This is a beautifully written, highly emotional story of young love and the tragic circumstances of one night. It’s also the story of a mother/daughter relationship and all the good and bad that inherently goes along with that. It’s a story about the lengths a mother will go to for her child and the lengths a young couple will go to for love.

The writing is superb, the plot is engaging and the ending is perfect. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It’s simply perfect, 5/5 stars!

Thank you, NetGalley and Algonquin books for the ARC.

Ella Fitchburg had all the yearnings of a young teenage girl, mostly she dreamed of falling in love. She was raised by her single mom who had grown up in a Chasidic community in Brooklyn, exiled when she brought the family shame. The two of them lived a simple life with no extended family and few friends. When Ella meets Jude at a party they share an instant connection. Although Ella is pretty and smart, Jude’s domineering and abusive father, a Judge, forbids the young couple from spending so much time together. When sneaking around becomes too much, the young lovers make one bad decision after another. Accused of trying to poison the Judge, Ella is sentenced to 25 years and Jude disappears. With an early release after only six years Ella tries to rebuild her life. Her mother does everything she can to make Ella comfortable but her attentions are suffocating and Ella is overtaken by an obsession to find the daughter she birthed and put up for adoption while she was in prison. When an address leads to the adoptive parents living in Ann Arbor, Michigan this is where Ella reestablishes her life. Living in constant fear of her actual identity being revealed, Ella lives in a world full of secrets and constant distress. As the story is narrated between the past and present the reader finally learns what really happened that momentous night, the night that changed everything. I really wanted to love this but didn’t. The writing is excellent but there is a lot of repetition and unlikable characters that are tough to root for. It could have been edited down and become a much smoother read. On the fence with this one.

Caroline Leavitt has written another emotional moving novel.My heart went out to Ella a young girl who fell madly in love with Jude and do to repercussions from their love affair her life took a terrible turn.So well written so involving.#netgalley #days of wonder

What a moving read! Caroline Leavitt writes novels that stay with you and her latest novel, Days of Wonder, most definitely will grab you by the heart. This novel centers around Ella Fitchburg and her mother, Helen, and the intricacies of a mother/daughter relationship. The storyline time hops between Ella at age 15 and 22, and the night that forever changes them and the domino effect thereafter. I was captivated the entire way through and highly recommend this 5 star novel! Days of Wonder is a character-driven novel that would make a perfect book club selection!

A mother and daughter find their lives upended by unexpected pregnancies in each of their lives. Ella, the daughter, who has been released from a prison sentence, is trying to restart her life. She is also desperate to find the daughter she was forced to give up while she was imprisoned.
Helen, her mother, wants to support her daughter, but must confront truths about her own pregnancy and shunning by her Hasidic community.
Within this story is a young man, Jude, whose sad and difficult life is linked to the 3 generations of females.

This is a compelling novel by a favorite author which deals with complicated mother/daughter relationships. The author actually leads the reader to a third generation of females in this saga. I loved reading about the struggles of handling young love, mature love and maternal love.

Thank you Netgalley for this wonderful book about the complex feelings and relationships between mothers and daughters.

I felt for Ella and thought her character was very well-developed. She had been through a lot of crap, and Leavitt crafted a good story around that. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

4-4.5-Ella and June are a teenage couple in love, but Jude’s dad, a judge, has a different future mapped out, one that does not include Ella. The couple talk of life together, without Jude’s father. We learn in the beginning of the novel that Ella is convicted of the attempted murder of Jude’s father and he gets off without a look back. Ella is released from prison and goes to live with her mother who has been visiting and doing all that she can to prepare for Ella’s return home. The story is heartbreaking to read. Ella has been through so much, and just when she is able to get a fresh start, more bad luck follows. I loved the storyline and the characters are very well written. However, I felt there was a little bit too much of the bad things happening to her. It almost felt as if she lived every day as Friday the 13th, crossing under ladders and seeing black cats. In the end, I did feel there was a little bit of a storyline that was wrapped up too easily to be realistic. Overall, I still really enjoyed this book and will for sure be looking for this author in the future.