The Driftwood Diaries

Rosalie Evans, Bookseller #1

by Ava Wilson

Driftwood Books is an established used book store in Portland, Oregon, owned by an inquisitive Rosalie Evans. Among the books she acquires for inventory at estate sales and auctions, Rosalie occasionally finds treasures such as vintage bookmarks, photos, letters, and even personal diaries. Believing that these diaries should have never been discarded, she is obsessed in finding clues to return them to the rightful families. The Driftwood Diaries contains three short stories that unveil three remarkable women. The Stone Lamp follows Marie, a young woman who has been thrust into a remote Alaskan archaeological site and discovers love and bravery in the face of seemingly overwhelming obstacles. Lonely Prairie is Susan Lee's story that begins with the American Civil War, follows her to Colorado, and describes her life as a mother and a rancher on the tall grass prairie of Texas, all the whole hiding a scandalous secret. In Valentines for Margaret, Rosalie Evans' own mother writes of her life as a child in the Great Depression of the Texas Panhandle.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Ebooks, Fiction, Short Stories

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2010

Reviews

[Dianna Winget · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book happened to be in a box I picked up at our library's used book sale and I ended up enjoying it very much. It's made up of three individual stories, each based on a diary written by a remarkable woman. The first is about Marie, a young woman in an abusive relationship who ends up stranded in a remote Alaskan archaeological site. The second is Susan Lees story, a woman struggling to raise four children alone in 1850s Texas after being abandoned by her husband. The third is a very short account of life during the Great Depression. If you enjoy historical fiction with a dash of romance and mystery, you might find yourself captivated by The Driftwood Diaries.

[Cheri]

Marking this as a DNF. It is a collection of stories, and I really enjoyed the first one; however, I couldn't get into the next one. I didn't rate the overall book since. I only read one of the stories.

[Marie Carmean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wonderful book was so hard to put down! There are three basic stories, all based on diaries and letters found by main character Rosalie who owns a vintage/used book shop in Portland. The first of these is about a young woman who is facing some difficult decisions when she needs let the world know she has survived an Alaskan plane crash, but knows when she does so that her abusive husband will expect her to return to him. The second story follows the life of a young woman during the Civil War and later as a pioneer headed to Texas, and her struggles that result from a family secret that won't stay buried. In the third and last, there is a memory penned by Rosalie's own mother, written down before dementia took much of her past into darkness. This last one found tears streaming down my face! A lovely epilogue brings the reader into the moment Rosalie makes another diary find. Ava Wilson is a wonderful writer with such an attention to detail and such well-researched material, but also with a fine gift for story-telling in a journal-type format. Really loved this book!

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosalie owns a bookstore in Oregon. She gets books from estate sales and makes some very interesting finds. This is 3 stories of her finds.

Book 1: The Stone Lamp - Marie is an abused wife in 1950. Her husband threatens that if she runs away, he will find her and kill her. After her sister dies in Alaska, she is "allowed" to go to her funeral, but only gets a week. A mishap happens with the plane and Marie is stranded on an island and presumed dead.

Book 2: The Lonely Prairie - Susan grows up in Missouri, but after the Civil War, a dark family secret is rumored and they must move. Her husband moves she and their children to a lonely prairie in Texas, then abandons them.

Book 3: The Valentine's for Margaret - Rosalie's own mother writes a story that Rosalie finds after her death that takes place in the dust bowl.

Very good stories, the first two in diary form.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were sweet little stories. A little amateurish, perhaps, and I found the diary entry format to be tedious, yet effective. I do not regret reading it, even if I have no memory of how it ended up on my bookshelf.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish it was longer! I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Summer Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy fast read that makes you want to know what happen next.

[Carrie Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stories!

Really enjoyed reading about these strong, resilient women! Despite huge obstacles, they moved forward with strength and determination to build wonderful lives.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow the women and their stories...

THE DRIFTWOOD DIARIES is a collection of three stories - two novella length and one short story. Rosalie Evans is the owner of Driftwood Books in Portland, Oregon and finds diaries/journals/letters in boxes of old books that she takes in. She reads the found materials and tries to find the owners to return the materials to (and also to get her questions answered).

The different stories take place in:

"The Stone Lamp" - Alaska
"Lonely Prairie" - Texas
"Valentines for Margaret" - Texas/Oregon

I enjoyed all three stories, one reason being that I like reading other people's diaries/journals/etc. And these stories brought me right into the middle of these three disparate women's stories.

This is the first book that author Wilson wrote in the Rosalie Evans trilogy but it's actually the second book I read, after "Under a Klondike Sky," which I liked more. It focused on one person's story rather than three and didn't feel so fragmented.

But I did enjoy the different women's stories in this offering. Strong female protagonists come together in these stories,fighting off spousal abuse, desertion, and each having secrets they would prefer to not broadcast.

"Valentines for Margaret" is a bit different. It is a personal story of Rosalie's mother, a personal remembrance from her mother's youth.

[Deliasue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takes place in Alaska, mean husband, lost on a sandbar on Kodiak Island, bears galore and one young man for company. Good read.
This book has two other stories in it.
No.2 is The Lost Journal, about a book dealer who finds a diary and returns it to the family. They are so glad to get it.
No.3 is Valentine's for Margaret. 1800's and its valentines day at school, a poor family but the father uses his seed money to get 25 valentines for Margaret, he is covered in snow from a bad snowstorm but he walks to town and back to the school so she can have a good day. It shows a fathers love.

[Lois Kirby · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read

An enjoyable read

I enjoyed the concept of writing a book in the form of a diary. The journey the family's took is a good picture of life during Pioneer days. Also the trouble the two women went to to track down the story behind the diaries writer. An adventure as well as a saga.

[Deborah aka Reading Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the books rates a 3.5 star rating. The author is a very good storyteller....l did think the last story was rather rushed compared to the first two, but Ms. Wilson did set up the last pages nicely to build anticipation for a future continuation of diary entries if she decides to write a second installment.

[Alison]

kindle 196 historic

[Trudy L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosalie (book dealer from "Under A Klondike Sky") shares a few brief journals in this volume.
Very well done. Ms. Wilson is a gifted storyteller.

[Cinfrye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very quick but enjoyable read.