Hello Everyone!
Stack Saturday is a weekly post that From.TBR.to.READ, and I are trying to get off the ground. It’s tied to the TBR Tackle Challenge, which is the monthly reading challenge that we host. So far, we aren’t doing a great job with getting it off the ground, but we’re trying, and that’s a start!
This week for Stack Saturday, I’m talking about books with dual timelines. I feel like dual timelines is a feature that comes up in a lot of historical fiction, which made this prompt a little bit difficult to write about. I really enjoy historical fiction, but I tend to put off reading historical fiction books for ages, which makes it hard to think of books. Fortunately, I did think of five books to talk about for this week’s stack!
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I don’t remember a lot of specific details about this book, but I do remember it being a fantastic, five-star read. This book goes back and forth between the present-day and the past as the actress, Evelyn Hugo, recounts her past to a magazine reporter, Monique Grant. I think the most amazing thing about this book is that it’s written in a way that makes you think that Evelyn Hugo was a real person. I’ve heard amazing things about the audiobook version of this book, so maybe when I reread it, I’ll listen to the audiobook for a different experience.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid – This was a relatively recent read for me, so the details are fresh in my mind. Malibu Rising goes back and forth between far too many points of view during the present day, but it also flashes back to the past to look at the lives of the parents of the main characters. I didn’t enjoy Malibu Rising as much as I enjoyed Malibu Rising, but I still really enjoyed this book, and I loved the use of dual timelines in this one.
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson – This is the only book on the list that does not fall into the category of Historical Fiction. In Truly Devious, the main character, Stevie Bell, is trying to solve a very old murder that took place at the private school she is now attending. Some of the chapters in this book look back to when the crime was committed and what was going on with the main players in the famous crime. I really enjoyed these flashbacks, and they made me a lot more invested in what Stevie was investigating.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner – This is another relatively recent read for me, so I remember some of the finer details of this book. This book goes back and forth from the present to the past, switching between two different points of view. I wasn’t a huge fan of the present-day portion of this book, but I was sucked into the past timelines, and I didn’t want them to end. I also really enjoyed the premise of the past timelines, even if it was quite dark.
The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham – This was one of my favourite reads of 2020, and I cannot recommend it enough. This historical fiction book goes back and forth between the present-day and the past as Winnifred finally tells the story of what happened in her past when she came to Canada. This book opened my eyes to a dark period of Canadian history that I didn’t know about, and it had some absolutely heartbreaking moments.
