Book Review: The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox

 

Present Day. After tragedy plunges her into grief and unresolved anger, Sarah Ashby returns to her childhood home determined to finally follow her long-denied dream of running Old Depot Grocery alongside her mother and grandmother. But when she arrives, her mother, Rosemary, announces to her that the store is closing. Sarah and her grandmother, Glory Ann, make a pact to save the store, but Rosemary has worked her entire life to make sure her daughter never follows in her footsteps. She has her reasons—but she'll certainly never reveal the real one.

1965. Glory Ann confesses to her family that she's pregnant with her deceased fiancé's baby. Pressured into a marriage of convenience with a shopkeeper to preserve the family reputation, Glory Ann vows never to love again. But some promises are not as easily kept as she imagined.

This dual-timeline story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of a mother-daughter dynamic, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and the lives of others, and the healing power of telling the truth.

My rating:

Not gonna lie, for the longest time I misread that title. I thought Old Depot Grocery had secret caretakers or something and then I was, like, halfway through the book when I realized OH WAIT THE PEOPLE AT OLD DEPOT HAVE SECRETS! And then the title made so much more sense. *cough* But yes. This has been senior moments with Kate. Tune in next time to see me make a further idiot of myself. But hey, I can laugh about it, so it's all good.

ANYWAY. On to my review. (see, when I don't wait weeks after I've read the book to write the review, I can actually add pERsoNaLiTY)

Oh my word, you guys. I seriously could not put this one down. There are so many words I could use to describe this book, but the one that really stands out in my mind is whimsical. Forget the dual timeline, the entire thing had an air about it that...goodness, I can't really explain it, it just...all the vibes were there and it was specTACular. I could practically hear the wooden floorboards creaking as customers stepped on them and as little Rosemary and Jessamine played hide-and-seek. I felt a part of something really...special.

The characters were all incredible. Like, yeah, they had problems and they kept secrets when they shouldn't have but the thing is, I understood why. If you want your characters to do the wrong thing but still be lovable, make them relatable and play on the readers' empathy. It works wonders. *nod* But anyway. Sarah, Rosemary, and Glory Ann all had their secrets, and while it got quite frustrating at times, I never felt like grabbing by their shoulders and giving them a good SHAKE—because EMPATHY. Like I said, it works wonders.

Honestly, though. I just really loved all the characters. (Except Jessamine. She was an absolute brat that needed her father to apply the board of education to the seat of learning, as my own father would say. That part really did drive me absolutely batty.) Glory Ann was someone that required patience...but she's worth it. Rosemary had to be the most patient girl I know. And Sarah's heart of gold made me love her. I honestly adored Clay. Bo, though a very minor character, was still so vital to the plot and the book would never be the same without him; he was amazing.

But I'd just like to take up an entire paragraph to talk about CLARENCE. Again, a minor character. But quite possibly the most important character in the entire book. Actually, I'm pretty sure he was. I'm going to avoid going into detail in case of spoilers, but...y'all. Like... *flails* I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE HOW INCREDIBLE CLARENCE WAS. He is an entire reason to read the book.

The book wasn't suspenseful or particularly fast-paced, but I was so invested in the characters that, like I said earlier, I seriously couldn't put it down. What lesson did I learn from this book? You need to let people make their own choices; let them decide what they want to do. Don't try to decide for them. And, though I already knew this, but I'll just say it: secrets always, always come to light. Whether you want them to or not.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

What are you waiting for? Go give this one a read!