The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls by Wendy Delsol
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release Date: 2nd August 2011
Rating: 3/5
Source: Received from the publisher for review. Thank you!
Buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | BookDepository
Publishers Summary:

The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls, once a haven for unwed mothers, is now a bed-and-breakfast that houses three generations of women-and their many secrets…

In the early 1960s, Ruby, a spunky unwed teen mother was wooed and won over by the founder of the McCloud Home. Now, forty years later, the historic property has been converted into an inn that Ruby runs with one of her daughters, Jill. When Jill’s fourteen-year-old daughter begins to search for the identity of her father, she sets in motion events that will test the bonds that bind mothers, daughters, and sisters.

Jill unwittingly aids the forces of upheaval when she agrees to host the wake of the town matriarch. As the guests-including the matriarch’s handsome nephew and Jill’s vivacious, irresponsible sister Jocelyn-return to the small town, the convergence of people and memories uncovers rivalries, sparks romance, recalls heartbreak, and reveals a shocking family secret, one that could separate the McCloud women forever or lead them to the renewal of their powerful, enduring connection.

The McCloud women have a brave legacy of helping and supporting women from every walk of life in need of assistance as unwed mothers. In the absence of their husband and father though it becomes difficult to move forward especially when a looming controversy could ruin their entire family after his death. As time passes Jill and Jocelyn are able to move on with their lives one in their hometown and the other across the country. When the death of their mother’s rival brings back old flames and uncovered mysteries they may no longer be able to hide from their shared pasts.

This was truly an enjoyable book to read. Despite my misgivings about certain aspects of the story I thoroughly enjoyed the lives of the McCloud women and the bed & breakfast their childhood home was turned into. Initially I was interested in picking it up because of the author Wendy Delsol, I’ve read the first book in her YA series Stork and really enjoyed it and so when I saw she had a new women’s fiction novel I was eager to get my hands on it. Also, I was interested in the concept of the home itself having been a place for unwed mother’s to escape ridicule from the outside world as well as the novels potential for a “Southern” feeling. It definitely had both of those aspects, though there wasn’t a huge emphasis on the home itself until later in the book. As a whole though, I loved the characters and the mystery behind who actually fathered Jill’s daughter Fee as well as the potential romance between Jill and Keith.

Having said all of those positive aspects I’ve unfortunately got to share the negatives now. The story is told primarily from Jill’s point of view with occasional glimpses into the past through Ruby (Jill’s mother) and an additional viewpoint with Jill’s daughter Fee. What I had a huge problem with was Fee’s viewpoint, I simply couldn’t understand why it was in the book at all. I thought her conflict and suspicion about who her father was was definitely interesting, but I didn’t see the need to “hear” that from her directly. In a lot of cases I felt it broke up the pacing quite a bit. I had a little bit of a difficult time getting started with the book and then to be thrown into Fee’s viewpoint for two to four pages often completely threw me. If not for this I think I could have enjoyed the book a great deal more because I think the main stories of Jill and Ruby could have been deepened in Fee’s absence.

Overall I’d absolutely recommend The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls by Wendy Delsol to fans of Southern women’s fiction. This is a wonderful story about forgiveness and being aware how our choices affect those around us. I’m definitely interested to read more of Delsol’s writing as I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters (with the exception of Fee) and have loved her YA writing.