When Eliza’s husband dies suddenly, she knows he has been keeping secrets from her. What she doesn’t know is the extent of those secrets, including another wife, and indebtedness. Eliza has to start over, enrolling in night school, doing laundry for neighbors in her residential motel, and trying to patch together a life. The setting was 1960’s Texas, where there was much economic hardship. Eliza’s perseverance was admirable, but the story was just okay for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I like this book in many respects but I also had some difficulties. I found myself having to reread sentences at times, as the flow of words didn’t quite jive with me - I’m well aware this could be a “me” problem but it did make it difficult to read and really get lost in the plot. Some of the analogies also did not land for me. However, I did like the overall story, it’s not like anything I’ve read before. You can feel the main character’s struggles and her fight to get her life back. I still recommend this, especially since it could just be my ability to read it and nothing to do with the writing.

This story is set in the 1960s. It is not a page turner but I'm not sure it is meant to be. The story is a kind of "coming of age" of an adult woman. I thought it was an enjoyable read and recommend it!

I would like to thank Lisa Sandlin, Little Brown and Company and NetGalley for the ARC. Any review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

This book was not what I was expecting, but it was definitely something that kept me reading! The Book follows Eliza Kratke. She finds out her life is based on lies by her husband. Based in 1964 when things were so different for women.She finds strength in herself. Doing what she has to in order to survive. Going back to school, meeting young people at both the Sweet Vidalia Residence Inn and the business college. This character shows She has a backbone made of iron. She also acts compassionately with characters that need it. It was definitely worth reading!

Set in 1960s Texas, SWEET VIDALIA follows Eliza, who has recently suffered the loss of her husband—and, in the aftermath, also faces a devastating betrayal. As she struggles to pick up the pieces, her world turned completely upside down, Eliza soon embarks on a journey of healing and self-discovery. Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I thought Eliza was such a well-crafted character, and so easy to root for. I also really enjoyed the writing style. The pacing was a little slow at times, especially in the beginning, but I think it does a good job of setting up the rest of the story. If you love historical fiction (particularly set in the 1960s), strong female characters, and slice-of-life stories, SWEET VIDALIA is the book for you! I would certainly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC.

I can['t imagine having to rebuild you life after 30 years of marriage and the death of a husband.
The secret would have ruined me. She was a strong woman during that time. I loved how Eliza did not want to burden for friends and children but I really feel in today's time period people are more open to these challenges and want to help.
You couldn't help cheering for her tenacity to survive and start again while finding herself.

Delighted to include this title in the December edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

The sudden death of Eliza Kratke's husband should have been the biggest shock, but learning there isn't enough money in their account to pay for his burial and having another woman show up at the funeral home claiming she's his wife...those are much bigger shocks. Starting over at 57--in debt and with crippling arthritis, Eliza relies on her experience growing up during the Great Depression. She rents her house and moves into a short-term hotel, taking classes and making friends with a motley assortment of classmates and neighbors. As she rebuilds her life, she reclaims it.

Entertaining, poignant, and uplifting. #SweetVidalia #NetGalley

I loved the audio version of this book and the narrator did a wonderful job! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and Eliza was a character that won my heart! She was faced with so much tragedy but was able to make a good life out of it all. This book was a roller coaster of emotions showing Eliza on a journey of self discovery. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read more from the author. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nicely written book. Loved the way the main female character continues forward after the death of her husband. Will recommend to others.

I really enjoyed the book Sweet Vidalia by Lisa Sandlin!Eliza Kratke is a 57 year old living in Texas in the 1960’s.She is blindsided when her husband Robert dies and she finds out he has been hiding secrets fromher.She builds a new life in the Sweet Visalia Residence Inn and enrolls in business college.The book follows her adventures.I found the book very insightful and well written!I enjoyed it immensely!I plan to read more of her books! Thank you Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!

One crisp February afternoon, Eliza Kratke’s life changes in an instant. When losing her husband isn’t enough, shocking secrets of his past come piling on. Forced to power through, Eliza moves away from the only life she’s known for 30 years and calls the Sweet Vidalia Residence Inn home. In an effort to make ends meet, Eliza enrolls in business courses at a local college. While there, she meets a crew of unlikely characters; some becoming almost like her new found family.

