Karen White’s books are always a perfect blend of family, friendship, mystery, and a little romance. In her latest book “Dreams of Falling” she offers us two generations of strong female friendships. After nine years away, Larkin returns to her childhood home in South Carolina when her mother Ivy takes a life-threatening fall, a fall that becomes the catalyst for exposing long held secrets. Larkin had fled her home insisting she would never return.
When Ivy is found in the burned out ruins of her family’s ancestral home, unconscious and badly injured, Larkin becomes determined to find out why her mother was there. It is in this search that Larkin uncovers the secrets kept by three teenage friends who fifty years earlier had sworn to remain best friends forever, never imagining the heartache that would result from that vow.

Larkin needed to come home from New York because her mother was missing.

What she found was that over the years a lot of things were missing and quite a few things were kept secret.

Larkin found secrets about her mother and her family at every turn.

When she asked why she wasn’t told, the answer was ignored or she was told to wait until her mother, Ivy, wakes up and to ask her.

Larkin wondered how long she would have to wait for her mother to wake up. She also wondered how long until she found out everything.

Ivy had been found near death at the old homestead, Carrowmore, underneath a rotting staircase.

Carrowmore had been a favorite childhood place of her mother and her friends where they put "wishes on ribbons" into the opening of a tree.

As the book continued, the plot thickened, and Larkin kept finding out more and more about what had been kept from her and how some close family members were not as they appeared.

DREAMS OF FALLING was a bit confusing at first in the character department. It took me a while to figure out who belonged to who and what their connections were. The connections became more tricky and quite intriguing as things were revealed.

We learn of the secrets kept and of the lives of the main characters by going back to 1951 and then returning to 2010. I really enjoyed seeing the three friends in their youth. Their current lives didn’t seem as exciting, but their youth and family history as with all of us had a major influence on their lives now and the paths they had chosen.

DREAMS OF FALLING started out not feeling like Karen White’s usual books because of the confusing character problem, but once the book got going, the familiar writing, the marvelous story line, the Southern charm, and warm characters made its appearance and made the story line completely wonderful and enjoyable as always.

DREAMS OF FALLING is another marvelous treat.

Despite the confusion with the characters at the beginning, DREAMS OF FALLING is another Karen White masterpiece that pulls you in and keeps you loving each turn of the page.

I hope you enjoy it too. 5/5

I received an Advanced Reader of this book. All opinions are my own.

you can read the summary for yourself....i know there were some who felt this was a soap opera type story....maybe so. However I really liked it. Have read other books by this author and she does not disappoint. Well worth the read.