What do you think?
Rate this book
Waving Backwards: A Savannah Novel
Imagine not knowing who you are, until you find yourself in a statue 800 miles from home.
Join intensely passionate and fiercely independent New York college student Lara Bonavito on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery in sigh-worthy Savannah, Georgia. Adopted into an abusive and impoverished home, Lara’s quest to find her roots lands her in the Southern jewel’s historic district. A vivid cast of characters help her unravel clues found in a cryptic letter hidden in the family bible for two decades.
“The baby’s roots are with the Southern lady who waves forever.”
With the help of mischievously handsome trolley tour guide Robert Taylor; Kipling-quoting florist Abel Bloom; and comically outspoken Louisiana beauty, Susan Fletcher, Lara uncovers family secrets wrapped in the mystique of Savannah’s Waving Girl statue.
Waving Backwards is a coming-of-age quest that reveals the healing power of family bonds, and maternal love.
"Searching is difficult. Finding is life-altering."- V.L. Brunskill
Waving Backwards is a compelling reminder of the need we all feel to know who we are and where we came from, and when that quest comes with a cryptic clue, a memorable romance and the charm only a city like Savannah can provide, we rush along with determined Lara Bonavito to uncover the ultimate truths.
John Warley, author of A Southern Girl, Bethesda's Child, and The Moralist.
Join intensely passionate and fiercely independent New York college student Lara Bonavito on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery in sigh-worthy Savannah, Georgia. Adopted into an abusive and impoverished home, Lara’s quest to find her roots lands her in the Southern jewel’s historic district. A vivid cast of characters help her unravel clues found in a cryptic letter hidden in the family bible for two decades.
“The baby’s roots are with the Southern lady who waves forever.”
With the help of mischievously handsome trolley tour guide Robert Taylor; Kipling-quoting florist Abel Bloom; and comically outspoken Louisiana beauty, Susan Fletcher, Lara uncovers family secrets wrapped in the mystique of Savannah’s Waving Girl statue.
Waving Backwards is a coming-of-age quest that reveals the healing power of family bonds, and maternal love.
"Searching is difficult. Finding is life-altering."- V.L. Brunskill
Waving Backwards is a compelling reminder of the need we all feel to know who we are and where we came from, and when that quest comes with a cryptic clue, a memorable romance and the charm only a city like Savannah can provide, we rush along with determined Lara Bonavito to uncover the ultimate truths.
John Warley, author of A Southern Girl, Bethesda's Child, and The Moralist.
- GenresFiction
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2015
10 people are currently reading
730 people want to read
About the author
V.L. Brunskill
5 books36 followersV.L. Brunskill has been a professional writer for 20 years. She ditched journalism class after landing her very first interview with the late, great punk icon Joey Ramone. As a national music journalist, V.L.'s work appeared in publications such as Metronome Magazine, CREEM, The Boston Globe, and Boston Phoenix. From hundreds of rock star interviews to rocking ions, V.L. went on to become a technical writer in the semiconductor & IT fields.
Born in Brooklyn, New York on Christmas Eve, and adopted after 7 months in foster care, V.L. was reborn in 1991, when she was reunited with her biological parents. She moved south to be closer to both. V.L. lives in Savannah with her bass-player husband, above-average daughter, and delightfully bad dog.
Born in Brooklyn, New York on Christmas Eve, and adopted after 7 months in foster care, V.L. was reborn in 1991, when she was reunited with her biological parents. She moved south to be closer to both. V.L. lives in Savannah with her bass-player husband, above-average daughter, and delightfully bad dog.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 31, 2015
Interesting story about a girl’s search for her birth mother. Lara finds a note tucked into the family bible and uses it to begin her search. The note is a puzzle that needs to be solved. Taking off for Savannah, Lara sets off a series of events and meets some interesting people who help her. She finally learns more than she wanted to know about her birth mother and family but feels closure at last.
Won signed copy in First Reads drawing.
Won signed copy in First Reads drawing.
