After her father’s death, Gaylen Syler-Boatwright travels with her eccentric sister Delia to a mountain cottage owned by their late Aunt Amity. There Gaylen finds a gallery of framed painted dresses with directions for their disposal on the backs. A road trip to deliver the dresses reveals old family secrets. Drug dealers threaten the pair after Delia shoots her boyfriend’s wife. Gaylen has problems of her own with a failing marriage and feelings of guilt. Their half-brother Truman, now in prison, was ejected from the family by Gaylen’s mother and neither sister knows why. Or why their mother tried to burn one of Gaylen’s dresses. 

I found it hard to get involved in the story at first. Almost the whole first chapter was first person interior monologue and “telling.” After Delia’s appearance tension mounts and the pace quickens. This is not a “warm and fuzzy” read but ultimately, the sisters’ journey of discovery leads to understanding, restoration, and forgiveness.

December 13, 2008