I received a free copy from NetGalley. A novel about dealing with the death of a parent and the secrets that come out at that time. There is enough mystery in this novel to keep a mystery lover entertained.

I enjoyed this book. You get to know 3 siblings who are all different in their own way on a quest to find there father if he is alive. Family secrets come out after the passing of their mother. I would recommend this book to everyone!

First, I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an Advanced Readers Copy of this story.

This story takes place around a family with many secrets - such is when looking at white southern culture. The story is told from the perspective of Lila as she deals with the loss of her mother as well as her siblings grief process. The book flows smoothly and reads relatively quickly. It was enjoyable; however, it was not a life altering tale. The secrets that arose in the novel I thought were predictable, but this story still had some twists that surprised me. I found that some places were overly descriptive and skimmed through some info dumps through the novel. The characters are lively however they fall flat at times as they progress through these difficult emotions and realizing the consequences of their mothers decisions to their own lives. This books major themes are grief, family secrets, LGBTQ+, and child/parent relationships. I recommend reading this book. overall, I enjoyed reading this book - however I do not think I would have purchased it.

I have never read anything by this author before and so I was excited to start this book.

At first I thought this was going to be about a family saga starting with the death of the Matriarch of the family. As Lila and Henry head down south to help their sister Abigail bury their mother feelings are running high. Lila left and never returned home and Henry is gay but thinks he has kept his secret for years. What they find waiting for them is secrets and more secrets about how their mother died. Between dealing with their sister Abigail who has gone off the deep end of crazy and then the characters of this steamy town in the south one is in for a very enjoyable read. At some point this book becomes a mystery with a very satisfying end.

I will read more books by this author and I'm excited to see what she does next.

Thanks to Netgalley for supplying this book.

All families have secrets, but when Lila and her brother Henry return to their home in Georgia after their mother's sudden death, they realize that everything they knew about their family was a lie. A novel that follows in the footsteps of great Southern writing of Fannie Flagg and Adriana Trigiani and even Pat Conroy, Terry bring us the raw emotions and distinct dynamics of a Southern family. Southerners will recognize the landscape and the social conventions that we all grew up with. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed this book so much. Although I did not grow up in Georgia, Southern customs are similar across the southern states and those customs set a bar that's difficult for many people to meet, especially if they are unique in any way. This is a story with a few surprising twists and turns (and a few that are VERY predictable) that kept me turning pages. The imagery is beautiful, the emotions palpable, the characters believable, and the conclusions logical and realistic. I really liked this book, both for its readable plot and its literary value.

This turned out to be very different from what I expected. I thought it would be a typical novel about a return to Southern roots, perhaps meeting a new man, but such a surprise when this was about literally digging out the truth about one’s family history.

When Lila is called home after her mother’s death, carefully held secrets and despicable lies are revealed. Lila and her brother Henry go on a journey to uncover the truth. This novel is beautifully written, especially descriptive about nature and animals.

I really enjoyed reading this and was certainly unprepared for the path that the author followed. Learning the TRUTH and understanding what society was like, especially in the small-town south was really interesting.

Thank you Netgalley for this surprising ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for a chance to read this book and give an honest review. This southern story has one of the main characters returning to her small southern town in the wake of her mothers sudden death. The family comes together and discovers there are family secrets that were literally buried long ago and now is the time to unearth them. It is somewhat of a heavy read but the story flowed telling of family secrets, complex pasts and childhoods, resentments, love, loss, forgiveness, and acceptance.

Lila was eight years old the first time her mother died. When she saw her mother’s lifeless body being pulled out of the pool, she ran to her place of solace, a hidey-hole under the muscadine arbor. Hours later, her younger brother Henry came to tell her their mother was not, after all, deceased, merely injured.
Decades went by. Their father died in Vietnam, and their family fell apart. Henry could do no wrong. Abby was the pet. Lila took the brunt of their mother’s unhappiness. She rejected the life that was expected of her as a Southern belle. She went north for college, fell in love, and made a good life for herself in Maine. After her beloved husband died, she had no intention of moving back to Georgia.
When she got word that her mother had died for real, she returned to her childhood home to lay Geneva Tolleson to rest. Her younger sister Abby had found their mother’s body face down under the muscadine arbor, dead from a serious heart problem she’d kept secret from her children. Her children discovered that she’d had many other secrets, secrets that proved everything they thought was true of their family was in fact a monstrous lie.
The author’s writing is lush and lyrical, whether describing the magnolia-scented gentility of upper-class Georgians, as well as its rigid code of behavior, or the crisp smell of the pines of Maine. The plot is intricate and intriguing, with twists and turns the reader will not see coming. The characters come alive on the page. The family dynamics are both deeply personal and universal.

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines was full of my favorites: dysfunctional families, secrets, The South....and a bonus trip to SCOTLAND!

