What do you think?
Rate this book
The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern
A luminous coming of age story about a fiercely lonely young woman's quest to uncover the truth behind her mother's disappearance.
Born in a carnival trailer, Leah Fern begins her life as the "The Youngest and Very Best Fortuneteller in the World," taking strangers' hands and feeling the depths of their emotions. Her mother Jeannie Starr is a captivating magician, but not always an attentive mother, and when Leah is six, Jeannie upends their carnival life with an unexpected exit. With little fanfare and no explanation, she leaves her daughter at the home of Edward Murphy, a kindly older man with whom Leah shares one fierce wish: that Jeannie Starr will return to them.
After fifteen years as a small-town outcast , Leah decides to end her life on the occasion of her twenty-first birthday. But the intricate death ritual she has devised is interrupted by a surprise knock on her door. Her mysterious neighbor, the curmudgeonly and reclusive art photographer Essie East, has died and left Leah a very strange inheritance. Through a series of letters, Essie will posthumously lead Leah on a journey to nine points on the map, spanning from South Carolina to Canada to the Arctic Circle—a journey that, the first note promises, will reveal the story of Leah's mother.
Driven by a ferocious resurgence of hope, Leah embarks on this bizarre treasure hunt, Essie's ashes in a jeweled urn in the passenger seat of her truck. Along her way, she visits islands, libraries, diners, and defunct ice cream parlors, meeting a charming cast of eccentric characters and immersing herself in wonders of the natural world.
An enchanting novel about the transcendent powers of the imagination, the magic of the threshold between past and present, and the courage it takes to love, The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern explores the unlikely, at times adversarial, and ultimately redemptive relationship between a young woman who has forgotten how to live and a dead woman who summons her to remember.
Born in a carnival trailer, Leah Fern begins her life as the "The Youngest and Very Best Fortuneteller in the World," taking strangers' hands and feeling the depths of their emotions. Her mother Jeannie Starr is a captivating magician, but not always an attentive mother, and when Leah is six, Jeannie upends their carnival life with an unexpected exit. With little fanfare and no explanation, she leaves her daughter at the home of Edward Murphy, a kindly older man with whom Leah shares one fierce wish: that Jeannie Starr will return to them.
After fifteen years as a small-town outcast , Leah decides to end her life on the occasion of her twenty-first birthday. But the intricate death ritual she has devised is interrupted by a surprise knock on her door. Her mysterious neighbor, the curmudgeonly and reclusive art photographer Essie East, has died and left Leah a very strange inheritance. Through a series of letters, Essie will posthumously lead Leah on a journey to nine points on the map, spanning from South Carolina to Canada to the Arctic Circle—a journey that, the first note promises, will reveal the story of Leah's mother.
Driven by a ferocious resurgence of hope, Leah embarks on this bizarre treasure hunt, Essie's ashes in a jeweled urn in the passenger seat of her truck. Along her way, she visits islands, libraries, diners, and defunct ice cream parlors, meeting a charming cast of eccentric characters and immersing herself in wonders of the natural world.
An enchanting novel about the transcendent powers of the imagination, the magic of the threshold between past and present, and the courage it takes to love, The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern explores the unlikely, at times adversarial, and ultimately redemptive relationship between a young woman who has forgotten how to live and a dead woman who summons her to remember.
390 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2022
59 people are currently reading
5515 people want to read
About the author
Rita Zoey Chin
2 books68 followersRita Zoey Chin is the author of the widely praised memoir, Let the Tornado Come. Hailed by The Huffington Post as a “euphoric ode to the human spirt” and by Oprah.com as a “powerful story to pass onto a friend,” Let the Tornado Come was named a Boston Globe “Summer Reads” pick, one of Kirkus Reviews’ “10 True Stories Perfect for Summer Reading,” an Elle Readers Prize pick, and one of Flavorwire’s “10 Nonfiction Books That Will Make You Smarter.”
Zoey holds an MFA from the University of Maryland, has taught at Towson University, and currently teaches at Grub Street in Boston, as well as at retreats and conferences near and far. Some of her other writing can be found in Guernica, Tin House, Blackbird Review, NY Arts Magazine, Marie Claire, and Flash Fiction America (W.W. Norton & Company, forthcoming in February 2023).
Her first novel, The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern, is forthcoming from Melville House in October 2022.
Zoey holds an MFA from the University of Maryland, has taught at Towson University, and currently teaches at Grub Street in Boston, as well as at retreats and conferences near and far. Some of her other writing can be found in Guernica, Tin House, Blackbird Review, NY Arts Magazine, Marie Claire, and Flash Fiction America (W.W. Norton & Company, forthcoming in February 2023).
Her first novel, The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern, is forthcoming from Melville House in October 2022.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
January 4, 2023
I am so very glad I ended 2022 with this literary gem that quietly led me away from a very difficult year and a bevy of disturbing and intense books that seem to be the new trend in fiction. I could write much about the journey I took with Leah Fern, a complex character that we've seen before but who, in Chin's hands, reaches more deeply into the wild, the unknown, the exploration of solitude and the search for connection and redemption and the different ways to find and hold on to love. But I want to highlight Chin's own eloquent words:
"When the questions are quelled and the mulling abates, when a driver commits to the road, the driver and the road can form an easy alliance. The road calls the driver forth into a perpetual merging of tenses, future becoming present, becoming present. The road unfurls its stories in the language of the landscape--stories of the earth told in water, rock, and dirt; stories of human desire told in the language of tar and bridges and streetlights; stories of loss told in the language of plastic flowers and white wooden crosses; while stories of ascension are told across the canvas of the sky. The driver, too, is a landscape. She wears her stories around her neck...."
The driver as a landscape...wearing her stories around her neck and in her pockets and cells.
