"The Words We Whisper"--by Mary Ellen Taylor--from the bestselling author of "Honeysuckle Season" comes a sweeping saga that interweaves the past and present in an epic tapestry of love, war, and loss (see my review)

  

The Words We Whisper

As a hospice nurse, Zara Mitchell has already seen more death than most people will experience in a lifetime. So when her older sister asks her to help care for their ailing grandmother, Zara agrees—despite strained family relationships.

Though pale and tired, Nonna has lost none of her sharp mind. She’s fixated on finding something long forgotten, and she immediately puts Zara to work cleaning out the attic. Unexpectedly, amid the tedium of sifting through knickknacks and heirlooms, Zara also reconnects with a man she’s attracted to but whose complicated past makes romance seem impossible.

But then Zara finds what Nonna was looking for: a wooden chest, an emerald broach, a leather-bound journal. As she immerses herself in stories of heroism and loss set against the backdrop of war-torn Italy in 1943, Zara finds answers to questions she didn’t know she had. And they change everything she thinks she knows about love, regret, and seizing the day.

“Taylor expertly employs the parallel timelines to highlight the impact of the past on the present, exploring the complexities of familial relationships while peeling back the layers of her flawed, realistic characters. Readers are sure to be swept away.” ―Publishers Weekly

MY REVIEW: Author Mary Ellen Taylor's beautifully-detailed writing brings to vivid life a poignant time and generation spanning tale, "The Words We Whisper". From WWII Italy to present-day Virginia, this powerfully emotional story will take readers on a journey of words that they will long remember. Zara Mitchell is a traveling hospice nurse dedicated to the comfort and well-being of her patients. With her big heart for people--and animals--she even adopts the pets of the patients who pass away. When Zara's older sister, Gina, calls and begs Zara to come home to help care for their dying grandmother, Zara can't refuse. Zara's grandmother, Nonna, may be showing signs of physical decline, but her mindset is as formidable as ever. She immediately tasks Zara with cleaning up the attic and helping her to find special mementos. Zara is surprised by a visit from Nicolas Bernard, the widower of one of her patients, Catherine, who had passed away two years ago. Nicolas has been fulfilling a bucket list written for him by Catherine, and one of the items on the list involved Zara. As Zara begins to sort through items from the attic, she and Gina realize there is much more to their grandmother's past than they could ever have imagined. Zara is taken aback when she learns the real reason that she was summoned home, and her mind is awhirl now that life as she knew it will never be the same. The three women come together as bits and pieces of truth fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, and a new sense of family begins to grow. Throughout the present-day story, author Mary Ellen Taylor has interspersed glimpses into the past--into the turbulence of WWII Italy, the time and place which was the launching point for the events that would affect the characters and shape their lives. The storytelling here is stellar, and I was deeply involved in seeing how the story line would be resolved. Yes, there is poignancy, but there is also hope and affirmation. "The Words We Whisper" is highly recommended.

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Mary Ellen Taylor

 

A southerner by birth, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state of Virginia and its past is evident in her contemporary women's fiction novels, from her first THE UNION STREET BAKERY to her latest, THE WORDS WE WHISPER, which debuts July 20, 2021. Her novels explore issues of family, home and belonging and entwine the past and present.  

Richmond, VA born, Mary Ellen has lived there most of her life. Alongside writing, cooking and baking are important creative outlets for Mary Ellen, who's been known to name recipes in honor of her characters. Just a few years ago, she earned her Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate at the University of Richmond's Culinary Arts Program. "In some ways, I liken baking to my efforts as a writer. You need to learn the basic tools of the trade before you can push the limits and create a distinctive sweet dessert or savory novel.”

Mary Ellen is also known nationally as New York Times and USA Today bestselling suspense novelist Mary Burton. Together, they have published forty-five novels, with Mary Burton’s latest, NEAR YOU, debuting April 13, 2021.

When not traveling or holed up writing, she and her husband spend time alternately enjoying their empty nest and spoiling their miniature dachshunds, Buddy, Bella and Tiki.

http://www.maryellentaylor.com