Reliance, Illinois, Mary Volmer
Reliance, Illinois, Mary Volmer
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Reliance, Illinois

Author: Mary Volmer

Narrator: Sandy Rustin

Unabridged: 11 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 05/10/2016

Synopsis

Reliance, Illinois tells the story of a young woman faced with choices that will alter the course of her own future, and offers a brilliant window into American life during a period of tumultuous change. Illinois, 1874: With a birthmark covering half her face, thirteen-year-old Madelyn Branch is accustomed to cold and awkward greetings, and expects no less in the struggling town of Reliance. After all, her mother, Rebecca, was careful not to mention a daughter in the Matrimonial Times ad that brought them there. When Rebecca weds, Madelyn poses as her mother's younger sister and earns a grudging berth in her new house. Deeply injured by her mother's deceptions, Madelyn soon leaves to enter the service of Miss Rose Werner, prodigal daughter of the town's founder. Miss Rose is a suffragette and purveyor of black market birth control who sees in Madelyn a project and potential acolyte. Madelyn, though, wants to feel beautiful and loved, and she pins her hopes on William Stark, a young photographer and haunted Civil War veteran. Reliance, Illinois tells the story of a young woman faced with choices that will alter the course of her own future, and offers a brilliant window into American life during a period of tumultuous change.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Erin on March 28, 2016

I could not wait to read Mary Volmer's second novel, and I was not disappointed. This is a big book-- full of larger than life characters and heart-breaking secrets (god I love a story about the secrets we keep and why). The book follows protagonist Madelyn's journey through self-deception as she st......more

Goodreads review by Madeline on April 26, 2016

I just don't get the point of this book. I don't understand what the storyline was really supposed to be? The writing was ok, though the style seemed to lend to confusion as to who was talking or where the hell people came from...there were also a significant amount of characters to keep track of an......more

Goodreads review by Mandy on June 11, 2016

The premise for this book is admittedly interesting and it started well with the arrival of 13 year old Madelyn and her mother in the fictional small town of Reliance, Illinois in 1874 to start a new life, after the mother Rebecca has answered a lonely-hearts ad. These early chapters have a certain......more

Goodreads review by Gina on March 11, 2016

This is a story of women's rights; of finding a place in the world; and of learning to accept life with all the challenges and difficulties. It's a lovely book that looks back on the life of Madelyn, a girl born with a large birthmark during an era where being different meant being an outcast. Autho......more

Goodreads review by Joslyn on April 16, 2017

Review published at [URL not allowed] "[I]f it were profitable to fight injustice, then injustice would become as scarce as gold." Set in a small town during the Reconstruction Era, Mary Volmer's "Reliance, Illinois" is a novel of self-discovery and the assertion of feminine str......more

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