I have no idea why this book wasn't a major book club pick. Or why there aren't more reviews. Or why it didn't get more cover love on book sites. It does clock in at almost 400 pages (you all know I love brief books) but I found it flew by, though I did have to slow down and savor and perhaps we are now ingrained to read quickly and to gobble up fast-paced books that rely on shock value. This is not that kind of book, though mystery weaves its way magically through the plot and there are some deft surprises for the reader who hangs in there. "Love is a kind of creation...creation a kind of love."
One of my favorite books of 2022. I'll miss you, Leah Fern.
"When the questions are quelled and the mulling abates, when a driver commits to the road, the driver and the road can form an easy alliance. The road calls the driver forth into a perpetual merging of tenses, future becoming present, becoming present. The road unfurls its stories in the language of the landscape--stories of the earth told in water, rock, and dirt; stories of human desire told in the language of tar and bridges and streetlights; stories of loss told in the language of plastic flowers and white wooden crosses; while stories of ascension are told across the canvas of the sky. The driver, too, is a landscape. She wears her stories around her neck...."
The driver as a landscape...wearing her stories around her neck and in her pockets and cells.
I have no idea why this book wasn't a major book club pick. Or why there aren't more reviews. Or why it didn't get more cover love on book sites. It does clock in at almost 400 pages (you all know I love brief books) but I found it flew by, though I did have to slow down and savor and perhaps we are now ingrained to read quickly and to gobble up fast-paced books that rely on shock value. This is not that kind of book, though mystery weaves its way magically through the plot and there are some deft surprises for the reader who hangs in there. "Love is a kind of creation...creation a kind of love."
One of my favorite books of 2022. I'll miss you, Leah Fern.
May 7, 2022
The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern caught my interest right from the first chapter and held it until the end. It was a delightful story of a young woman's journey to understand her own past, as well as discovering what happened to the mother who suddenly disappeared from her life. Leah was an engaging character I could really get behind as a reader, and I enjoyed following her travels and the gentle unravelling of her tale. The magical realism elements blended well with the story, and it was a pleasure to pick it up each night and continue the adventure. It gets a solid 4.5 stars from me. Recommended if you like stories that cross between life drama and mystery with a hint of magical realism. I would certainly read more from this author in the future.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 22, 2022
4.5 stars
The Strange Inheritance Of Leah Fern is contemporary fiction. Leah’s twenty-first birthday gift to herself was going to be suicide; she’d been planning it for years. However, a knock at her door changed everything.
Until she was six, Leah lived in a carnival with her mother who was a magician. One day her mother took Leah on an adventure which ended with Leah being left with a man called Edward Murphy. The stranger at the door gave Leah a box which contained a letter from Essie East; someone who claimed to know Leah’s mother. Essie laid a trail; nine letters posted to specific places in North America for Leah to collect, each one would tell more of her mother’s story.
Mingled with the road trip are chapters from the past; snippets from Leah’s time at the carnival and her early years living with Edward. While the road trip sprinkles details about places, people and the contents of Essie’s letters. Every letter paints a larger picture of Leah’s mother and where she might be now.
I liked this story with its touches of magical realism. The author wove a wonderful tale which I was invested in almost as much as Leah. I needed to open each letter and find the next instalment just as much as Leah. The ending was a little unexpected, but it suited the rest of the story, leaving me pondering, which is not a bad thing.
The Strange Inheritance Of Leah Fern is contemporary fiction. Leah’s twenty-first birthday gift to herself was going to be suicide; she’d been planning it for years. However, a knock at her door changed everything.
Until she was six, Leah lived in a carnival with her mother who was a magician. One day her mother took Leah on an adventure which ended with Leah being left with a man called Edward Murphy. The stranger at the door gave Leah a box which contained a letter from Essie East; someone who claimed to know Leah’s mother. Essie laid a trail; nine letters posted to specific places in North America for Leah to collect, each one would tell more of her mother’s story.
Mingled with the road trip are chapters from the past; snippets from Leah’s time at the carnival and her early years living with Edward. While the road trip sprinkles details about places, people and the contents of Essie’s letters. Every letter paints a larger picture of Leah’s mother and where she might be now.
I liked this story with its touches of magical realism. The author wove a wonderful tale which I was invested in almost as much as Leah. I needed to open each letter and find the next instalment just as much as Leah. The ending was a little unexpected, but it suited the rest of the story, leaving me pondering, which is not a bad thing.
August 27, 2022
The story follows the eponymous Leah Fern, an early-twenties orphan living alone in the small town where she was raised after her circus-performer mother dropped her off with a friend and never came back. Leah has decided to end her life, but then a curious delivery arrives: the ashes of her recently-deceased downstairs neighbor along with a cryptic note inviting her on a long-distance scavenger hunt. Intrigued enough to put her fatal plans on hold, Leah gets in her truck, driving north to the first of nine post offices where she will find general delivery mail under her name, offering up information about her long-absent mom.
As Leah unspools the stories of both her mother and her neighbor, she is forced to spend time reckoning with the ways that her abandonment has impacted her life. The story dips in and out of Leah’s past, offering glimpses of her childhood being brought up in a carnival with chaotic & caring folks all around from whom she could learn and draw comfort. As she travels, Leah encounters a wide swath of characters along her road trip, each with a unique role to play in her journey.
This book is absolutely full of whimsey, heart, and candor. I was entranced by the emotive writing and by the marvelous, vivid cast. Leah has a reluctant resiliency about her, honest but hopeful, trusting but hurt. And the people she meets & places she goes are so lovingly rendered, providing waypoints to Leah’s journey with their caring, broken selves.
Truthfully, it felt like an amalgamation of some of my very favorite things: Big Fish, The Secret Life of Bees, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and the movie Elizabethtown.