October 8, 2017
Set in historic Savannah, Georgia, the main character Lara sets out on a journey of self discovery as she attempts to solve the mystery of her closed adoption and find where she came from.
V.L. Brunskill weaves a tale of perseverance and hope and Lara follows clues left by her birth mother to her humble beginnings. The book reads half as a story about Lara and half tourist guide as the reader is led about the historic city to find answers.
Just when you think the story is complete, something else pops up. No spoilers here, just a recommendation of a solid story with a flair for history.
V.L. Brunskill weaves a tale of perseverance and hope and Lara follows clues left by her birth mother to her humble beginnings. The book reads half as a story about Lara and half tourist guide as the reader is led about the historic city to find answers.
Just when you think the story is complete, something else pops up. No spoilers here, just a recommendation of a solid story with a flair for history.
September 4, 2018
A very good "discovery" mystery
This well written novel has all the elements of a good mystery: a cryptic note with clues to her birth mother, sends Lara to Savannah, Georgia in search of her roots; a secret drawer in a desk with some of the answers, and justice for Lara's mother by pictures of her attacker found in an old camera taken as the crime was committed.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
This well written novel has all the elements of a good mystery: a cryptic note with clues to her birth mother, sends Lara to Savannah, Georgia in search of her roots; a secret drawer in a desk with some of the answers, and justice for Lara's mother by pictures of her attacker found in an old camera taken as the crime was committed.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
March 17, 2024
Wanted to love this book, big there were so many gaps in character development, details, foreshadowing...it just didn't work for me. I found myself confused in multiple places thinking I had missed something important, but a search back in my kindle indicated there were just dropped connections or missing ideas in the story.
October 4, 2015
Generally I don't bother reading cheap novels, and from the very beginning my first impression of "Waving Backwards" was that it was worthy only of cheap Kindle offerings. In the first chapter the characters encountered are what seems to be a hysterical overgrown teenager and her frustrated middle-aged mother. Hardly tempting material to waste time on, but having just laid down $4.99 on my Kindle, I gritted my teeth and plunged on. Force feeding myself by swallowing whole such distasteful adjective-swamped phrases as... "onslaught of spillage" "well-oiled temper" "once lavish birthday gift" "wash-bled salmon color" "outrage outranks guilt" "chipped red polish" all luridly crowded into the first few paragraphs.
Tiredly moving onto the second page I hastily skimmed through what was quickly becoming an unbearably over-indulgent writing style on the part of an obviously untried novelist. Paying barely any attention to the author's details of her home and family life, I attempted to ignore such phrases as "brooding dark eyes and thick mane of hair" and "half-removed orange and yellow fruit wallpaper". "Olive-skinned relatives" with "gregarious open expressions" are too ridiculous to be taken seriously, but "dated pop-star posters that dangle from taped and tacked pedestals" of "magnificent males that were once a haven for teenage titillation and hope" cause me to feel so nauseated that I stop to make a mental note to remove "Waving Backwards" from my Kindle before anyone else in my family should fall prey to the trap of attempting to read such folly, or even worse, endure their snickering at my choice of reading material.
The next night with falling quickly asleep my main objective, I surrender to the tale of mistreated little adopted Lara. With bitter reproach toward her adoptive mother and determination to discover her real birth mother, she decides she will go to great lengths to discover who it is she really is. Alone, Lara sets out on a long road trip. Just as the harshness of New York is left behind for the charm of Savannah, the author, V. L. Brunskill, also drops the shallow depiction of her main character for the richer portrait of a young woman struggling to discover the truth of her origin. It is as if Brunskill falls under the power of the story writing itself. She looses the artificial tone and becomes the authentic voice of a person with a story to tell. I hold on for the ride as she creates masterful suspense while cleverly introducing an intriguing plot wrapped around a mysterious riddle. The book becomes a satisfying fulfillment of a young adopted women's discovery of her real family, a deeper knowledge and acceptance of herself, and a growing understanding, seasoned with grace, toward the broken woman who raised her. Well done, V.L. Brunskill!
