Thank you Harper Audio / Netgalley for the ALC and HTP Books & Park Row Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Two Lives of Sara in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Park Row Books / Harper Audio
Published: September 6, 2022
Summary:
In this story of hope, resilience and unexpected love, a young mother finds refuge and friendship at a boardinghouse in 1960s Memphis, Tennessee.
Sara King has nothing, save for her secrets and the baby in her belly, as she boards the bus to Memphis, hoping to outrun her past in Chicago. She is welcomed with open arms by Mama Sugar, a kindly matriarch and owner of the popular boardinghouse The Scarlet Poplar.
Like many cities in early 1960s America, Memphis is still segregated, but change is in the air. News spreads of the Freedom Riders. Across the country, people like Martin Luther King Jr. are leading the fight for equal rights. Black literature and music provide the stories and soundtrack for these turbulent and hopeful times, and Sara finds herself drawn in by conversations of education, politics and a brighter tomorrow with Jonas, a local schoolteacher. Romance blooms between them, but secrets from Mama Sugar’s past threaten their newfound happiness with Sara and Jonas soon caught in the crosshairs, leading Sara to make decisions that will reshape the rest of their lives.
With a charismatic cast of characters, The Two Lives of Sara is an emotional and unforgettable story about a community, where family encompasses more than just blood and hidden truths can bury you or set you free.
My thoughts:
A few years back, I read, and absolutely loved, Saving Ruby King. Since then, I have been waiting for Catherine Adel West’s sophomore novel and let me just say…it did not disappoint. Catherine Adel West has proven, at least to me, that she is a must-read author and I will for sure be reading anything she writes.
This new book, a companion novel to Saving Ruby King, is the type of book that is bound to evoke so many emotions and yet I cannot recommend it enough. I am actually jealous of those who get to read it for the first time, for those who get to experience that beauty and heartbreak that they will encounter while reading this story because all of that is contained within this novel.
One of my favorite parts of this story is just how complex the characters are, especially Sara. When we first meet her, she isn’t the most likeable of characters and is very closed off to everyone she comes into contact with. Slowly, over time, she starts to let others in, and in doing so, we start to learn more about her. This is where the other characters come into play, specifically Mama Sugar and the others at the boarding house that Sara has run to. I loved these characters and how they taught her that family isn’t always created by the people related to you.
This book explores complicated family secrets and the idea of letting go. It also fully immerses us into the Black culture and that in and of itself is worth the read – the food, the music, the literature mentioned within these pages really brought this all to life and had me going down a rabbit hole on Google of all that I wasn’t familiar with. This is why I love historical fiction – because I am constantly learning!
This book is as powerful as it is heartbreaking. It is hard not to feel all the emotions while reading this and yet there is the sense of hope throughout. I highly recommend this book, and her other book, too if you haven’t already read it.
Audio thoughts:
I had the opportunity to listen to this one and the narrator, Adenrele Ojo, was phenomenal! She made this story come alive with her narration. Her pacing and intonation was spot on and she infused just the right amount of emotion and tension into her voice as needed.
