The Unveiling of Polly Forrest

I really enjoyed this book. The setting was so beautifully described that I could really visualise it perfectly. From the first chapter I was drawn in and trying to assess whether or not I thought Polly was being honest in her letters to her Mother. All three of the speaking characters were just flawed enough to be real and just nice enough to be redeemable and to have my sympathies.
The sisterly tension between Polly and Sarah made it impossible to judge which woman’s version of their upbringing was the correct one. Wes was, while deeply flawed, a wonderful pastor and the sense of community around the church was really heartwarming.
The novel is a very good whodunnit but along side that it is a very strong pastoral story and historical insight into rural communities during the Great Depression.
I thought I had it all figured out, then changed my mind, then settled on another explanation and so on right until the final page. I will definitely read any other books by Charlotte Whitney.

Told through the easy to follow voices and letters of three engaging characters, I would describe "The Unveiling of Polly Forrest" as historical crime fiction. This is the second of Charlotte Whitney's books I have read. And is again set in the time of the great depression 1930s rural USA. A time which Charlotte has well researched and she paints a vivid picture of the rural life of Michigan.....where Charlotte also lives.
Polly is our main character who lives just down the hill from her sister Sarah, who is married to a preacher named Wes. To the fore, is the tense relationship between the 2 sisters....complicated dynamics of love, annoyance, mistrust and the knowledge gained from knowing someone their whole lives.
"Unveiling" is a revealing play on words, which ties Polly's story together, moving swiftly through the hardest (we hope) times of her young life. So many mistakes made....all the better for deeper lessons learnt during her metamorphosis.
An ensemblance cast of characters and animals, whose demise tugs at your heartstrings.
Not a cosy work of fictional life in rural Michigan; there are dramas that keep you on the edge of your seat and a sneaky twist - which I won't spoil here - but I was totally blindfolded!
I enjoyed the three points of view and their interpretations of the happenings. All three story tellers are flawed and have their own agendas. A complex but easy to follow story which I really enjoyed.....another winner for Charlotte Whitney in my mind.
Thanks to NetGalley, Charlotte Whitney and Lake William Press for my copy of this book.

This is the perfect book club read. There is so much to discuss in the “Unveiling of Polly.” It’s 1934 and the deep depression is going strong in small farm towns across the US.

Charlotte Whitney gives us a front row seat to what it was like in rural Michigan. The cast of characters are small but we get to know their flaws and watch them grow. Vagrants, thieves, sibling rivalry, lack of rain and lack of food availability are just a few examples of the hard times Whitney exposes in this historical mystery.

The title is a perfect choice and Whitney’s use of adjectives for Polly throughout the book emphasis her growth.

Perfect Polly
Pampered Polly
Passionate Polly
Perturbed Polly

And we see so many more sides to 20 year old Polly who married young in hopes of being rich and escaping her family home. Sadly, Polly experiences physical and mental abuse from the man she thought was her savior and path to an easy life. This is so very relatable even in today’s world. Readers hearts will tug for a young city girl with so many hopes and dreams as she learns and lives tough times on the farm.

The book opens with the accidental death of Pollys husband, but was it accidental? Did someone have a motive to kill him? With small chapters from multiple viewpoints, this book is a quick and enjoyable read. You won’t want to put it down until you discover if it truly was an accident, and if not what happened. Plus it’s wonderful to see a small town pull together to help one another. What starts as a town filled with flawed and broken people ends with growth for just about everyone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake William Press for this wonderful relatable story of hard times, family relationships and Midwest values.

“Mr. Samuel R. Forrest, age 41, of Cornfield Road, was killed in an unfortunate farm accident. . . Circumstances of the accident are under investigation.” Charlotte Whitney begins The Unveiling of Polly Forrest with a gripping obituary, setting the tone for this engrossing mystery. What at first seems like a horribly careless and forgetful act quickly grows into a pandora’s box of questions surrounding Samuel Forrest’s brutal death. Suddenly Samuel’s 20-year-old wife Polly is singled out as the prime suspect in his murder. Skillfully paced, this mystery curves through one unexpected event after another; just when the reader believes they know where the book is going, a new character arrives on the scene or the plot twists in a different direction.

Pretty and naïve, Polly is self-absorbed and used to having her own way. She is easily taken in by the charming and older Samuel, whose admirable qualities quickly vanish when they marry. Unaccustomed and sadly unsuited to life as a farm wife, Polly is repeatedly berated by Sam for her many shortcomings. As the memory of the unfortunate death of Sam’s first wife still lingers in the minds of Polly’s family and neighbors, little by little, a history of Sam’s abusive behavior comes to light.

Told through the eyes of three characters, Polly, her older sister, Sarah, and Sarah’s husband, the Reverend Wesley Johnson, the story gradually unfolds in three different perspectives. Polly complains about her life to Sarah, but hides her worry and fear in letters to their mother, writing glowing descriptions of her happy married life and describing Sam as a generous and loving husband. The rocky relationship between the two sisters is a constant theme throughout the book. Sarah sees what Polly refuses to admit and worries about her sister even as she envies her. Practical and hardworking, Sarah pries Polly to confide in her without success. Wesley calmly and capably handles his responsibilities as a pastor, farmer, husband and father, even as he struggles with his loyalty to Sarah and attraction to Polly.

Three different narrators might disrupt the flow of the story in some books, but here the voices present different angles to the story and blend easily into each other. Set in Michigan in 1934, The Unveiling of Polly Forrest paints a stark portrait of life in a farm community during the depression. Some readers will easily identify with the characters or recall stories their own grandparents told them. In the end, The Unveiling of Polly Forrest is a compelling mystery which will hold your interest and a testament to the resilient people who struggled through a difficult time in American history.

I truly enjoyed this book. What a story of family drama. A spoiled thoughtless younger sister, a jealous bitter older sister and secrets between them. Set during the great depression in 1934, it portrays the life of those in the farming community during the time when jobs and homes were lost. It is a historical fiction mystery.

This is the story of Polly Forrest, a young woman of twenty who married an older man in a hurry to avoid moving from Michigan to Connecticut with her mother. She soon finds marriage is a lot of work and that her husband is not who he pretends to be. She hides the bruises loath to admit to her self-righteous sister that she has made a mistake in marrying Sam.

When her husband is killed in a farming accident she is the prime suspect. Just when she thinks it is over the white house police come investigating Sam for another crime. She is suspect both in the murder and in the other crime and has no way of proving her innocence. Not even her sister and her not so perfect preacher husband believe in her.

When the real criminals come looking for something her husband has left behind she and her family are in real danger. Can Polly live long enough to prove her innocence?

This is an exciting, fast paced book with twists and turns, secrets and an unbelievable ending. I enjoyed reading it and I know that you will as well. I would recommend this book.

Thanks to Charlotte Whitney for writing a great story, to Lake William Press for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.

All because she listened in on the party line.

Cloudy vision, an astigmatism I didn’t comprehend, until one day I was granted the opportunity to lift the veil.

Polly Forrest was known by many names - Pampered Polly was most familiar, at least to her family. As time went on she became known as Plentiful Polly and Patient Polly, but I am getting ahead of myself. This story has many twists and turns, keeping you wondering what is really going on. Had there been a suicide or a murder? Squatters, thieves, hidden treasure - many more questions than answers.

There are many different veils that the folks were hiding behind during the Great Depression. Life was hard and it was sometimes easier to give a good impression than it was to really be truthful. This was not only the situation Polly finds herself in, but was also true for those around her. Would the unveiling of Polly lead to more openness with family and friends?

This ARC was received through Lake William Press. The impressions and comments are my own and were in no way solicited.