I could not turn the pages fast enough on this one. Three siblings reunite near Stone Mountain Georgia, for the funeral of their mother, Geneva Bruce. Oldest sister Lila can't figure out what on earth her mother was doing out by the old muscadine arbor, where youngest sister Abby found her. Lila uncovers long buried (literally) secrets that reverberate through her family and beyond. With younger brother Henry, they journey to Scotland to find the father who was thought to have died years ago.

This book was so atmospheric, with lush descriptions that allowed me to travel to the wild rocky coast of Maine, the hot and swampy American south and the ancient beauty of the Scottish Highlands. The author also examines the detrimental effects of valuing appearances over authenticity and how far some will go to preserve them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and new to me author. I will anxiously be awaiting more from this author. Many thanks to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and author Pamela Terry for the complimentary e-book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. There are a few different mysteries in this book that are all tied together. Lots of lies and betrayals. I really liked Henry and Lila. This story is intricately told and I enjoyed the slight intrigue that would pop up now and again. For all the sadness and grief throughout the book I loved the ending. Families and their secrets can be difficult to navigate and this book is a prime example of how far some people will go to keep their secrets from coming out. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I found this book so beautifully written that I ended up wanting to quote the entire thing. The problem with a review is that loading superlatives is tedious, and yet describing the unfolding of the plot is a great disservice to a book that had one plot element I predicted, and many more that not only caught me by surprise, but in every sense was better than I expected.

Altogether this book was better written that I had expected from the marketing material, and within the story, depicted better humans, and people trying to be better people.

So, a few quotes:

As with so many of the women in my family, there were no subtleties in my sister's life; all her choices, from adjectives to earrings, were outside and theatrical. It's possible that the seeds of this behavior were planted by maternal ancestors desperate to be heard, otherwise mutely invisible women in hoop skirts who learned early to manipulate by drama, exaggerating whatever means of communication they could grab in their liz-white fists in order to solidify their gauzy shadows and prove that they mattered.

Another:

Every house is haunted. Some are haunted in the traditional way: by spirits generally more mischievous than malevolent, who take delight in closing the open door, rocking the empty chair, or snuffing out the flaming candle, unfortunately souls who failed to squeeze enough enjoyment out of their party allotment of days to sufficiently satisfy their eternity. Most, however, are haunted by our own memories: bits of ourselves, individual and unique, left behind and lying dormant for decades but with the power to quicken and breathe the moment we step back inside. . . . They wait for us with the patience of angels, . . . like rainbows through beveled glass, they coalesce in the stillness, ethereal as a dream yet visible to our eyes only.

So many more, about sharp memories that thread through the garments we were wearing that day; the rain in the highlands;

Truly a lovely book.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As a debut book for this author, Pamela Terry, I found it to be a very interesting story. It deals with Lila and Henry returning to their small town Georgia roots. Their mother has suddenly died and they return home to be with their sister Abby in handling the matters that must be addressed. This is a great book about intense family dynamics and secrets that change everyone. The first half of the book was a little hard for me to love as I found her writing style way too wordy with descriptions that go on and on and on. I found this very tiring to begin with and I was not as involved as I wanted to be.

That all that changes with the second half that really draws you in and you cannot wait to see where this is going. I loved the way she dealt with Lila and Henry’s trip to Scotland and felt I was a companion on their journey. Pamela Terry has a powerful grasp on descriptive writing. However, the wordiness kept this from being a 5 star book for me. I look forward to her future books.

A great story filled with family drama, secrets, and discovery.
Growing up Lila never truly had a deep connection with her mother, and when she could, she left for college and built a life for herself away from the family. When her sister, Abigail, calls her and her brother, Henry, to tell them their mother was found dead in the Muscadine Arbor, all the siblings get together again. The muscadine arbor holds a special place in Lila's heart, as it was where she always went as a child to escape. Once reunited, the siblings begin a quest to find out what exactly happened to their mother. What they find are secrets that may alter everything they have believed about themselves and their mother.
Great story and characters. I had a hard time getting into the story, seemed to drag on . The second part was when I couldn't even put the book down. Glad I kept reading.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I could not put this one down. Thanks to Netgalley, for giving me the opportunity to read this as an ARC. This story has a little bit for every reader (family drama, mystery, healing, growth). Lila's mother has died. As with many relationships, Lila and her mother had a difficult time communicating with one another. Going "back home" again will prove to be fraught with emotion and discovery. 4 stars!

Thank you to @randomhouse & NetGalley for gifting me this ARC. I was thrilled when I received an email invitation to read The Sweet Taste of Muscandines!

“Maybe home is more something you carry inside you than the ground on which you stand.”-Pamela Terry. At a time when we’re all distanced from our families this line grabbed my heart.

This books was a wonderful story about family, life and if where you are from makes you who you are. Readers follow Lila who has just received the news that her mother has suddenly passed. We follow her on her journey with her brother Bruce. They have a beautiful relationship which often made me miss my own brother throughout this read. What Lila thinks will be a difficult trip to her small southern hometown due to her mother’s death turns into so much more. Often throughout the novel I found myself wondering how I’d handle finding out so many family secrets.

