Amidst This Fading Light by Rebecca Davis – Book Review
Amidst This Fading Light by Rebecca Davis – Book Review
Amidst This Fading Light
Author – Rebecca Davis
Publisher – SFK Press
Pages – 222
Released – 28th August 2018
ISBN-13 – 978-0997951882
Format – ebook, paperback
Reviewer – Marcia
Rating – 3 Stars
I received a free copy of this book
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Dominated by a few old, founding families, Germantown was mired in tradition and hearsay. All that changed once the Picketts arrived. No one knew what to make of them at first, and no one could have predicted the unbelievable tragedy this family would bring to the small town.
Set against the backdrop of the rural North Carolinian piedmont during the Great Depression, AMIDST THIS FADING LIGHT explores life, death, and what it means to carry on as we deal with what fate forces upon us, both the light and the dark, to persevere and survive or to be swept away by time and inescapable memory.
The book is based in Germantown, North Carolina, USA. It tells the story of an old family of the town and how things changed when a new family arrived. It is a fictional account of a true story that happened in 1929, a massacre, though the story begins some years before. It weaves a tale of how life can change for numerous people via the actions of one person.
I really did like the book. I was interested to find out how the characters lives evolved and if they planned out the way it looked like they would. I did, however, struggle to remember the vast amount of characters names and where they fitted into the story, this made me have to reread sections so that I wasn’t confused as to who did what and why. This also meant that the book took longer to read than I expected it to.
If you like stories where the characters have complicated lives and lots thrown at them or stories based on true events, then this is one for you to read. I’d never heard of the massacre until reading this book, so it also felt like I was getting a history lesson too.
I have awarded it three stars down to me having to reread sections and my struggle with the amount of characters names I needed to remember. The book was an intriguing read and I did fully enjoy it. It is also a heart-wrenching read too and will pull at your heart-strings.
Reviewed by Marcia
Purchase online from:
Amazon.co.uk – Amazon.com
About the Author
A native North Carolinian, Rebecca Davis decided in first grade to be a writer, after she wrote a story about becoming a paleontologist. She likes the idea of truth in story-telling—stories that are not only true about humanity but also sprinkled with historical realities, and that show the reader various facets of personal interaction.
Inspired by a gruesome murder that occurred near her hometown of Germanton, NC in 1929, Rebecca wants readers to feel the gravity of tragedy, yet still feel the potential for growth and hope.
She attended Salem College and earned master’s degrees from Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Currently, she teaches writing at Salem College.