As Leah unspools the stories of both her mother and her neighbor, she is forced to spend time reckoning with the ways that her abandonment has impacted her life. The story dips in and out of Leah’s past, offering glimpses of her childhood being brought up in a carnival with chaotic & caring folks all around from whom she could learn and draw comfort. As she travels, Leah encounters a wide swath of characters along her road trip, each with a unique role to play in her journey.
This book is absolutely full of whimsey, heart, and candor. I was entranced by the emotive writing and by the marvelous, vivid cast. Leah has a reluctant resiliency about her, honest but hopeful, trusting but hurt. And the people she meets & places she goes are so lovingly rendered, providing waypoints to Leah’s journey with their caring, broken selves.
Truthfully, it felt like an amalgamation of some of my very favorite things: Big Fish, The Secret Life of Bees, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and the movie Elizabethtown.
November 22, 2022
Short Review: Lyrical. Palpable. Like reading pure poetry. A beautiful story of loss, life altering mistakes, and discovering the power to love deep within ourselves.
"Love isn't always what we think it should be. It doesn't always come in a neat box with a bow and whatnot. Sometimes it's wild-like. Sometimes it hits you like a tsunami in the middle of a desert, and all you can do is thank God for the water, that somehow it came."
Long Review: This is the story of Leah Fern and her journey to solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance from her life armed with only the mysterious inheritance she's just been given from a strange, eccentric, and recently deceased neighbor. We follow Leah as she journey's through the U.S. and Canada scattering her neighbors ashes at choice locations and gathering cryptic letters giving her clues to her next destination.
I finished this book with tears running down my face and the intense desire to get an elephant tattoo. The story and characters will stick with me for a long time. Get this one on your must read list.
"Love isn't always what we think it should be. It doesn't always come in a neat box with a bow and whatnot. Sometimes it's wild-like. Sometimes it hits you like a tsunami in the middle of a desert, and all you can do is thank God for the water, that somehow it came."
Long Review: This is the story of Leah Fern and her journey to solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance from her life armed with only the mysterious inheritance she's just been given from a strange, eccentric, and recently deceased neighbor. We follow Leah as she journey's through the U.S. and Canada scattering her neighbors ashes at choice locations and gathering cryptic letters giving her clues to her next destination.
I finished this book with tears running down my face and the intense desire to get an elephant tattoo. The story and characters will stick with me for a long time. Get this one on your must read list.
June 28, 2022
This is the story of Leah Fern. She is better at being alone than with people. Born in a carnival trailer, her mother a magician, Leah was put to work at six years old, telling fortunes. And she is a natural. She definitely has a gift, but her mother’s chaotic life finds her leaving her daughter with a friend and never coming back. All her life Leah has wondered and fantasized about where her mother is.
Life has been hard for her. Being different is often hard. She is overwhelmed with feelings whenever she touches anyone and now on her 21st birthday, she is ready to move on. Like to heaven move on.
A knock at her door changes that and everything else she thought she knew as a mysterious package may lead to finding out what happened with her mother. And along the way, she learns a lot about herself.
Following the wishes of her former neighbor, she sets out to retrace the steps her mother took with this woman that Leah barely knew. At times frustrated and angry, she still pushes on to find who she is and why her mother left.
This is a book that I couldn’t put down. Leah’s character was so well done. We watched her evolve along the way and I was so invested in the outcome.
Beautiful Story!
NetGalley/ October 4th, 2022 by Melville House
Life has been hard for her. Being different is often hard. She is overwhelmed with feelings whenever she touches anyone and now on her 21st birthday, she is ready to move on. Like to heaven move on.
A knock at her door changes that and everything else she thought she knew as a mysterious package may lead to finding out what happened with her mother. And along the way, she learns a lot about herself.
Following the wishes of her former neighbor, she sets out to retrace the steps her mother took with this woman that Leah barely knew. At times frustrated and angry, she still pushes on to find who she is and why her mother left.
This is a book that I couldn’t put down. Leah’s character was so well done. We watched her evolve along the way and I was so invested in the outcome.
Beautiful Story!
NetGalley/ October 4th, 2022 by Melville House
September 10, 2022
This is one of the most introspective, emotional, uncanny, stop-and-read-that-again books I've read in a long time.
It's at times whimsical and devastating - Leah's life in the carnival is mostly sheltered and idyllic, which creates powerful juxtaposition with her treatment by outside peers and her abandonment. Her story is wrenching and wildly adventurous - she remains sheltered and alone, and we find her initially in an elaborate death ritual. Her hesitation to leave what she knows versus finding something she craves is visceral, and I'm glad that we don't see the minutiae of her 7500 mile journey, but instead get to go back and forth into times in her life as she drives to the spiral points. Zoey beautifully blends past and present; moments missed and others created; loves found, lost, and found again.
It is ultimately a redemptive, bittersweet, and vivid story of discovering who you are and how you got there. While some books feel like a hug, journeying with Leah feels like holding hands as you stumble through the dark, and then sharing the radiant, revitalizing triumph of surviving together as you come into the light.
I will recommend it to everyone I know.
It's at times whimsical and devastating - Leah's life in the carnival is mostly sheltered and idyllic, which creates powerful juxtaposition with her treatment by outside peers and her abandonment. Her story is wrenching and wildly adventurous - she remains sheltered and alone, and we find her initially in an elaborate death ritual. Her hesitation to leave what she knows versus finding something she craves is visceral, and I'm glad that we don't see the minutiae of her 7500 mile journey, but instead get to go back and forth into times in her life as she drives to the spiral points. Zoey beautifully blends past and present; moments missed and others created; loves found, lost, and found again.
It is ultimately a redemptive, bittersweet, and vivid story of discovering who you are and how you got there. While some books feel like a hug, journeying with Leah feels like holding hands as you stumble through the dark, and then sharing the radiant, revitalizing triumph of surviving together as you come into the light.
