Review: June

When Cassandra Danvers loses her beloved grandmother June, she inherits Two Oaks, June's grand, crumbling mansion in the sleepy town of St. Jude, Ohio. Reeling from grief and a recent breakup, Cassie wants only to be left alone in the old house. But Two Oaks has a few secrets it wants to tell--and when Cassie receives unexpected news of another inheritance, she is forced to start asking uncomfortable questions about her family. Before long, Cassie is interviewing local historians and digging through her grandmother's papers, learning all she can about a long-ago summer when matinee idol Jack Montgomery filmed a movie in St. Jude and may have fallen in love with Cassie's grandmother. Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (Bittersweet) weaves an enthralling story of Hollywood glamour, first love and shifting loyalties in her fourth novel, June.

"Houses don't always dream. In fact, most don't," Beverly-Whittemore begins. But as readers quickly learn, Two Oaks is no ordinary house. It has held onto the memories of the summer of 1955 for more than half a century, and it wants to share them with Cassie. That summer, St. Jude was abuzz with the arrival of the film crew for Erie Canal, and both June and her best friend, Lindie, were caught up in the whirl. Tomboyish Lindie, who loved June more fiercely than she could publicly admit, found a job on set as a production assistant, and beautiful June--forced by her scheming mother into an engagement to a man she barely knew--fell head over heels for handsome Jack Montgomery. Neither girl could have foreseen how the events of that summer would shape the rest of their lives.

Beverly-Whittemore draws readers in with her once-upon-a-time narration: the promise of stories and secrets, the delicious hint of juicy scandal and betrayal. Her characters in both narratives--especially June and Lindie in 1955 and Cassie in 2015--are layered and complex. Although each story contains an element of romance, the men, even Jack, are less vivid and compelling than the women they love. The real enjoyment of June lies in watching June's and Lindie's stories unfold in 1955, and seeing Cassie (and Jack Montgomery's actress daughters) put the pieces together in 2015. While readers may anticipate a few plot twists, there are still plenty of surprises, and Beverly-Whittemore weaves the dangling threads into a satisfying ending. June invites readers to sink into its narrative the way Cassie sinks into the embrace of Two Oaks: with a thirst for a good story and a tall glass of lemonade. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Miranda Beverly-Whittemore's fourth novel weaves a story of Hollywood glamour, first love and family secrets in a small Ohio town.

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