Tiredly moving onto the second page I hastily skimmed through what was quickly becoming an unbearably over-indulgent writing style on the part of an obviously untried novelist. Paying barely any attention to the author's details of her home and family life, I attempted to ignore such phrases as "brooding dark eyes and thick mane of hair" and "half-removed orange and yellow fruit wallpaper". "Olive-skinned relatives" with "gregarious open expressions" are too ridiculous to be taken seriously, but "dated pop-star posters that dangle from taped and tacked pedestals" of "magnificent males that were once a haven for teenage titillation and hope" cause me to feel so nauseated that I stop to make a mental note to remove "Waving Backwards" from my Kindle before anyone else in my family should fall prey to the trap of attempting to read such folly, or even worse, endure their snickering at my choice of reading material.
The next night with falling quickly asleep my main objective, I surrender to the tale of mistreated little adopted Lara. With bitter reproach toward her adoptive mother and determination to discover her real birth mother, she decides she will go to great lengths to discover who it is she really is. Alone, Lara sets out on a long road trip. Just as the harshness of New York is left behind for the charm of Savannah, the author, V. L. Brunskill, also drops the shallow depiction of her main character for the richer portrait of a young woman struggling to discover the truth of her origin. It is as if Brunskill falls under the power of the story writing itself. She looses the artificial tone and becomes the authentic voice of a person with a story to tell. I hold on for the ride as she creates masterful suspense while cleverly introducing an intriguing plot wrapped around a mysterious riddle. The book becomes a satisfying fulfillment of a young adopted women's discovery of her real family, a deeper knowledge and acceptance of herself, and a growing understanding, seasoned with grace, toward the broken woman who raised her. Well done, V.L. Brunskill!
November 5, 2015
I started reading Waving Backwards after I had seen a five-star review saying that the book is an excellent summer read. This statement and the book’s title hooked me. The review, because… now it’s almost winter, so I wanted to check if the reading is also suitable for this season. The book’s title, because… it made me wonder where the author will point me towards.
Well… let me expand… the book is not only a summer read, it is much more… it is an all in one season, it is an incursion back to one’s roots.
"Lara slid the envelope from its decades-old hiding place. The note-sized sheet of paper wore a rubbery residue, as if torn from a pad. Lara picked at the glue as she read the shaky script for the first time.
‘The baby’s roots are with the Southern lady who waves forever.
Her heart was Pearced and so was that of her mother.
Pearced was she by the cotton race that will never end.
Buried in the first city is a man who holds the 9th key.’"
I found a strong and interesting female character on her path to finding her identity and an author who knows how to handle words very well.
I found myself wishing to visit Savannah… and this was only because V.L. Brunskill’s descriptions are almost perfect to drag this desire inside the reader.
The suspense and romance sides are very well twisted. The self-discovery action brings a multitude of feelings inside the reader.
Congratulations to the author. I was amazed to find that this was her debut novel.
After I had taken away the tears that were hanging on my eyes, the author’s bio came across my way. Well… I now no longer wondered why this book is so good.
It is not only due to V.L. Brunskill being a great writer (former journalist and interviewer) but… she
"was reborn in 1991, when she was reunited with her biological parents. She moved south to be closer to both. V.L. assists other adoptees to search on her blog…"
After reading this information, my heart completely melted, even the smallest pieces of it did not escape from being melted by the book.
A five star book, a five star Author.
Well… let me expand… the book is not only a summer read, it is much more… it is an all in one season, it is an incursion back to one’s roots.
"Lara slid the envelope from its decades-old hiding place. The note-sized sheet of paper wore a rubbery residue, as if torn from a pad. Lara picked at the glue as she read the shaky script for the first time.
‘The baby’s roots are with the Southern lady who waves forever.
Her heart was Pearced and so was that of her mother.
Pearced was she by the cotton race that will never end.
Buried in the first city is a man who holds the 9th key.’"
