MY TAKE . . .
     of The Muir House
               by Mary DeMuth


Mary DeMuth hit the nail on the head in writing this book, The Muir House, a funeral parlor turned inn. Vivid characters, descriptive settings, and a well-developed plot drew me in.

Willa is a damaged character. Haunted by a memory from her past, she plays fast and loose at times and clings the next, to the heartstrings of her beau, Hale. You could almost dislike a character who seems to be using a man like Hale, yet something resonates from Willa that captures your attention and forces a positive response from a reader.

Her highest goal is to track down that illusive memory. That vague scene—so vague it tells her nothing—grips her being and drags her along a lane of duty and research that consumes her. Who is the man in that scene? Why has her mother always hated her? Why did she send her away from home with such bitter incriminations? Why does her heart refuse to accept Hale’s love? Why does she long for another glimpse, another chance with Blake, a past love?

Running from Texas to Seattle, as far away as she could, she’d made a new life for herself. Only when called back to remodel her old home place does she find the courage to return to her home town. Greeted by a servant who holds secrets Willa yearns to know, unsettled about seeing her mother again, Willa tramps the grounds of her past, pushing, pushing, pushing for the knowledge she needs to recollect that something from her childhood.

Only the answers are almost more than she can endure. Faced with her own sins and regrets, Willa must learn to forgive before she can answer the questions hammering at her and accept love from those who really do love her the best.

I loved this book. It was a great one to end the year with.
Blessings!