From the start, Sweet Vidalia felt like a rollercoaster of emotions. I felt deeply for Eliza; cheered her on, became cautious of those entering her bubble, and felt constant anger towards Robert.
The trajectory of her life and the events she faced felt very authentic. I found myself deeply curious as to what would become of Eliza and those around her.
At times, the pacing of the novel felt rushed; jumping right ahead to new events in Eliza’s life without closure in other areas.


Thank you to Little, Brown and Company, NetGalley, and Lisa Sandlin for the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review

In a Texas town in 1964, 57-year old Eliza Kratke gets a series of unpleasant surprises when her husband of 30 years dies suddenly. Robert had taken out a mortgage on their paid-off ranch house for one thing. Remember, back in 1964, a woman couldn’t have their own credit or get a mortgage, but a man could, and could take out a mortgage on the family home without the wife knowing a thing about it. Eliza’s next surprises are that Robert had another family and that his second, bigamous wife has managed to put a lien on the house so that Eliza can’t sell it. Her cherry-on-top surprise is that Social Security surviving spouse benefits won’t start paying out until she reaches age 60. Eliza hasn’t held a job for decades. Now what?

Amazingly, it’s an encounter with a repo man that jars Eliza out of her shocked stupor. She sells everything she can and moved to a tiny efficiency apartment in the Sweet Vidalia Residence Inn. It’s on the wrong side of the tracks, but its residents are mostly students. Of course, they think she’s ancient, as do the other students at the business school where she decides to go to get qualifications for a job, but she slowly manages to make some unusual friendships with people at the Inn and from school. More importantly, she learns to take care of herself, identify what she’s good at, and take advantage of those skills to make a new life. Not at all the kind of life she’d imagined, but you have to grow up sometime, and she’s done it in her late 50s.

This is a book I forgave for a sometimes meandering plot, with some threads that didn’t get resolved, because of its humor, warmth, and insight.

This book about Eliza, a woman in her 50's whose husband suddenly dies and then finds out he had a second wife, started quite slow for me. However, I'm glad I stuck with it. Eliza uses pure determination to survive and gets herself into some interesting situations. By the end of the book, Eliza became one of my favorite book characters of the year.

This is a great story for anyone looking for a strong female heroine in a historical setting. The plot points are unexpected and the characters are interesting. It's easy to root for the main character as she goes on this transformational journey, and it's so good to see older heroines.

Nicely written historical fiction but not much happens. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters, but didn't love it.

I really enjoyed “Sweet Vidalia” by Lisa Sandlin. This is a haunting and thought-provoking novel about a woman who has to suddenly reinvent her life in 1960s Texas; this will stay with me a long time. I appreciated the themes of redemption and reinvention as well as the main character Eliza’s ability to meet others where they are at. She is a resilient and quietly fierce character. Parts of the book are laugh-out-loud funny as well. I can understand the comparison of the writer to Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler. However, I didn’t understand why some characters disappeared without their storylines being resolved. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the eARC.

I had really high hopes for this story, Sweet Vidalia, by Lisa Sandlin. I had read quite favorable reviews and started out truly enjoying the tale. Unfortunately, the story grew a bit tiresome for me midway through, and it became a struggle to read. That being said, there were definitely parts I enjoyed, especially the beginning where the adventure seemed non-stop. As the story unfolded, however, it didn't seem to keep the pace that was promised at the beginning. Nevertheless, as a simple story of a woman finding herself after unbelievable trials and tribulations, Sweet Vidalia is sure to please many readers.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. Eliza is a marrried woman in her late fifties. Her children are grown , and she lives in Texas in the 1960's. As the book opens, her husband dies suddenly. As she grieves, she finds that he had another wife. This is a slow moving, sweetly told story of a woman coming to terms with an upheaval that she could never have been prepared for , or expected. It is sad, and slow moving, and the first 25% or so drags a bit. However, as Eliza begins to take charge of her life, it became faster paced. The writing is good, and the story line intriguing. I kept reminding myself not to look at her situation thru current day eyes, but try to understand from a past perspective.60 years ago was a different time, and sometimes it is good to remember. Eliza's story , although told from a past, resonanted long after I finished the book.

This book was a little depressing. A woman's husband's secrets destroys her life as she knows it. She must fight to take back her life.