💫💫💫💫.5
The Lost Women of Mill Street
Kinley Bryan
May 7, 2024
306 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Such a powerful book about a not-often-seen perspective during the Civil War written with care and vivid detail.
Told in the third person POV from the perspective of Clara, a young factory worker tasked with raising her younger sister Kitty after losing their parents, this book follows the sisters on their journey from the South to starting anew in Ohio as Clara works to built a better life for them.
I often have a hard time getting into third person POV books but this one had such rich world building and descriptions that it really felt you were immersed into Clara’s thoughts and actions. The action and plot really picks up around the midpoint of the book and at that point, I found it rather difficult to put down. I really wanted to know what happened next! I also enjoyed the banter between Clara and the side characters such as Trudie.
The book is relatively clean and suitable for adult readers that prefer clean books and even older YA readers – little to no swearing. There is violence, of course, due to the setting and events, but nothing extremely graphic on-page.
While there is a romantic subplot, the overarching theme of sisterhood and finding yourself was deeply touching to read about. Kitty and Clara’s relationship is beautiful, especially how they were able to find strength in each other as the world crumbles around them.
I also love that this is based on true events that may have been overlooked in the history books and that the author has done her research and shown a new perspective on the Civil War.
The one thing that didn’t click for me as well was the beginning section of the ending – I don’t want to spoil too much so that you may read for yourself, but there is a certain plot event within the ending that just felt a bit out of place compared to the rest of the story. I did enjoy the last couple of pages.
Thank you to the author for providing a review copy to The Book Review Crew blog to provide our honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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