I will recommend it to everyone I know.
January 9, 2023
Really wanted to like this - almost didn’t finish a few times but powered through. I’m not a huge fan of “journeys” where things don’t have to be there. Like, at one point she hits a deer witb her car and it’s a big moment but doesn’t do anything to the story. I don’t feel like I’m ruining anything because there’s no foreshadowing towards it, in the moment it has no real significance, and then it’s barely mentioned again. Characters she meets feel important for a few pages and then never mentioned again nor did they provide anything to the story. The symbolism kept coming and going (birds, her childhood, psychology). I don’t know - I was expecting something more. It felt a little YA and I was hoping for something a little more mature and tied together.
I will say the author certainly can write some beautiful prose though!
I will say the author certainly can write some beautiful prose though!
October 15, 2022
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈 “𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌”, “𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒎”, “𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒎”, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒆𝒓.
This is a story of abandonment, one that has Leah Fern, on her 21st birthday, ready to start her own death clock. Whose absence could drive the young woman, who at six years old was know as “The Youngest and Best Fortune Teller in the World”, to long for nothing more than erase herself? Her mother, of course. Leah Fern was born in a trailer in the Alabama fields of the Blazing Calyx Carnival to Jeannie Starr, a dazzling magician, but it is Leah who is fated to be something special. Her beautiful mother tells her since she was a baby her big eyes were always looking around, as if she knew even secret things. In this place of mysteries, where her best friends are HerSweet, the Bearded Lady, and Rubberband Man, the contortionist, each day feels like a treasure. Hank, the ‘oily and baleful carnival owner’ and her mother’s lover, is the dark spot in their magical life. Young though she is, Leah knows cruelty when she sees it, and his weak charms don’t work on her. She may not know who her father is, but Hank isn’t a man anyone would dream of calling daddy. As she amazes folks with her insight peering into their future, it is her own that will puzzle and torment her.
Leah never got used to the silence that remained anytime her mother left their trailer, but she never imagined Jeannie’s vanishing would be permanent. She is left in the care of her mother’s friend, the kind, elderly Edward Murphy, who becomes a father of sorts, but it is loneliness they share waiting for Jeannie’s return. Growing up she endured pain, absorbing others’ emotions and feelings, and if it’s enchanting, it leaves her feeling wounded, out of sorts more than gifted. She does not fit the mold in South Carolina, not this carnival born empath. As she comes of age, she begins to feel like an unloved thing, more so after Edward’s death. Believing that she has no one and nothing left, everything of Edward’s goes to his kin, but it is a stranger whose death alters her future. She is shocked to discover that Essie East has left her an inheritance. Essie was an elderly downstairs neighbor, a disheveled, strong character but they didn’t really know each other well. How is it possible the peculiar old woman could make a request of her? What, exactly, awaits Leah in the cardboard box left to her? Will she act upon what Essie is telling her to do posthumously, in letters? What is in it for Leah? This puts a snag in her plan to kill herself and as she sets off, there seems to be more questions than answers about her mother and herself. All this time Essie was a spy in their midst, but why?
The trips are almost like following a treasure map, or ghosts of things past, but will it be enough to root her to the world again? Will it summon her mother? It is a tale of women, art, magic, love, longing, grief, beginnings and endings. She will learn that “𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟” and maybe her mother can become more than a myth in her painful memories.
It’s a sad and beautiful tale, one of how hope can lift us or keep us tied in knots of anticipation. It is about feeling like you don’t belong nor matter. It’s how things can take hold of us and tear us from those who need us, even pride, but some things you cannot come back from. It’s a heavier read than I thought it would be based on the cover and blurb. Beautiful journey back to life.
Published October 4, 2022
Melville House Publishing
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈 “𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌”, “𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒎”, “𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒎”, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒆𝒓.
This is a story of abandonment, one that has Leah Fern, on her 21st birthday, ready to start her own death clock. Whose absence could drive the young woman, who at six years old was know as “The Youngest and Best Fortune Teller in the World”, to long for nothing more than erase herself? Her mother, of course. Leah Fern was born in a trailer in the Alabama fields of the Blazing Calyx Carnival to Jeannie Starr, a dazzling magician, but it is Leah who is fated to be something special. Her beautiful mother tells her since she was a baby her big eyes were always looking around, as if she knew even secret things. In this place of mysteries, where her best friends are HerSweet, the Bearded Lady, and Rubberband Man, the contortionist, each day feels like a treasure. Hank, the ‘oily and baleful carnival owner’ and her mother’s lover, is the dark spot in their magical life. Young though she is, Leah knows cruelty when she sees it, and his weak charms don’t work on her. She may not know who her father is, but Hank isn’t a man anyone would dream of calling daddy. As she amazes folks with her insight peering into their future, it is her own that will puzzle and torment her.
Leah never got used to the silence that remained anytime her mother left their trailer, but she never imagined Jeannie’s vanishing would be permanent. She is left in the care of her mother’s friend, the kind, elderly Edward Murphy, who becomes a father of sorts, but it is loneliness they share waiting for Jeannie’s return. Growing up she endured pain, absorbing others’ emotions and feelings, and if it’s enchanting, it leaves her feeling wounded, out of sorts more than gifted. She does not fit the mold in South Carolina, not this carnival born empath. As she comes of age, she begins to feel like an unloved thing, more so after Edward’s death. Believing that she has no one and nothing left, everything of Edward’s goes to his kin, but it is a stranger whose death alters her future. She is shocked to discover that Essie East has left her an inheritance. Essie was an elderly downstairs neighbor, a disheveled, strong character but they didn’t really know each other well. How is it possible the peculiar old woman could make a request of her? What, exactly, awaits Leah in the cardboard box left to her? Will she act upon what Essie is telling her to do posthumously, in letters? What is in it for Leah? This puts a snag in her plan to kill herself and as she sets off, there seems to be more questions than answers about her mother and herself. All this time Essie was a spy in their midst, but why?
