The Greatest Gift
These Tangled Vines by Julianne MacLean is the most delightful dual timeline novel about love and family.
The novel is set in 1986 and 2017 and is seen through the eyes of a mother and her daughter. There have been secrets kept but now it is time to learn the truth about the summer of 1986.
Julianne MacLean has a colourful palette of words which she uses to vividly paint the Tuscan landscape. The reader can ‘see’ the vibrant countryside through her words. We ‘feel’ the soaring heat and ‘smell’ the aromatic food and drink. These Tangled Vines is a wonderful assault on our senses.
The characters are perfectly drawn, realistic and likable. The reader can ‘feel’ the tension and attraction between the two lead characters in 1986 as the emotions and heat sizzles.
This is a novel about love. It is a great sacrificial love. It is a guilty love. It is a love bound by a secret. A self-sacrificing, caring and compassionate love remains.
We witness the destructive power of wealth on a character as a sense of entitlement is dashed. In contrast we see a life opening up as one realises that inheritance is so much more than money. True inheritance is love.
I absolutely adored These Tangled Vines, reading it in just one sitting. The love radiates from the pages to surround the reader. Love is the greatest gift of all.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
JULIA WILSON