A review by rberdan
Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The author said this book was about mothers and daughters. Through that lens, there was much I appreciated about the intergenerational love, conflict, and forgiveness in the story. Mothers do their best and are human in the process. I know this as a mother, I know it as a daughter. The story gets into that tension and weaves in unconditional love, a bit of self reflection, and a bit of understanding one another with that humanness in mind. 

This story was also about secrets and the damage they can cause, even if they are kept with the best of intentions. It’s about trying to control from a protective place. It’s about coming clean and what can be positive on the other side of doing so. Unfortunately, because that was such a strong theme in the book,

the fact that Willow never came clean about how she felt about Jimmie or why she struggled to be there for Victoria and the fact that Victoria never shared how Willow hurt her

left such a huge part of the story unresolved for me. I also found that some of the secrets that were revealed were dragged out a bit longer than was necessary… bringing the conflict forward may have given more opportunity to see what was on the other side of it in these relationships. 

I think there were a lot of interesting elements here, and I also think that there were some threads that were introduced that didn’t get to be fully woven and some that were tied up a bit too conveniently. That said, as I still struggling to navigate my grief after losing my mom, I loved how this story gets into to matrilineal magic and honours the relationships between women, mothers, daughters, aunts, nieces…