The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

Four women. One family heirloom. A secret connection that will change their lives—and history as they know it.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

March 2022; Gallery Books; 978-1982180713
audio, ebook, print (416 pages); southern fiction

I have been a fan of Kristy Woodson Harvey since her first book.  She writes contemporary Southern fiction with wonderful characters in beautiful locations.  This is her first historical/contemporary novel.  I have loved every one of her books and she just keeps better.   Her new novel had me engrossed from the first page and I didn't want to put it down once I started reading it.

The Wedding Veil is a dual timeline novel that takes place in and near Biltmore House in Asheville,  North Carolina. Sometimes when I read dual timeline books I enjoy one story more than the other but both time periods are wonderfully written and skillfully woven together.

In 1898, Edith Dresser married George Vanderbilt wearing her family wedding veil that had passed down generations and guaranteed that the bride wearing it will have a happy marriage.  When he took her to Asheville to see the home he was building, she was in awe of the 250 room castle in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She decided that she would get to know the workers in Biltmore Village and become part of the day-to-day life.  Edith and George had a baby, Cornelia, in 1900 and they tried to give her the world and keep her happy.  When George died unexpectedly in 1914, Edith was determined to uphold the Vanderbilt legacy until Cornelia inherited it.  As the economy began to deteriorate in the 1930s, it became more and more difficult.  Edith begins to wonder if her wedding veil, passed down through the years is really the good luck that it was promised to be.

Present Day: Julia Baxter’s wedding veil, given to her great-grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s,  promises to guarantee a happy marriage.  When something happens at her wedding shower, she knows it will take more than a wedding veil to make her marriage a success.  She runs away on her wedding day and goes to the Virgin Islands to clear her head.  Her mother is shocked by what she did but her grandmother supports her decision.  

As usual with Kristy's books, we get fantastic characters and beautiful scenery.  The writing is exquisite and the characters are well written, so I felt like I knew them.   

After I read this book, I had to Google the Vanderbilt family because I knew very little about the history of the family that built Biltmore House. I love a book that teaches me something while I enjoy reading it.  It's time to pack my bags and make a trip to Biltmore House - it's only a few hours away from me.  

This is a book that you don't want to miss.

Buy The Wedding Veil at Amazon

 

Donna has taken a couple of trips to Biltmore House in Asheville, NC
(photo credit: Donna Huber, 2017)

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina with her husband of over 50 years.  She grew up in Michigan but now calls North Carolina home. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and historical fiction. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook.

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