Up the Hill to Home
A Novel
- 2015 INDIES Winner
- Gold, Historical (Adult Fiction)
- 2015 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, General (Adult Fiction)
Lillie Voith is the sun around which her family revolves. She lives with her ever expanding family at the edges of Washington, DC, in a home her father built for her mother while spilling over with the enthusiasm of first love. Her stores of happiness are threatened, though, when she takes a tumble down the basement stairs and finds herself suffering from a life-threatening condition.
Being bedridden gives her an opportunity to pore over old memories—always a favorite habit and now her sole refuge from growing concerns. Family letters and diaries offer inroads to the thoughts and controversies of four generations, from her grandmother Mary Miller’s foreboding father, who forces the family onto a ship headed to America, to the Civil War doctor whose malfeasances remain a stain on the family name. Lillie pays homage to her parents, whose whirlwind courtship joined an ambitious young man to a self-sufficient woman who’d thought that her chance to start a family had passed, and who, instead, regained her youth through love of her daughter. And always, there’s Ferd, the husband who’d do anything for Lillie, even sacrifice his own dreams.
Jennifer Bort Yacovissi’s command of language and history make for fluid and tactile reading. Lillie’s family stories enrapture, from letters revealing character foibles and vulnerabilities to historical records hedging on embarrassing details. Up the Hill to Home is an emotionally powerful, gorgeously imparted family saga.
Reviewed by
Michelle Anne Schingler
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
