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Things We Keep: A Lowcountry Novel
It is 1953 in Charleston, South Carolina and Eudora’s life is about to change.
Eudora Grace Gadsden’s life has been planned for her since birth: private school, cotillion, social debut, and an engagement at the end of her Season. Generations of Gadsden women have flourished in society, with these advantages, and Eudora’s life will be no different.
But what if the life she’s expected to live is not the one she wants?
When her attempts to change her destiny goes awry, Eudora finds herself alone, without the safety net she’d taken for granted all her life. To build the life she wants, she’s forced to rely on herself and what she knows: the rich history of her city and her own hidden strength. But Eudora is still a woman bound by the rules of her class and time. To deviate from the path set for her is to risk losing everything.
How far is she willing to go to create a different future?
Eudora Grace Gadsden’s life has been planned for her since birth: private school, cotillion, social debut, and an engagement at the end of her Season. Generations of Gadsden women have flourished in society, with these advantages, and Eudora’s life will be no different.
But what if the life she’s expected to live is not the one she wants?
When her attempts to change her destiny goes awry, Eudora finds herself alone, without the safety net she’d taken for granted all her life. To build the life she wants, she’s forced to rely on herself and what she knows: the rich history of her city and her own hidden strength. But Eudora is still a woman bound by the rules of her class and time. To deviate from the path set for her is to risk losing everything.
How far is she willing to go to create a different future?
309 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 8, 2019
90 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Heidi Hostetter
8 books89 followersI love books, always have. There’s just something about the way a story unfolds that seems magical to me. I remember riding my bike down to the public library when I was a kid. I'd filling my basket with anything that looked interesting - fairy tales, detective stories, mysteries. Then I'd pedal home and spend hours lost in story.
So, when I began writing my own stories, I made sure to weave together immersive description, characters you'll root for, struggles that reflect real life, and always –– always –– a happy ending.
THE GIRL I USED TO BE is the newest book in the New Jersey Shore collection. It asks "how much of yourself are you willing to give up for a comfortable life?" And "how hard are you willing to fight to find your way back?"
THE SHORE HOUSE is the first in the Dewberry Beach collection. A story of misunderstanding, forgiveness and the power of second chances, it’s a heartfelt summer read. Perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Pamela Kelley and Nancy Thayer.
THINGS WE SURRENDER is the first book in my Lowcountry collection, novels set in Charleston, South Carolina. Three generations of strong Southern women share an ancestral home and not-quite-forgotten secrets. Can they learn to forgive past betrayal for a second chance at becoming a family? THINGS WE KEEP, the second book in the collection, is Eudora’s story and shows how she salvaged an fractured beginning to became a strong family matriarch.
If you like Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow, you’ll love my Inlet Beach series. A small beach town on the coast of Oregon, Inlet Beach is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else, and they all have an opinion. THE INHERITANCE begins the collection, with three estranged sisters staking a claim to what looks like a dilapidated beach house but is actually a landmark beloved by the residents. A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW revisits Inlet Beach for Christmas, with a runaway teen desperate for help. Can the community come together in time to give a boy a home for the holidays?
So, when I began writing my own stories, I made sure to weave together immersive description, characters you'll root for, struggles that reflect real life, and always –– always –– a happy ending.
THE GIRL I USED TO BE is the newest book in the New Jersey Shore collection. It asks "how much of yourself are you willing to give up for a comfortable life?" And "how hard are you willing to fight to find your way back?"
THE SHORE HOUSE is the first in the Dewberry Beach collection. A story of misunderstanding, forgiveness and the power of second chances, it’s a heartfelt summer read. Perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Pamela Kelley and Nancy Thayer.
THINGS WE SURRENDER is the first book in my Lowcountry collection, novels set in Charleston, South Carolina. Three generations of strong Southern women share an ancestral home and not-quite-forgotten secrets. Can they learn to forgive past betrayal for a second chance at becoming a family? THINGS WE KEEP, the second book in the collection, is Eudora’s story and shows how she salvaged an fractured beginning to became a strong family matriarch.
If you like Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow, you’ll love my Inlet Beach series. A small beach town on the coast of Oregon, Inlet Beach is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else, and they all have an opinion. THE INHERITANCE begins the collection, with three estranged sisters staking a claim to what looks like a dilapidated beach house but is actually a landmark beloved by the residents. A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW revisits Inlet Beach for Christmas, with a runaway teen desperate for help. Can the community come together in time to give a boy a home for the holidays?
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 23, 2021
Lots of editorial errors kept me from enjoying this book as well as I possibly could have.
Read
October 6, 2021Very good book I enjoyed it.
December 31, 2019
The Power of Women
Really love stories if the low country and this novel seas no exception. As usual the story line was great and the characters were well develoied. I just wished the story had gotten started sooner and lasted longer!
Really love stories if the low country and this novel seas no exception. As usual the story line was great and the characters were well develoied. I just wished the story had gotten started sooner and lasted longer!
November 8, 2019
Great story
Really good read. Wish there would have been more explanations before the epilogue about children that were born into the family. Felt like something was missing.
Really good read. Wish there would have been more explanations before the epilogue about children that were born into the family. Felt like something was missing.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews