Reviews of Margaret’s first books, Farthest House and River People.
Review: Farthest House:
“Not since The Lovely Bones have we experienced such a moving tale of love, suspense, and family secrets narrated by a ghost. Lukas creates a complex, moving story with brilliant lyricism and hard won realism. She is a rare writer who makes you devour her words. Readers of Alice Hoffman and Anita Shreve will love this novel…and stay up all night to finish it!”
A Page Turner
“Margaret Lukas has written a page-turner of a novel. Farthest House, boldly narrated by an unsettled spirit, is part-ghost story and a full-out love story of a family coming to terms with its mysterious past, much of it lived in an ancestral home set within a gorgeously rendered Nebraska landscape.
Above all, Farthest House is the story of Willow, a bewildered little girl who grows into a passionate painter. I can’t remember the last time I rooted so enthusiastically for a heroine.”
I mean I REALLY Recommend It!
“I received this book through Early Readers on Library Thing. It will be released January 2014, and I recommend this book to everyone who likes mysteries/suspense. I mean I REALLY recommend it! If I could give it 10 stars I would.
This book grabbed me from the very beginning…A baby girl is born in her grandmother’s house and her mother dies immediately after – but not from complications of childbirth. She was murdered. We are told this right at the beginning, but not by who, why, or how.
The story is narrated by the baby’s great aunt Amelie-Anais, or actually her great aunt’s spirit. The rest of the story follows the girl until she’s 20. I really can’t tell more about the story in this short space, and wouldn’t want to try – there is too much! What I can say is that it is filled with suspense from beginning to end. I feel like I’ve been holding my breath from start to finish.
The characters are so well-drawn that I really felt that I knew them, and certainly developed specific feelings about each of them. The story is so well written, I can’t think of any point at which I felt it was dragging. In fact, I started the book yesterday afternoon, had to force myself to put it down and go to sleep last night, then read through the day today, finally finishing the 504 pages just a few minutes ago. You will NOT be disappointed by this book!!”
I Won This Proof
“I won this uncorrected proof in the November LibraryThing Giveaway and very glad that I did! This book makes me wish I was retired so I could read as late into the night as I wanted!
I would have finished this book in one sitting if I had started earlier. This story is told by Amelie-Anais who tells us the story of four enigmatic generations.
This narrator is buried where the family home is located in Nebraska. So many secrets and too many deaths. We’re following Willow’s life and how it is impacted by a birth defect and being raised by a father drowning in sorrow over the loss of his wife during the birth of Willow.
Just a wonderful book! It’s being published on January 28, 2014…mark your calendars!”
This book gripped me from the first chapter until the last.
A definite page-turner that had my mind turning with it’s twisting plot. Reminds me of the style of V.C. Andrews but with much more connection to the characters.
I hate to give any of it away as every part of this book was a clue of what was to come or what had already passed. Plenty of “aha” moments to awaken your senses and keep you turning the page!! Cannot wait until she releases her next story! A fan for life… highly recommend it!