BOOK BY: Carrie Fancett Pagels
This next installment of Barbour’s Doors to the Past series was set on Mackinac Island, and it is obvious the author’s ability to bring the setting to life. The descriptions of the Island and the Grand Hotel were enough to make me add it to my bucket list of places to visit!
This is a dual time story set approximately 125 years apart. The historical story had much more depth, and I found myself preferring that storyline to the contemporary one. Both stories were well written, and the narrative flowed quite nicely.
The contemporary story takes place in 2020, mentioning COVID and mask wearing. This didn’t bother me one bit, as it added a realistic component to the present. It was easy to identify with the modern characters as they were living through the same pandemic that is ongoing.
However, there were too many characters to keep track of that I kept stopping to think about connections – in both storylines. All of the characters mentioned played a significant role in what was going on, so it was necessary to include each one in the separate storylines. But then it gets complicated when it comes to family history in the present – there are significantly different connections in the contemporary story involving characters with similar last names from the historical storyline. After a while I gave up trying to keep track of who was who and their respective roles in each storyline.
It’s a well written story, with an interesting historical component and a solid contemporary story. I suggest if you’re going to read this one, to have your preferred notetaking equipment with you so you can easily track the characters.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.