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The Keeper of Happy Endings is Historical Fiction at Its Best: A Review

The Keeper of Happy Endings Book Cover

The Keeper of Happy Endings

ISBN: 9781542021470

There is a reason this book deserves to be on so many must-read lists these days.

The book unfolds across multiple timelines: both Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II in the 1940s and Boston in the 1980s. The story follows two women both dealing with devastating losses and heartbreak after fate keeps them from their true loves.

Soline Roussel made wedding dresses for her exclusive bridal salon before a fire burned down her studio and left her with hands unable to hold a needle. Rory Grant is barely living ever since her fiance disappeared on a mission in Africa.

A chance sighting of the studio and a desire to open a gallery leads Rory into Soline’s life and shakes things up in ways neither of them saw coming. 

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With themes of magic, mystery, and love denied for one reason or another, this book could have gone a number of ways in tone. What Barbara Davis manages to do is weave a spell that makes the magic and twists of fate feel completely plausible, even as its sets against a backdrop of one of the worst human atrocities in history.

Her personal tagline of “A little history. A little mystery. A little romance” is actually perfect and exactly sums up her writing style.

Ultimately, it’s a story of love enduring across time and circumstances.

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It’s a rather slow-paced book, but it does pick up, and the payoff at the end makes it worth the time it takes to get there. I haven’t read anything else like this particular book, and its uniqueness alone makes it deserving of a read. 

If you are a fan of historical fiction with a twist of magic, this book needs to make it onto your “must-read” list.

It also makes a terrific choice for tackling with a reading group. Check out The Keeper of Happy Endings Book Club Questions to get you started.