The trips are almost like following a treasure map, or ghosts of things past, but will it be enough to root her to the world again? Will it summon her mother? It is a tale of women, art, magic, love, longing, grief, beginnings and endings. She will learn that “𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟” and maybe her mother can become more than a myth in her painful memories.
It’s a sad and beautiful tale, one of how hope can lift us or keep us tied in knots of anticipation. It is about feeling like you don’t belong nor matter. It’s how things can take hold of us and tear us from those who need us, even pride, but some things you cannot come back from. It’s a heavier read than I thought it would be based on the cover and blurb. Beautiful journey back to life.
Published October 4, 2022
Melville House Publishing
September 21, 2022
Social outcasts, or rather, those outside of the social norm, have always been lightning rods for societies worst behaviors. But Rita Zoey Chin has utilized the carny characters to showcase the softer, more beautiful side of the world. Through life lessons from those social outcasts, Leah Fern, our protagonist begins her life on the day of her supposed death. Paced swiftly and illustratively, readers are taken along for the beautiful ride of their life in this novel.
Under Chin's deliberate hands, readers are delicately directed into painful, and for some, traumatizing themes. Through the soft touch of Chin's words and the storyline she carefully crafted, The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern is a needed reminder in this day-and-age that life can be soft, healing can be soft, and sometimes the steps to healing ourselves are as sensitive and light as a gas pedal.
I only have two critiques for this book. The first being that the blurb is a summary of the first two chapters, therefore the reader is left rushing through the details to catch up to the story they know is coming. Secondly, the ending didn't entirely satiate me when it comes to this story. I don't just want the completion of Leah Fern's trip to be to discover some truths; I want to have some insight into what those truths did to her life. Even if it's just a page that says, "Leah Fern learned how to make her memories a part of her family," that would be enough. To me, answers aren't always the end of the story because answers don't answer for the reactions they cause.
Read more of my thoughts here: https://artinyourworld.com/2022/09/20...
Under Chin's deliberate hands, readers are delicately directed into painful, and for some, traumatizing themes. Through the soft touch of Chin's words and the storyline she carefully crafted, The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern is a needed reminder in this day-and-age that life can be soft, healing can be soft, and sometimes the steps to healing ourselves are as sensitive and light as a gas pedal.
I only have two critiques for this book. The first being that the blurb is a summary of the first two chapters, therefore the reader is left rushing through the details to catch up to the story they know is coming. Secondly, the ending didn't entirely satiate me when it comes to this story. I don't just want the completion of Leah Fern's trip to be to discover some truths; I want to have some insight into what those truths did to her life. Even if it's just a page that says, "Leah Fern learned how to make her memories a part of her family," that would be enough. To me, answers aren't always the end of the story because answers don't answer for the reactions they cause.
Read more of my thoughts here: https://artinyourworld.com/2022/09/20...
October 4, 2022
My final read of September (and no, I don’t want to talk about how late I am posting this! 🤫😂) was this beautiful debut novel about family, grief, magic and loss.
Leah Fern is born into the circus and, as a natural empath, she is soon being touted as the Worlds Youngest Fortuneteller. But when her mother vanishes and leaves Leah with a friend, she is devastated and desperate for answers.
And on the evening of her twenty-first birthday, just as she is preparing to end her life, a knock at the door sets her on a course that she never could have expected. Because to find the answers to the mystery of her mother will take her on a journey to find herself…
This is gorgeously written, sad, poignant and clever and I really enjoyed how it wove Leah’s story with that of her mothers.
It’s quite slow and thoughtful and I liked how detailed and layered the writing felt and it brought me close to tears a couple of times.
Content warnings for suicide ideation, grief, terminal illness, mental health and self harm but if you can manage those topics, I’d really recommend this novel.
Big thanks to Melville House for sending me this proof; the book is out this month!
Leah Fern is born into the circus and, as a natural empath, she is soon being touted as the Worlds Youngest Fortuneteller. But when her mother vanishes and leaves Leah with a friend, she is devastated and desperate for answers.
And on the evening of her twenty-first birthday, just as she is preparing to end her life, a knock at the door sets her on a course that she never could have expected. Because to find the answers to the mystery of her mother will take her on a journey to find herself…
This is gorgeously written, sad, poignant and clever and I really enjoyed how it wove Leah’s story with that of her mothers.
It’s quite slow and thoughtful and I liked how detailed and layered the writing felt and it brought me close to tears a couple of times.
Content warnings for suicide ideation, grief, terminal illness, mental health and self harm but if you can manage those topics, I’d really recommend this novel.
Big thanks to Melville House for sending me this proof; the book is out this month!
August 11, 2022
Laeh's life is richer than she knows, as she discovers her mother's personal history on a rambling road trip across the country and winding into Canada. There's magic in Leah as there was in Leah's mother.
Leah's long journey is a revelation of discovery and wonder. It's so good -
Leah's long journey is a revelation of discovery and wonder. It's so good -
July 27, 2022
A beautifully written magical story about Leah Fern who makes a long and wondrous journey to find her past, her present and her future all at once. Along this strange pilgrimage she finds pieces of the mother who abandoned her long ago discovering herself as well in the process. With wonderful descriptive writing that reminded me of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen, this is a book to be savored for the sentences and images alone.
April 28, 2023
I am not even sure where to start with this one. It's a little slow at times, but the writing is poignant and thoughtful. The story switches between the past and the present, and while I didn't see the ending coming, it made perfect sense. There are parts that I didn't quite follow or believe, and I was definitely lost in which direction the author was going; however, it's a beautiful story filled with heartbreak, hope, love, joy and sadness.
