Heirlooms

By Sandra Byrd

Book Overview

Answering a woman's desperate call for help, young Navy widow Helen Devries opens her Whidbey Island home as a refuge to Choi Eunhee. As they bond over common losses and a delicate, potentially devastating secret, their friendship spans the remainder of their lives.

After losing her mother, Cassidy Quinn spent her childhood summers with her gran, Helen, at her farmhouse. Nourished by her grandmother's love and encouragement, Cassidy discovers a passion that she hopes will bloom into a career. But after Helen passes, Cassidy learns that her home and garden have fallen into serious disrepair. Worse, a looming tax debt threatens her inheritance. Facing the loss of her legacy and in need of allies and ideas, Cassidy reaches out to Nick, her former love, despite the complicated emotions brought by having him back in her life.

Cassidy inherits not only the family home but a task, spoken with her grandmother's final breaths: ask Grace Kim--Eunhee's granddaughter--to help sort through the contents of the locked hope chest in the attic. As she and Grace dig into the past, they unearth their grandmothers' long-held secret and more. Each startling revelation reshapes their understanding of their grandmothers and ultimately inspires the courage to take risks and make changes to own their lives.

Set in both modern-day and midcentury Whidbey Island, Washington, this dual-narrative story of four women--grandmothers and granddaughters--intertwines across generations to explore the secrets we keep, the love we pass down, and the heirlooms we inherit from a well-lived life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1496426886
• ISBN13: 9781496426888
• Release Date: July 2022
• Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Heartfelt Women's Fiction

A heartfelt story of friendship, faith, holding on, and letting go. Whidbey Island, 1958, Helen Devries welcomes another young Navy widow into her home, beginning a decades long friendship, and sharing a secret with ramifications touching the present day. A compelling dual timeline story, masterfully woven together, about courageous women of grit, wisdom, and faith both in the present day and 1958. I loved the rich cultural details in this well crafted novel, I admired Choi Eunhee's steadfast faith, and though to many it would appear that she was on the receiving end of things, she gave so much more back. Helen is practical, seeming to have it all together from the outside, she is clever and capable, and I loved how her friendship with Eunhee brought out another side of her. Cassidy in the modern day is chasing a dream that seems so out of reach, she has a gift for gardening and encouraging others, even when she is defeated. I enjoyed every minute of this book, not wanting to put it down, yet wanting to savor it and not have it end too soon. Richly layered storytelling, with strong themes of friendship, faith, perseverance, and hope, heartfelt women's fiction at its best! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.