Review : Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield

Title : Garden of Stones
Author : Sophie Littlefield
Publication date : February 26th 2013 by Harlequin MIRA

What really caught my attention from this book was the cute little girl on the cover and when I read the description, I found out that it was a mother - daughter tale, so yes, it was enough to convince me to read it.

Set in 1940s, Miyako and Lucy Takeda had to live in special camp called Manzanar because of the Pearl Harbor tragedy, not long after Lucy's father death. Lucy's mother, Miyako was not mentally well and it made harder for Lucy to move on.

Decades later, Lucy was being questioned due to the death of someone she knew back then from Manzanar. Lucy's daughter, Patty, did some digging to clear her mother's name.

First of all, I really admire how Littlefield made this story. Well, I do some digging on Goodreads and found out that Sophie Littlefield usually writes young adult novels. It really surprised me. Garden of Stones is her first historical fiction novel (and I believe it's targeted for adult readers), and man, the way she describes everything is so good that I believe she's a historical fiction pro. Too bad, I haven't read any of her other novels, otherwise I could make comparison on her writing style.

Now, let's talk about the characters. Of course, my favorite in this case is Lucy Takeda. She's incredibly strong. Yes, she had to hide herself behind her rather cold personality, but considering the things she had gone through, there's no way I could blame her. I can't relate to Miyako, anyway, maybe because of her mental illness. She loved Lucy, but she had this strange way of protecting her. I am a mother, I would definitely choose other path to protect my children, but sure, that's what makes the story "colorful".

My favorite part of the book is when Lucy met Jesse. He's very sweet and he brought out the best in her. He helped Lucy to get her confident back and it's very sweet.

I have to confess that the first few chapters of this book is quite slow it made me put the book down often. Since 1940 - 1950 is my favorite era when it comes to historical fiction, I just kept on reading and yes, it got better. If you are a patient reader, you would definitely find Garden of Stones to be  a rewarding read. I wish the beginnings would be more engaging, will some thrills, because hey, the book starts with a murder case after all.

Time for a favorite quote:

Lucy would kept her face pressed to the baby, her eyes shut tight, to give him this last big of dignity. There was nothing else she could.

As for the ending, I love it! I even thought Garden of Stones is a predictable book, but I was 100% wrong and I am so happy for that. It's very unpredictable, and it has many surprises that took my breath away. I thought I knew what Lucy would do, for example, just to find out that she does it differently. The good news is, this book left no unfinished business. Everything comes to a solid conclusion that makes it worthy of 5 rating.

Now, your turn, which era do you like the best when it comes to historical fiction? Have you read any of other Sophie Littlefield novels? How do you like them?