dovetail and highly recommend it.

What an absolutely lovely story! I loved all the characters, past and present. I enjoyed how it went back and forth between 1916 and 1983. Loved the past references of pay phones, and such. The tales were interwoven so well. Really emotional writing. Sad, sweet, and all things between. This is the second book that I’ve read from Karen McQuestion and I’m glad I own a few more. Thank you Netgalley.

What a beautiful and unusual book. #Dovetail by @karenquest caught my attention in the first few pages when Pearl tells us she has broken all ten of the commandments. Which got me thinking how many I’ve broken myself - not all of them, for sure.

The story wasn’t at all what I expected. I’ll not recap events. I could never do this novel justice by doing that. This story is full of intrigue and it unfolds beautifully with a family mystery carefully intertwined in a study of relationships and forgiveness- of ourselves and others. I think I fell in love with so many of the characters, even those I didn’t think I’d like. It’s one of those books you find yourself a little disappointed to have finished. And I want to belong to the community of Pullman. The author did a great job of transporting you there without overly descriptive paragraphs that fail to carry you along. Even though some elements of the story are kind of unbelievable the whole thing is totally believable. Definitely a good read and a book that has touched me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Karen McQuestion has done it yet AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!! This is a beautiful book from beginning to end. I am so grateful that I got to read an early copy of her latest book. Highly recommend. You will feel so many different emotions reading this book. Joe is the main character. And his whole world changes when he goes to visit his grandmother. I don't think you are prepared for what happens in this book. This book is for everyone ! Enjoy !

A young man Joe Arneson, has been plagued, by nightmares of himself in a different time, which had him cry out in his dreams, worrying the people closest to him.
He was put in an institution, to find out what is wrong with him, but when his Grandmother Pearl, estranged from her son, (Joe's father) finds out he is there, she goes to get him out and to see if he would go with her to work for the summer, clearing out the old ancestral home. Jo did not even know his grandmother was alive as he had always been told she had died.
Intrigued by this challenge and to find out more about his family and what really happened to make his father and Pearl no longer speak to each other, he accepts her job.
Once in the small town, where Joe is helping his grandmother clear out the house and where he meets Kathleen, a young woman who inherited, her great aunts thrift store.
Jo begins to piece together what really happened to his family members and with the help of Kathleen, the story unfolds about two different love stories, one in 1916 and now in 1983.
Great characters and story line, this book kept me reading.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book.

Dovetail is a story that has a dual timeline - 1916 and 1983 where the past merges with the present. Joe has been having horrible dreams but he can’t quite figure out the meaning of them. Joe’s life changes when he is checked out of a treatment center by his grandmother (Pearl) - a grandmother that he was told died years ago. He agrees to work for his grandmother for the summer and gets to know her and some of his family history. As his dreams continue, he starts to sense there is a connection between the present and his grandmother’s past. This story has so many feels - love, heart ache, betrayal and forgiveness to name a few. I really enjoyed this book – thank you to NetGalley and Karen McQuestion for my advanced review copy.

Family Secrets Set the Stage for Romance

Joe Arneson is in a mental hospital because of violent recurring dreams that frightened his father, step-mother, and little sister, Linda. Joe thinks he’s basically all right. He doesn’t want his family terrified, but equally he doesn’t want to try his doctor’s latest idea of electroshock therapy. When Pearl, shows up with her lawyer, telling him she’s his grandmother, he’s ready to escape. The problem is that his father told him his grandmother had been dead for years.

This story is told in two time periods, 1916 and 1983. In 1916, Pearl’s father was newly widowed and trying to raise seven daughters. Alice, the elders, had taken on the maternal role at which she was excellent. Pearl, the second oldest, had no interest in domestic chores. She wanted to be an actress and leave the small Wisconsin town. Then tragedy struck and Pearl has still not recovered.

In 1983, Joe and Kathleen work together to clean out the family house and in the process discover the family secrets. As they work together, they become attached to each other. Joe hopes to have a life with her and wants to expose the secrets to bring his family back together.