Read
July 8, 2022A beautifully crafted story about grief and family and magic that reveals itself piece by piece. The switches between time periods and perspectives was well-done and I was compelled to keep reading as more and more information was revealed.
This was a bittersweet read that I was happy to believe in.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!
This was a bittersweet read that I was happy to believe in.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!
January 8, 2023
3.5 rounded up. Life, loss, love and redemption. (TW suicidal thoughts) A spiral adventure, a coven of women and Leah’s quest to understand if you have yourself, you are never alone. Tighter editing and removal of extraneous bits would have made a more fluid read. Am glad I stuck with it. Worthwhile.
May 22, 2022
Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the eARC! This book was wonderful, magical, and strange indeed.
March 3, 2024
A book that proves you need proper paragraph breaks or information simply gets lost. Anyway I wanted to rant about the 3 retrospective timelines but it struck me only near the end that what I really hated was that this was sentimental slop.
December 27, 2022
It's December 27th, 2022, and I almost don't want to start another book. It feels like I should end the year with this magical book. I saw it in the "new books" section of the library, picked it up because it caught my eye and started reading it that night despite the fact I had already started a different novel the night before. How fitting that I changed course and went with my gut, with what felt natural and right, just like the story of this book. :-)
April 6, 2023
Leah Fern is our heroine, and she is the Youngest and Very Best Fortuneteller in the World at the Carnival she was born into. At age six, her magician mother left her on an old friend’s doorstep and disappeared. Years later and with a heavy soul, Leah is still searching for her mother. One evening, she receives a knock on her door - and an Urn, full of a woman she doesn’t know, is placed in her care. The Urn comes with instructions and letters on where and how to scatter her ashes.
This isn’t me, crying on an airplane, writing this review… actually, it is. What an unexpected, beautifully tragic coming of age story! I picked this novel up at a used book store in Washington, DC on a whim. Ms Chin has written characters who have flaws, made mistakes, have regrets, and yet are still brave enough to love each other. If you are looking for a slow adventure and a heroine you FEEL for, this book is for you! I am so excited to say, this is my first 5 ⭐️ of 2023!
This isn’t me, crying on an airplane, writing this review… actually, it is. What an unexpected, beautifully tragic coming of age story! I picked this novel up at a used book store in Washington, DC on a whim. Ms Chin has written characters who have flaws, made mistakes, have regrets, and yet are still brave enough to love each other. If you are looking for a slow adventure and a heroine you FEEL for, this book is for you! I am so excited to say, this is my first 5 ⭐️ of 2023!
December 31, 2022
2022 Book Review - Book No. 25: “The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern” by Rita Zoey Chin
Date started: 12/22/22
Date finished: 12/31/22
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️(would recommend reading this if you liked “Water for Elephants”, “West With Giraffes”, and late 80’s/early 90’s Cher movies)
Spoiler free review: For my final book of the year, I was able to squeeze in the audiobook version of this new roadtrip/coming of age tale that came out at the beginning of October. It was something I read about in a new book email and thought that I might like. Ultimately, there was some good stuff in this book and some things that didn’t resonate with me as much.
“The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern” begins with Leah almost ending her life before its seemingly begun until she’s interrupted by the lawyer for her neighbor downstairs. Leah comes to learn she’s inherited some things from her recently deceased neighbor and she soon begins a wild trip that takes her all across the county. Her journeys across the country were fine, but didn’t really seem all that impactful at first.
The bigger mystery that’s revealed in her journeys is just who her neighbor was. Leah comes to learn she may have been a witch, which doesn’t strike Leah as all that weird considering she was the youngest fortune teller/empath in her carnival. The connections with the coven continues to drive the story all the way up through the conclusion.
There’s a lot I’m not mentioning in this review about Leah because that’s the second half of the story and really is best read or listened to on your own. By the end, I didn’t love how the story had went, but I did find it to be suitable minus one or two lingering questions for me. The best part for me was the bird knowledge dropped by the author Rita Zoey Chin throughout the book. This was a nice surprise, but not enough to elevate this above the “read at some point” level.
Date started: 12/22/22
Date finished: 12/31/22
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️(would recommend reading this if you liked “Water for Elephants”, “West With Giraffes”, and late 80’s/early 90’s Cher movies)
Spoiler free review: For my final book of the year, I was able to squeeze in the audiobook version of this new roadtrip/coming of age tale that came out at the beginning of October. It was something I read about in a new book email and thought that I might like. Ultimately, there was some good stuff in this book and some things that didn’t resonate with me as much.
“The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern” begins with Leah almost ending her life before its seemingly begun until she’s interrupted by the lawyer for her neighbor downstairs. Leah comes to learn she’s inherited some things from her recently deceased neighbor and she soon begins a wild trip that takes her all across the county. Her journeys across the country were fine, but didn’t really seem all that impactful at first.
The bigger mystery that’s revealed in her journeys is just who her neighbor was. Leah comes to learn she may have been a witch, which doesn’t strike Leah as all that weird considering she was the youngest fortune teller/empath in her carnival. The connections with the coven continues to drive the story all the way up through the conclusion.
There’s a lot I’m not mentioning in this review about Leah because that’s the second half of the story and really is best read or listened to on your own. By the end, I didn’t love how the story had went, but I did find it to be suitable minus one or two lingering questions for me. The best part for me was the bird knowledge dropped by the author Rita Zoey Chin throughout the book. This was a nice surprise, but not enough to elevate this above the “read at some point” level.
December 31, 2024
One of my absolute favorite small pleasures in life is starting in on a new book, so I'm rarely sad when one ends (and I am NOT one of you weirdos who somehow reads more than one book at a time...).
This book, however, was an exception. I forced myself to slow down towards the end so I could savor every last gorgeous, heartbreaking, deeply moving word.