Pamela Terry is a beautiful writer! Her descriptions were so metaphorical and whimsical. I really enjoyed this story and was surprised at the twists and depth it held. I thought this may be a light read and while it was enjoyable it had so much weight to it.

This book mixed family drama with mystery and self definition so flawlessly. It provided so much to think about regarding how hard it can be to live your truest life. What would you do to live at your happiest? Does your environment allow you to be yourself? I’m looking forward to reading more books by Terry!

A very good debut novel about family secrets, relationships, loves lost and found, heartache, resentments, forgiveness and acceptance. This novel is deliciously descriptive of Southern culture, Maine island isolation, and the wilds of Scottish islands.. This is the story of three siblings, Lila and Henry who feel suffocated in their small southern town and escape north and Abby who stays in her hometown. Abby has always had a close relationship with her mother while Lila and Henry never felt this closeness. Their father, a southern Baptist preacher, is killed in Vietnam when Lila is 9 and remembers her father more than her siblings. She has always been protective of Henry while Abby related more with her mother. When Geneva, their mother dies suddenly Lila and Henry are drawn back to their small Georgian town. While investigating why their mother died in a muscadine arbor, the children find a buried cookie box with 3 unusual letters. These letters open up secrets that Henry and Lila feel the need to follow up on. With the death of their mother Abby turns into someone who the other siblings do not recognize. While Abby is transforming herself, Lila and Henry pursue the possibility that their father might not be dead. The story is told in two parts, the first being the death and discoveries and the second the search for the truth. The characters are well developed, realistic and interesting. The story progresses seamlessly. The novel covers suicide, homosexuality, and family dynamics.

I was provided a copy of The Sweet Taste of Muscadines through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The opinions in this review are wholly my own.

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines by Pamela Terry is narrated by Lila Bruce, elder sibling to Henry and Abigail. The three siblings are reunited when their mother is found dead in the backyard muscadine arbor. The muscadine arbor holds much significance for Lila, who spent a good deal of her childhood hiding out there. The first part of the book is a lyrical ode to the South, but from the perspective of someone who left and views the South with disdain. To be honest, the first part of the book really dragged on for me. Nothing of substance happens until about the halfway mark of the book. The first half is going over and over, ad nauseam, what happens when someone dies in an old-fashioned Southern town. I realize Southern fiction is generally heavy on idioms and other figurative language, but it seemed as though this book could’ve been cut by at least 25% without its excessive use. I also got the impression the author sat with a thesaurus next to her. I love and appreciate a robust vocabulary, but there is a point where it starts to become pretentious and can put off a reader; The Sweet Taste of Muscadines toes the line here.

Part 2 is where I really felt like I could not put this book down. Even with all the descriptive prose in Part 1, I think we get a much deeper feel for Lila and Henry here. The two travel to Scotland in an effort to unravel secrets unearthed by their mother’s death. I went from not fully enjoying this book to hoping it is developed into a movie! I love how the book ended. I recommend sticking it out if you aren’t fully engaged during Part 1.

Overall, I’d recommend this book with the suggestion to keep at it until the end.

A wonderful book full of love, heartbreak and family secrets. What beautiful writing. Lots of wonderful descriptions. Not usually a fan of too much description but the writer had a way of pulling me in and making me feel like I was actually there.! Looking toward to another book by this author

If you love women's fiction, you will love this book. It is everything you will need. Star rating 4.5.

I typically don't read women's fiction, but I did like this book. Star rating for me 3.75 stars.

Lila, Henry and Abby just lost their overbearing mother Geneva. With a little bit of detective work, they find her secrets buried in the muscadine arbor. In this tin, there are letters that reveal that their dad may actually be alive. Also, after the death of their mother, Abby and Henry can finally reveal who they really truly are.

The first 35% of this book is very heavy. It is all about the grieving process of the grown children.

After that, the book starts to get good (well for me since heavy reading is not my thing). Abby realizes since her mom is no longer around, she can finally let loose and become her own person and love who she wants love.

Henry has hidden the fact he is gay to everyone except Lila. Now that his mother is gone, he can finally introduce his long time partners Andrew. This was kept secret since their dad was a baptist preacher and it was considered an 'abomination' to not be straight. This book goes quite heavily into religion and how there is a "don't ask, don't tell" policy on 'sinning.' (This is the book's words, not mine)

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines is a beautifully written book about how secrets shape a family. When Lila's mother is found dead in the muscadine arbor in her small NC town, she goes home for the funeral. Once there, the mysterious circumstances of her mother's death lead her and her siblings to realize that their entire life is based on a huge secret, one that will forever change their family.

The writing in this book is lovely. It flows smooth and reliable. It's not so much about the secret itself, but how secrets shape and form relationships. It wasn't a mystery so much as a dive into what makes us who we are as people, and how the decisions we make and what we see as home can be forever altered by a single event. The characters are strong and relatable, and the visual pictures are engaging and lovely.

This is a very solid first showing for this author, and I look forward to reading more from her!