Phenomenal deep dive into the secrets we keep, the decisions we make, and the consequences that haunt us.

Before She Was A Finley is perfect for anyone who loved the coming of age story of Where The Crawdads Sing, mixed with the grit and perseverance of an up-and-coming star like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and sprinkled with a love story reminiscent of The Notebook.

Usually I’m a slow reader — taking two weeks to a month to finish a book. I finished this book in 6 days. I found myself stealing any moment I had to check in on the main character Grace. I was showing up early to appointments to get a few pages in and then staying up late to finish chapters. I was definitely consumed and there were surprises and revelations up until the very end of the book.

The reader is treated almost as a character in this book as the author takes care of us from the very beginning. I was sucked in right away and completely forgot I was reading. We were seamlessly transported from the present to the past throughout the book and never lost our place because of the clear writing. This is expertly executed craft at its best.

Grace is the star of the show but even secondary characters like Adele, the young journalism student who tells her story, shine.

The story explores so many themes like the choices we make, the perceptions of a child, coming of age, growing up poor, being self sufficient, having a dream, falling in love, friendships changing, found family, kindness of strangers, perseverance, grit, survival, love, and heartbreak in many ways.

I’m looking forward to reading the author's earlier book, Without Grace, which follows her daughter Vicky on her journey of what it was like to grow up without her mother.

Highly recommend! You’ll be talking about and thinking about this book for a long time to come!