Forgiving Effie Beck

Forgiving Effie Beck is Karen Casey Fitzjerrell's second book. Her first book, The 
Dividing Season, won the EPIC Award for Best Historical Fiction. Efe Beck’s story takes place during the Great Depression and is told through multi-points of view, though mostly the reader will “see” the world through the eyes of Mike Lemay, an interviewer for the Federal Writers' Project.

Effie Beck, an elderly ranch woman is reported missing in the first pages of the book.
Mike Lemay is drawn into the search for the woman and discovers she had secrets that
no one knew about. Through Mike’s interviews we learn about other people in town, not all of them lovable, and none of them are paper dolls. They come across as real people with real feelings, problems, joys, and secrets. You can tell Fitzjerrell did her research on the time period and place. She seamlessly settles you into the hearts of the town’s people and into times long gone.

Over the course of the book, people accept Mike as one of their own. He discovers some things he doesn't want to know. But most of all, he discovers truths about himself -- and Jodean Travis, the young woman who rents him a room.I'd like to read another book set in this town with these people. This time is long gone, but so very relevant to today's world.

I give Forgiving Effie Beck a rating of Hel-of-a-Story.

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FTC Disclaimer: This book was sent to me as a Proof. I, on my own, made the decision to review Forgiving Effie Beck. If Fitzjerrell decides to write another book set in this town, I'd like to see the world through Jodean Travis' POV. In fact, I'd like to read a book about her life from when she was born to the time Mike enters her world. And that's the problem with Fitzjerrell's books. She brings her characters to life. They're so real, you want to know more about them, more about this time period. You want her to hurry up and get the next book out. You want her to sit down and get to writing the next book a Hel-of-a-Lot-Faster.