THE AUTHOR: Lisa Wingate
Lisa Wingate has truly outdone herself with this book. It is fast-paced, exciting and intelligent. It without a doubt deserves all 5 tiaras out of 5. I don’t give that many tiaras out very often anymore, but here they are deserved.
Mallory Hale is the main character in “Firefly Island.” Out of the blue, she falls madly in love with a man who, after a whirlwind romance, becomes her husband. She has lived her life on Capitol Hill, and is used to the Washington, D.C., world of nice suits, pumps and expensive pocketbooks. Now she quickly trades in all of that to be a new mom of a 3-year-old, moves to Texas where the mouse population is plentiful, and feels completely lost in her new environment.
Mallory’s husband, Daniel, and his little boy, Nick, become Mallory’s entire world. She constantly wrestles with the question of whether or not she is fit and ready to be a mama. Although Mallory can hardly believe it, Nick’s mother simply doesn’t want him, and Mallory is determined to fill that void.
Nick’s interest in the other Texas children quickly involves Mallory in the community — whether she likes it or not. To survive the isolation, she sets-up a blog just for her called “The Pioneer Woman.” At first she finds herself resisting its call, but finally she finds solace in its ability to capture her day-to-day life in the small Texas town, a town where “nobody” will believe, without proof, what she is living through each day.
Family is a big part of Mallory’s life, and she is the youngest of four girls. Her favorite sister Trudy is going though all kinds of treatments in an effort to become pregnant. Then Mallory discovers, with Trudy’s help, that Mallory is unexpectedly and unintentionally pregnant herself.
In a late-night blogging episode, Mallory pours out her story, and then her heart, into the “private” blog which she thinks she has carefully filed away for future reference. When she awakens to frantic phone calls, she suddenly realizes that she has broadcast her innermost thoughts to her family, friends, and coworkers from the Hill. One click of a button has exposed her secrets and has changed her life entirely.
Mallory settles in and learns to endure Jack West, her new husband’s employer. Jack is widely believed to have killed his wife and stepson, but to this day their bodies have not been found. The shed next to his house has been left as a shrine to them, as though they were coming back.
Suddenly Mason, Jack West’s son, shows up, and strange things begin to happen. An “accident” occurs, if it is an accident, and Daniel and Mallory are determined to find out. Mallory sets out to solve the mystery and puts herself into a dangerous situation. You will have to read the book to learn the outcome, and to realize how congressmen have a way of getting their way without anyone noticing.
“Firefly Island” involves a multitude of problems that only Mallory’s sharp wit and know-how can overcome. I started reading this book on Friday evening and had it finished by Saturday afternoon. It is one of those books that you absolutely cannot put down, and it has so many important moments that you don’t want to miss a single one.
If you are looking for an exciting book that requires you to use your intelligence and your reasoning, “Firefly Island” is perfect for you. It is a fast-paced, fun-filled, intelligent novel that won’t let go of you until the very end, and even lingers in your mind thereafter.
Buice, a Carrollton resident, writes a weekly book review for the Times-Georgian. anitabook.com
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