It's the story of a 21-year-old girl raised for the first few years of her life in a traveling carnival. Her eccentric mother recognizes her gift instantly - she's an empath - and puts her to work at 6 years old as a fortune teller. Because she's so good at reading people and feeling their emotions, she's very successful at her job and quickly gains attention. She's deliriously happy and loves her quirky life and all of the wonderful characters that make up her chosen family.
Soon after, though, her mother mysteriously abandons her, and we meet Fern again at 21 years old. She's on the brink of taking her own life, worn out by feeling too much and nothing at all at the same time. She's lonely beyond words and wants a way out. A knock on her door interrupts her plans, though, and she's soon sent on a literal and figurative journey to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother.
Lots of heavy themes here, obviously, but it's all wrapped in such beautiful, humorous, colorful writing that there's a levity to it as well. I'd call it magical realism, as some suspension of belief is required.
I wouldn't label myself as a full empath, but I deeply empathized with this character, not in her despair but rather in her connection to other people and the way she feels their emotions as her own.
I truly loved this one and highly recommend it. ♥️♥️♥️
This book, however, was an exception. I forced myself to slow down towards the end so I could savor every last gorgeous, heartbreaking, deeply moving word.
It's the story of a 21-year-old girl raised for the first few years of her life in a traveling carnival. Her eccentric mother recognizes her gift instantly - she's an empath - and puts her to work at 6 years old as a fortune teller. Because she's so good at reading people and feeling their emotions, she's very successful at her job and quickly gains attention. She's deliriously happy and loves her quirky life and all of the wonderful characters that make up her chosen family.
Soon after, though, her mother mysteriously abandons her, and we meet Fern again at 21 years old. She's on the brink of taking her own life, worn out by feeling too much and nothing at all at the same time. She's lonely beyond words and wants a way out. A knock on her door interrupts her plans, though, and she's soon sent on a literal and figurative journey to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother.
Lots of heavy themes here, obviously, but it's all wrapped in such beautiful, humorous, colorful writing that there's a levity to it as well. I'd call it magical realism, as some suspension of belief is required.
I wouldn't label myself as a full empath, but I deeply empathized with this character, not in her despair but rather in her connection to other people and the way she feels their emotions as her own.
I truly loved this one and highly recommend it. ♥️♥️♥️
November 30, 2022
2.5. Liked the idea of this story but execution was just not there. Sooooo much unnecessary fluff that was distracting. Really only got good at the end
March 8, 2023
My favorite book!! So magical.
October 4, 2022
Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to be given the opportunity to read and review quite a few books published by Melville House, and I have honestly enjoyed everyone. I was delighted to be asked to review The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern by Rita Zoey Chin, the title and cover alone grabbed my attention, and I loved the little gold elephants that fell from the book. This is a charming and enchanting read, with a heroine you can’t but help but fall in love with in the eponymous Leah Fern.
In Leah Fern, Rita Zoey Chin has created a central character that is relatable, amicable and a heroine you really care about. Leah has had an intersting life, being born to magician Jeannie Starr at the Blazing Calyx Carnival, before at six years old being abandoned by her mother at the home of her friend Edward Murphy. Leah’s sorrow is only assuaged by her colourful imagination, a coping mechanism, but at twenty one she decides to take her own life, no longer believing her mother will return. It is her inheritance from neighbour Essie East that finally frees her, through a series of letters that tell Essie’s story and that of Leah’s mother. The roadtrip felt like I was on the journey with Leah, travelling the length of America and into Canada, watching her confidence grow, and seeing her say yes to things she never would have before.
This is the debut novel from Rita Zoey Chin but it reads like a book from a seasoned author. She seamlessly moves from Leah’s childhood, in the carnival, and with her life with Edward Murphy, to her roadtrip of self discovery. There are also the letters from Essie, telling the story of her and her friends, all artists, who go on journey of discovery together. Her writing captures the world through Leah’s innocent eyes,the relationships between the different female characters, and Leah’s relationship with herself, and the people she meets along the way. She highlights the power of the imagination, of our relationships with nature and of the belief in otherworldliness.
The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern is a captivating and enchanting read of love, loss and hope. Leah’s journey really touched me, being privy to her thoughts and her view of the world as she imaprts on her journey. Rita Zoey Chin’s writing is atmospheric and magical, making this such a beautiful book to read. I can’t wait to read what she writes next.
In Leah Fern, Rita Zoey Chin has created a central character that is relatable, amicable and a heroine you really care about. Leah has had an intersting life, being born to magician Jeannie Starr at the Blazing Calyx Carnival, before at six years old being abandoned by her mother at the home of her friend Edward Murphy. Leah’s sorrow is only assuaged by her colourful imagination, a coping mechanism, but at twenty one she decides to take her own life, no longer believing her mother will return. It is her inheritance from neighbour Essie East that finally frees her, through a series of letters that tell Essie’s story and that of Leah’s mother. The roadtrip felt like I was on the journey with Leah, travelling the length of America and into Canada, watching her confidence grow, and seeing her say yes to things she never would have before.
This is the debut novel from Rita Zoey Chin but it reads like a book from a seasoned author. She seamlessly moves from Leah’s childhood, in the carnival, and with her life with Edward Murphy, to her roadtrip of self discovery. There are also the letters from Essie, telling the story of her and her friends, all artists, who go on journey of discovery together. Her writing captures the world through Leah’s innocent eyes,the relationships between the different female characters, and Leah’s relationship with herself, and the people she meets along the way. She highlights the power of the imagination, of our relationships with nature and of the belief in otherworldliness.
The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern is a captivating and enchanting read of love, loss and hope. Leah’s journey really touched me, being privy to her thoughts and her view of the world as she imaprts on her journey. Rita Zoey Chin’s writing is atmospheric and magical, making this such a beautiful book to read. I can’t wait to read what she writes next.
