REVIEW: Wildwood

Wildwood
Author: Elinor Florence

Molly Bannister's life is unraveling. She has lost her job with an accounting firm in AZ, and her savings is dwindling fast. As a single parent, she is almost in panic mode when she receives word from a lawyer that her great-aunt left her a farm and house in northern Alberta, Canada.  The will stipulates that she has to live on the old homestead for a full year before gaining ownership. With money dwindling and no other options, Molly and her 4-year old daughter Bridget move to Canada. The old farmhouse has been watched over by neighbors since her great-aunt went into a nursing home. Other than a lot of dust and cobwebs, it's not in bad shape. But there is no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no internet, no phone, and the closest neighbor is 8 miles away. 365 days -- can they brave an entire year on the old homestead? Molly finds her great-aunt's journal and reads a little bit about her early married life each night before going to bed. She finds strength and wisdom in the pages, and learns a lot about herself as well.

I absolutely loved this book! At first Molly comes to Wildwood out of desperation. She has nowhere else to go. She counts the days until she can sell the farm and return to the United States with plenty of money to live life on her own terms. But, living out at the old homestead without any of the modern conveniences, reading her great-aunt's journal, and learning to survive has such a profound effect on her life and her daughter. She scrubs the house clean, learns to cook, wash laundry by hand and make do with what they have. Along the way, she discovers that she is a stronger person than she ever realized.

Once I started reading, I couldn't put this book down! I loved how Molly grew stronger and defeated the demons from her past as the story unfolded. As her mother became a stronger person, Bridget's life and behavior also improved. I enjoyed this story so much that I definitely want to read Elinor Florence's other novel, Bird's Eye View.

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Dundurn via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**