A Gorgeous Cover That Contains
A Beautiful Family Story
ABOUT THE BOOK
A cherished heirloom opens up a century of secrets in a bittersweet novel about family, hard truths, and self-discovery by the author of Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish.
Melanie Barnett thinks she has it all together. With an ex-fiancé and a pending promotion at a Kentucky bourbon distillery, Melanie has figured out that love and career don’t mix. Until she makes a discovery while cleaning her Jordan MX car, a scarlet-red symbol of the Jazz Age’s independent women that she inherited from her great-great-great-aunt Violet.
Its secret compartment holds Violet’s weathered journal—within it an intriguing message: Take from this story what you will, Melanie, and you can bury the rest. Melanie wonders what more there is to learn from Violet’s past.
In 1921 Violet Bond defers to no one. Hers is a life of adventure in Detroit, the hub of the motorcar boom and the fastest growing city in America. But in an era of speakeasies, financial windfalls, free-spirited friends, and unexpected romance, it’s easy to spin out of control.
Now, as Melanie’s own world takes unexpected turns, her life and Violet’s life intersect. Generations apart, they’re coming into their own and questioning what modern womanhood—and happiness—really means.
My Thoughts
This dual timeline is about Melanie (2018) and her great, great, great aunt Violet (1920s). As Melanie reads her aunt’s journal she discovers that they have many of the same traits. They both are strong women with the desire to succeed.
Besides the strong ties and family bonds, the story weaves information regarding the Jazz Age and Prohibition, Detroit and the car industry, and the bourbon industry and Kentucky. That’s what I like about historical fiction, it has the ability to make learning a fun experience.
If you like an interesting story wrapped around this time frame, don’t miss A Matter of Happiness. A book easily recognized by its beautiful cover!
This 363-page book became available on November 8, 2022.
My thanks to TLC Book Tours, the publisher, and author, for a copy of this book and the ability to freely post my thoughts.
About the Author:
Tori Whitaker is the bestselling author of Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish and A Matter of Happiness. She belongs to the Bourbon Women Association and the Historical Novel Society. Her work has appeared in the Historical Novels Review and Bookmark magazine.
Tori graduated from Indiana University, is an alum of the Yale Writers’ Workshop, and is recently retired from a national law firm where she served as chief marketing officer. She spent a decade in Detroit because of her husband’s career in the automotive industry. The two now reside near their children outside Atlanta and have been married for forty-five happy years.
Connect with Tori through www.toriwhitaker.com
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Purchase A Matter of Happiness at Amazon