October 14, 2022
The story:
Until she was 6 years old, Leah Fern lived a nomadic life, moving with the carnival that her mother, Jeannie Starr called home. Leah was the World’s Youngest and Very Best Fortuneteller; but she didn’t know that just after her sixth birthday, her mother would leave her in the care of sad and kindly Edward Murphy, and she would never see her again.
Now, on her 21st birthday, Leah has decided to end her life. But just before she does, a mysterious letter from an unknown neighbour sends Leah on a spiralling quest around America, in search of her own past, the story of her mother and possibly, peace.
My thoughts:
Some books take a while to get into, and others grip you straight away. “The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern”, by Rita Zoey Chin, was the latter; the author has a beautiful style of writing, and I was immediately drawn into the sad but intriguing life of Leah Fern.
Having been abandoned by her mother at the age of six, Leah is, as she describes herself “stuck in a purgatory between grief and hope”, to which she has decided that ending her life is the only solution. But when she receives a letter from an almost unknown and recently deceased neighbour Essie East that promises to share some of her mother’s story, her hope is enough to propel her hundreds of miles around America.
Following a trail of letters left to her by Essie, Leah follows a golden spiral across the United States, in the footsteps of a group of creative and magical women. Along the way she is confronted with both hope and grief, ponders the nature of love and loneliness, and the conclusion of her journey is both heartbreaking and hopeful.
I loved reading this book and can’t recommend it highly enough to anyone who enjoys beautiful and magical stories!
Until she was 6 years old, Leah Fern lived a nomadic life, moving with the carnival that her mother, Jeannie Starr called home. Leah was the World’s Youngest and Very Best Fortuneteller; but she didn’t know that just after her sixth birthday, her mother would leave her in the care of sad and kindly Edward Murphy, and she would never see her again.
Now, on her 21st birthday, Leah has decided to end her life. But just before she does, a mysterious letter from an unknown neighbour sends Leah on a spiralling quest around America, in search of her own past, the story of her mother and possibly, peace.
My thoughts:
Some books take a while to get into, and others grip you straight away. “The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern”, by Rita Zoey Chin, was the latter; the author has a beautiful style of writing, and I was immediately drawn into the sad but intriguing life of Leah Fern.
Having been abandoned by her mother at the age of six, Leah is, as she describes herself “stuck in a purgatory between grief and hope”, to which she has decided that ending her life is the only solution. But when she receives a letter from an almost unknown and recently deceased neighbour Essie East that promises to share some of her mother’s story, her hope is enough to propel her hundreds of miles around America.
Following a trail of letters left to her by Essie, Leah follows a golden spiral across the United States, in the footsteps of a group of creative and magical women. Along the way she is confronted with both hope and grief, ponders the nature of love and loneliness, and the conclusion of her journey is both heartbreaking and hopeful.
I loved reading this book and can’t recommend it highly enough to anyone who enjoys beautiful and magical stories!
December 15, 2023
Quite possibly the best book that I have ever read.
The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern is an introspective of the people we love and those who love us despite our flaws. Leah takes a magical and complex journey that I felt like I was pulled along with by the flowery prose and heart-wrenching story of Leah's life.
I knew immediately that I was going to love this book based on the devastating first paragraph that analogized marriage and death.
If you are looking for a feel-good story (until it isn't lol) with incredible character work, vivid descriptions and tons of animal fun facts, look no further.
This book could easily sweep the Oscar's if it is ever adapted into a movie (it needs to be immediately). It is crazy to think that this is the author's first novel of fiction. Leah Fern needs way more attention than she has at the moment.
I will be re-reading this a disgusting amount of times throughout my life.
The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern is an introspective of the people we love and those who love us despite our flaws. Leah takes a magical and complex journey that I felt like I was pulled along with by the flowery prose and heart-wrenching story of Leah's life.
I knew immediately that I was going to love this book based on the devastating first paragraph that analogized marriage and death.
If you are looking for a feel-good story (until it isn't lol) with incredible character work, vivid descriptions and tons of animal fun facts, look no further.
This book could easily sweep the Oscar's if it is ever adapted into a movie (it needs to be immediately). It is crazy to think that this is the author's first novel of fiction. Leah Fern needs way more attention than she has at the moment.
I will be re-reading this a disgusting amount of times throughout my life.
December 26, 2023
Loved this so much. When a co-worker and I chatted at our work Christmas party about books and I told her I liked stories with multiple timelines, she suggested this. While what I really love is people crossing over between timelines or people from different times falling in love etc.. - and while this book is not that - I am SO glad she recommended it because I absolutely loved this. This book has a lot of sadness and regret and missed opportunities, but it has so much more hope and learning and growing and coming to understand that people can be beautiful and broken at the same time. It's magical - literally and every other way. Maybe/probably my favorite book of 2023. Maybe more than just 2023. "This one's climbing the charts." : )
May 10, 2022
This is a story about love and loss and of finding yourself. Our main character, Leah, was raised in the carnival life, where, as a child, she was known as the youngest fortune teller. As an empath, she can read people when she touches them. When Leah is young, her mother has her pack a bag to go on "an adventure" and drops her off with a man named Edward Murphy, who ends up raising her. After 15 years, Leah has decided that she will end her life on her 21st birthday, until a man shows up at her door holding a heavy box. And that's where the fun begins: Leah is given a letter that sends her on a quest to find answers about her missing mother and what happened all those years ago when her mother left her with Edward Murphy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2024
At times I got frustrated and a bit bored. And the candy annoyed me for some reason. But it all came together wonderfully in the end, with a few surprises and a few looseish ends that weren't annoying. I also appreciated that the author didn't belabor the details of all her stays places and all that. The book narrates the important bits and not the mundane. In some stories I'd miss that, HT here it works.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews