Audio, 11:13:28
Narrated by: Judith Ivey
Release Date: July 23, 2019Published by: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Read from: December 9-19, 2019Stand-aloneSource: LibraryTW:For fans of: Adult, Family Relationships, Contemporary
A novel of family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate and the secrets of making a world-class beer.
Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make what most people would call a living. So she can’t help wondering what her life would have been like with even a portion of the farm money her sister kept for herself.
With the proceeds from the farm, Helen builds one of the most successful light breweries in the country, and makes their company motto ubiquitous: “Drink lots. It’s Blotz.” Where Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, Helen’s is as rigid as a steel keg. Yet one day, Helen will find she needs some help herself, and she could find a potential savior close to home. . . if it’s not too late.
Meanwhile, Edith’s granddaughter, Diana, grows up knowing that the real world requires a tougher constitution than her grandmother possesses. She earns a shot at learning the IPA business from the ground up–will that change their fortunes forever, and perhaps reunite her splintered family?
Here we meet a cast of lovable, funny, quintessentially American characters eager to make their mark in a world that’s often stacked against them. In this deeply affecting family saga, resolution can take generations, but when it finally comes, we’re surprised, moved, and delighted.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I almost didn’t want to write a review for this, but after finishing it, I knew someone would want to know a little about this.I mean, grandmas making beer? When will you EVER read another book about grandmas making beer?
Helen and her sister Edith have never really been close. They were just too different. As they grow older, they grow even more apart. But then comes Edith’s granddaughter, who acutally likes the sme things that Helen likes. As it turns out, things aren’t going as well for Helen as they once were just when things start picking up for Edith when he granddaughter Diana needs help. And just when they least expected it, Diana brings the family together in a way they never would have expected.
For the most part I liked it. Such as the characters. I really liked them. They were all really well done and fleshed out. I especially liked Helen and Diana. They were good business women who took their job seriously.
However, the writing style didn’t work for me. I wasn’t a fan. I remember only finishing the book because I wanted to see the strawberry ale that was mentioned and where it came from. Even with this keeping me going, I was still bored. And let’s be honest, the author wrote the entire story in the synopsis. That always messes it up for me. I go in with all the spoilers EVER because they decided to put the entire book on the synopsis.
This in no way will stand out from other books I’ve read in the past, but it had it’s entertaining moments. Enough to where I kept listening in my car when the last CD was finishing up. It wasn’t anything special, but I hope that people will still want to read it and meet these brewmaster grannies.
Overall, I give this
