Under the Grapevine is the second in The Women of Campbell County series by author S Lee Fisher. Olive Westchester is a married woman with children of her own and a loving husband, all of whom she treats badly.  Having lost all her youthful chances, she is locked in her own misery which has festered over the years to create a bitter, angry woman.  She treats everyone around her with rude contempt, keeps secrets from her family for her own benefit and only really engages with them when she needs a skivvy.

The book opens after the First World War and covers the years of the Great Depression and the Second World War with vivid detail. Although the characters are affected by these tumultuous events I wanted to dive deeper into their emotional turmoil. The author seems to have a clear vision of the personalities of each member of the family, which I found intriguing and left me wanting to know much more about them. This is a plot driven literary saga that focuses on a series of dramatic events that happen to the characters, but leaves me wanting more insight into the inner worlds of many of the characters.

Harriet bounces along from one experience to the next without sharing with us what is going on in her head apart from the little that is revealed through her conversations with others, this sets her up to be an enigmatic character to me. As for Olive, if you have not read the first book in the series, which I recommend, you would have no idea why she is so hateful, and these reasons can be compelling, but here the characterization is intense and I wanted a window into her soul to understand why. Harriet is surprisingly unscathed by having such a horrid mother, and it is awe inspiring that Tabs remains the loyal, long-suffering husband that he is.

Under the Grapevine is filled with intriguing characters that I wanted to explore further and deeper. This is a great family saga for readers who enjoy rousing drama against a vivid historical backdrop.

Pages: 296 | ASIN: B0981M5QYN