The book is enjoyable to read. I often find stories told in two time periods are difficult to follow. However, this one is well coordinated. Joe and Kathleen are characters you can enjoy. The have good values and want to help Pearl resolve her problems before she dies. I liked Pearl a great deal. She’s a feisty old lady in spite of her demons.

If you enjoy a romance with family secrets, this is a good one.


I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

This beautiful story is multilayered and told via alternating timelines.

It's the 1980's when Joe is removed from the mental asylum by his grandmother Pearl, a woman he believed to be dead. She needs Joe and Joe needs her. As we see Pearl's past, the parallels with the present really tie things together for a unique and lovely mystery about family and heartbreak as well as perseverance. There's also some romance in this book and an element of magical realism. It has a little bit of something for everyone.

This is my first book by Karen McQuestion but I would definitely read her work again in the future.

This is a beautifully written love story that moves through the ages as the main characters are reincarnations of their previous lives. Their present lives are not only meant to relive the past but also to uplift the burden on some of the family members and to change their destiny. Even if you don´t believe in reincarnation or life beyond death, the story by itself is really worth reading as it´s full of love, friendship, compassion and respect for other human beings.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book "Dovetail" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. This is a really good book and very uplifting. A love story with tragedy, family secrets and hope. I love magical, mystical books like this. An enjoyable read.

This story takes place in a small Midwest town in Wisconsin. The story goes back in forth from 1916 to 1983 dealing with family secrets, lies and love and forgiveness.
Joe suffers from what is believed to be mental illness but as the story unfolds there is much more to the story. Even though some may Categorize the book as a mystery I’d say it is also part historical and modern day romance. Ha maybe not modern day since 1983 is almost 40 years ago.
I’m not sure if I’ve had read any of Karen McQuestions book but I will say this won’t be the last. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this one early.

Dovetail is my first Karen McQuestion book, and I will say that I was intrigued by this dual timeline story. Set in 1916 and 1983 in a small Wisconsin town, we meet different generations of two families and discover how they are intertwined. I found it a bit magical. This was such a moving tale with elements of suspense, family drama, redemption, and of course love. I was pleasantly surprised by Dovetail and recommend it to not only historical fiction and women’s fiction readers, but to anyone who needs a little uplifting.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Karen McQuestion does an amazing job of mixing the past and the present in such a way that I couldn’t put this book down until I finished it. This was a captivating love story intertwined with the tragedy of the past. I loved the way she grabbed the reader from the very beginning with the unexplained dreams of a confused young man and his quest to distinguish truth from fiction all the while learning about his family in a way he never could have imagined. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC and know that this is my true and honest review.

This is a complex story that is so well-written that I hardly realized how complex it was until I got to the end and reflected on it. Then, I decided that it was like a maze, but the author had provided a detailed map for me to follow so I never felt lost or overwhelmed. The secret of the complexity lies in the title because everything “dovetails” together in the end in a way that it all comes together in one beautiful picture of love, loss and forgiveness. Joe Arneson is having visions of what he thinks may be the past and travels to see his grandmother Pearl to try to find out some answers. There, he discovers that there is a multi-dimensional person who has secrets that she is now willing to share, but slowly and methodically. Joe meets and falls in love with a woman named Kathleen and together, they set out to solve the mystery that is his grandmother Pearl and her sister Alice. The past and the present that are portrayed in this book come together seamlessly. I loved the story, although some of the characters were definitely unlikeable. The book was filled with suspense and family drama, like a soap opera but much more well-written. The details flowed from the pen of the author into my mind, enlisting my aid in solving the mystery right along with the main characters. Fans of Karen McQuestion will devour this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys dramatic fiction that is filled with mystery and suspense.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This is an intriguing and complex novel of family secrets which linger for years until forced to the surface. Told in dual time line- 1916 and 1983- the story is precipitated by Joe's nightmares and hospitalization for his mental health. His grand mother Pearl comes to rescue him and in putting him to work at her farm opens up her old wounds. It's also a romance tale between Pearl's sister Alice snd John and between Joe and Kathleen, the woman helping him clean out Pearl's home. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Nicely written and deeply heartfelt, this is a good read.