The Storycatcher

Book 39 of my 2014 Reading Challenge

The Storycatcher by Ann Hite

Summary (via the book jacket)

Shelly Parker never much liked Faith Dobbins, the uppity way that girl bossed her around.  But they had more in common than she knew.  Shelly tried to ignore the hints that warned her Faith's tyrannical father, Pastor Dobbins, was a devil in disguise.  But when Faith started acting strange, Shelly couldn't avoid the past - not anymore.

Critically acclaimed, award-winning author Ann Hite Beckons readers back to the Depression-era South, from the saltwater marshes of Georgia's coast to the whispering winds of North Carolina's mystical Black Mountain, in a mesmerizing gothic tale about the dark family secrets that come back to haunt us.

My Opinion

This is a book to read without distraction.  There were many characters from different time periods and I found myself referring to the family trees at the beginning of the book frequently before I had a handle on where everyone belonged.  Part of the confusion for me was that each chapter was told from the perspective of one of the characters but with the exception of Arleen, who was very very angry, their voices weren't distinct.  I would expect a wealthy white woman from the 1930s to speak differently than a black servant from the 1870s but they sounded the same to me as I read them.
I was curious to see how everyone would connect (and definitely misread the relationship between two of the characters - big surprise when that was revealed!) but by the time the climatic moment of Shelly finally reading the diary came, my reaction was more 'meh' than 'wow'.

Quote from the Book 

"Secrets weren't nothing but untold lies."