Lake Union Publishing, November 17, 2015.
Three Stars
Set during the 1935 World’s Fair in San Diego, Whistling Women is the story of sisters,
Addie and Wavey – two strong, independent women who were driven apart by a crime
from their past. For the previous fifteen years, Addie has been hiding from her
role in the crime, in the Happy Valley Nudist Colony. Now, the nudists are
travelling to the World’s Fair as an exhibit, and Addie is forced to face her
past.
While the nudist colony and World’s Fair were both
historically interesting, it was really the relationship between the sisters
that made this story meaningful. Addie is forced to reunite not only with
Wavey, but also with Wavey’s daughters, Rumor and Mary. The parallels between
the two sets of sisters are strong, and Rumor is much like her aunt Addie,
although even more compelling as a character. While Wavey and Mary are content
with the status quo, Rumor is bold and brave – and not afraid to expose the
truth.
The nudists are exhibited in the “Garden of Eden”, a
safe haven where they are protected from the crowds. It is representative of
their supposed innocence, yet highly sexualized. Outside of the garden, Addie
knows she is far from innocent – she committed an act in her past that changed
the course of all of their lives, and she is still paying for it. Religion and
redemption are explored in various ways throughout the novel – the girls attend
a different church every Sunday, more concerned with their own spiritual
beliefs than which kind of church they happen to be at. Meanwhile, Addie seeks
forgiveness from Sister Aimee, who rejects her desire to serve the church. The
various characters also question the nature of sin, and whether it is dependent
on motive.
I enjoyed the writing style, and would read more from
Kelly Romo. The setting was intriguing, and the details of the World’s Fair
were fun to read. However, I did have problems with the uneven character
development, as well as several issues with the plot. So many bad things happened
to this one family, and in the end it was just too neatly tied together. It was
all very convenient, except for some major loose ends that were just left
hanging. There was just too much packed into the final pages, without bringing
all the storylines together, and it probably could have been pared down to a
simpler, cleaner story. Even so, it was a fun, enjoyable read.
I received this novel from Lake Union Publishing and
NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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