Excellent. I loved this book. Ashley Farley's best so far. This was the epitome of good Southern literature. Had all the necessities; family drama, secrets, tragedy, and of course mental health issues. Loved it. NetGalley ARC)
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Ashley Farley's newest novel, Tangled in Ivy, is by far her best work yet. It is a riveting, compelling work of fiction that is filled with intrigue and family drama. It's not Ms. Farley's usual Southern fiction as it adds layers of a thriller to it's story line. I could not put my kindle down because I was so involved in the plot. Give yourself a treat and read Tangled in Ivy! Thank you Ashley Farley and NetGalley for the ARC!

TANGLED IN IVY by Ashley Farley is a beautifully-written and compelling work of Southern fiction with lots of family drama, intrigue and twists I never saw coming. I could not put this book down! Since she was a child, Lillian Alexander has suppressed all memories of the day her mother died in a terrible accident. Twenty-seven years later, as Lillian’s beloved father Graham lays dying, he is desperate to tell her something important, but she can’t make sense of it. Days later at his funeral, several people she meets spark her recall of bits of her childhood, leaving her questioning what she believes about her past. Lillian also wonders why her relationship with her twin sister, Layla, has always been so adversarial. While sorting her father’s belongings, Lillian discovers a memoir written by her father in which he relays the story of his life with his wife, her troubled mother, Ivy. The story unfolds into two interwoven timelines, the present, where the two sisters are at odds once again over the fate of their ancestral home and the past, now revealed in shocking detail in Graham’s memoir. Generations of family secrets come to light that threaten to drive the sisters even further apart. I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping story of family, love and loss and I highly recommend it. I am grateful to the author and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

This book was so good! The characters were so well rounded, you felt like you actually knew them! The plot was so good you didn't want the book to end!

Lillian and Layla are twins who share a less than cordial relationship, seemingly at odds with each other from the start. Graham is a poor boy who had landed a dream job as a professor at a university meets Edward and his charismatic daughter Ivy with whom he falls in love with. These two threads of storylines are woven together in two timelines at the start of the novel that unravels into two different periods of history as the book progresses. Set in Charleston, which at times feels as if it is another character, we see the sisters in conflict after the death of their father and dealing with the fallout of the revelations of secrets that Graham discloses in his memoir left to his daughters at his death.
The reader is invited to create a positive relationship with both Lillian and Graham who are the storytellers and is left to wonder at the behaviour of Layla and Ivy, although neither of the later characters is horrible outright, but rather tortured by their personal lives and their inability to form strong connections with people around them. Well-paced, the story covers a period both of years and a lifetime. Its exploration of family dysfunction is gripping, the characters are well-drawn and the setting real. It manages to balance intrigue and revelations in a manner that is fulfilling and ultimately satisfying.
Entertaining reading.

This is one of those stories where my heart was immediately immersed in the plot to join Lillian as she sets out to find truths and lies regarding her life and the lives of her family.
Lililan is in search of some answers following the death of her beloved father Graham.
She finds an old manuscript in his office desk spanning from his life as a young man,his career as an English college professor, his marriage to Ivy and then the twin's, Lilian and Layla's birth and their years growing up.
It is not at all what anyone can imagine.
Will Lillian be able to find the answers she needs to make peace and move forward with her own life?

I loved this novel! Ashley Farley is a wonderful story teller and these people in the book will steal your heart as you learn about the Stoney family and their secrets!

Once again Ashley Farley has done it again. She took me on a wild ride with twists and turns, lots of intrigues and wishing I could read faster.
You can read what the book is about when you are deciding if you want to read it. So, I will tell you the reason I loved the book and why I recommend it. Ashley has a way of writing that as you are reading, you get a sense that there is more going on. As the book progresses, I start to see what has been going on but I know there is more to come. Sure enough, there is. Then as it is coming to the end, she finishes it with flair. She doesn't come out with just an answer, she leaves a little mystery still until she knows I will figure it out myself.
I said I wished I could read faster, I know you are thinking you can skip pages. No, you can't because she is always revealing more and you don't want to miss it. Thank you, Ashley and NetGalley for the ARC. It is an amazing book that I hope you choose to read.

This is one of the most heartfelt, and Intriguing books I have ever read. It is beautifully written, and the characters are portrayed in a way they feel real. The book starts out with Lillian saying a final goodbye to her beloved father as he takes his last breath. She has been faithfully at his side for the past months, caring for him along with a hospice nurse. Within about 20 minutes of his death, Layla arrives, but too late to say a final goodbye.. Lillian and Layla are twins, although Lillian has stayed in Charleston where they were raised ,and Layla now lives in Atlanta. Ivy, the mother of the girls died when they were 6 years old so were raised by their dad, a nanny,and Trudy, a trusted and loved long-time employee of the family. Lillian and Layla grew up mostly at odds with one another. Lillian being the more quiet sister, and Layla the more domineering one. Together the sisters are now the owner of their ancestral home which creates new issues. Their father, Graham, was an English Professor at the College of Charleston.. When he was a new member of the faculty, at a reception hosted by the college, Graham met Edward Stoney, an alumni, and his adult daughter, Ivy. Edward took an interest in young Graham and invited him to go sailing. Graham accepted, hoping he'd see Ivy again. Eventually Edward encouraged the marriage between Graham and Ivy. Upon Graham's death, Lillian found a manuscript her dad had written about his life with Ivy. From this point on, the book goes from the story of Graham's and Ivy's life together as told my Graham, to the present time .and the challenges that are facing Lillian and Layla. The title of this book is absolutely perfect as what a tangled mess can be created in lives when there are secrets. This book should be read when there are no other time commitments as it's a difficult book to put down. I kept turning the pages to the end. because I didn't want to wait to find out what happens next. Ashley Farley has another big winner here!