Nell and Lady by Ashley Farley

☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 269 pages
Published September 18th 2018 by Lake Union Publishing
About the Book:
In her grand home in Charleston, Willa Bellemore raised two girls during the tumultuous 1970s. One was her daughter, Lady. The other was Lady’s best friend, Nell—adopted after the sudden, heartbreaking death of her mother, the Bellemores’ beloved maid. Willa showered Nell with love and support, all the while ignoring the disdainful whispers of her neighbors. After all, they were family. Nell and Lady were sisters at heart—sisters who vowed to never let anything come between them. Then, on the night of Lady’s sixteenth birthday, something went terribly wrong, sparking painful secrets and bitter resentments that went unspoken for three decades. Now Willa is dying, and Lady and Nell—each with a teenager of her own—are brought together after all these years. It’s Willa’s last wish. The time has come to confront what happened on that fateful night. But it may take a tragic twist of fate to reconcile the past and come to terms with the true meaning of family.

Southern fiction, especially historical fiction is one of my favourite genres. I have never read any work by this author before but Ashley Farley now has a new fan. Her ability to pull you into the moment by describing surroundings and using the senses made me feel like I was in Charleston.

If she’d gotten help back then, she would’ve lived a more fulfilled life, would’ve felt like a whole person instead of this broken resemblance of one.
This book makes you think. I love that. All these women are doing the very best they know how and are living their own lives trying to stay true to themselves. We never truly know what someone else is going through.

Together, forever. Let nothing or no one ever come between us.
Ms. Farley's understanding of the different dynamics in female relationships is genius. As a mother, sister, daughter and granddaughter, I could relate to all of these characters in different ways. The beginning chapters grabbed me immediately and I was sucked in as part of this complicated family.

Being in the marshlands with moss-draped trees and salt-infused air restored a sense of peace in her.
This novel had such strong sense of setting and a warm, compassionate view of tangled family relationships. I loved it!


Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Ashley Farley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions and comments are my own. #NellandLady #NetGalley