I found a strong and interesting female character on her path to finding her identity and an author who knows how to handle words very well.
I found myself wishing to visit Savannah… and this was only because V.L. Brunskill’s descriptions are almost perfect to drag this desire inside the reader.
The suspense and romance sides are very well twisted. The self-discovery action brings a multitude of feelings inside the reader.
Congratulations to the author. I was amazed to find that this was her debut novel.
After I had taken away the tears that were hanging on my eyes, the author’s bio came across my way. Well… I now no longer wondered why this book is so good.
It is not only due to V.L. Brunskill being a great writer (former journalist and interviewer) but… she
"was reborn in 1991, when she was reunited with her biological parents. She moved south to be closer to both. V.L. assists other adoptees to search on her blog…"
After reading this information, my heart completely melted, even the smallest pieces of it did not escape from being melted by the book.
A five star book, a five star Author.
June 22, 2015
An Afternoon of Pleasure:
“Outrage outranks guilt, and Lara says . . . ‘I need to know where I come from . . . who I look like? Who I act like?’
‘You act like me. You look like your grandfather. They matched us up perfectly,’ Maureen mutters. . . .
‘Uh, how do I resemble Grandpa? . . . He’s black Italian and I’m as white as a ghost. Get real.’”
This reader was hooked.
The subject of this conversation, in V.L. Brunskill’s novel, Waving Backwards, begins Lara Bonavito’s search for her birth mother. Armed with clues found in a letter from her birth mother, she discovered in her adoptive mother’s Bible, Lara uses her student loan money to begin her search in Savannah.
The author skillfully depicts the Southern culture of Savannah in such a way that it becomes a character. This reader was reminded of the bind many southern women face in order to be socially acceptable.
Brunskill elegantly creates a place where the reader experiences what it is like not knowing one’s roots. The author brought tears to this reader’s eyes by her ability to weave words together and tell a good story.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes character driven novels with a strong woman protagonist. A word of warning: do not begin this book if you have important things to do. You will not be able to put it down. Waving Backwards is an excellent summer read for those days when it is too hot to be outside. Grab the book, put your feet up with a cool drink beside you, and settle in for an afternoon of pleasure.
“Outrage outranks guilt, and Lara says . . . ‘I need to know where I come from . . . who I look like? Who I act like?’
‘You act like me. You look like your grandfather. They matched us up perfectly,’ Maureen mutters. . . .
‘Uh, how do I resemble Grandpa? . . . He’s black Italian and I’m as white as a ghost. Get real.’”
This reader was hooked.
The subject of this conversation, in V.L. Brunskill’s novel, Waving Backwards, begins Lara Bonavito’s search for her birth mother. Armed with clues found in a letter from her birth mother, she discovered in her adoptive mother’s Bible, Lara uses her student loan money to begin her search in Savannah.
The author skillfully depicts the Southern culture of Savannah in such a way that it becomes a character. This reader was reminded of the bind many southern women face in order to be socially acceptable.
Brunskill elegantly creates a place where the reader experiences what it is like not knowing one’s roots. The author brought tears to this reader’s eyes by her ability to weave words together and tell a good story.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes character driven novels with a strong woman protagonist. A word of warning: do not begin this book if you have important things to do. You will not be able to put it down. Waving Backwards is an excellent summer read for those days when it is too hot to be outside. Grab the book, put your feet up with a cool drink beside you, and settle in for an afternoon of pleasure.
August 27, 2015
Great read. It was hard for me to put down at night and go to sleep. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. The only part that I didn't like was the Robert part of the story. I would have liked it to be more of a real relationship or not have him at all. Despite that, I look forward to learning where Lara goes from here and what else she discovers.
July 12, 2015
Quite a journey
It was wonderful to accompany Lara on her journey to find her biological family. I especially enjoyed the twists the story takes before getting to her destination. The way the puzzle fit together made for an excellent read. It kept me interested and I found it hard to put down. Highly recommended!
It was wonderful to accompany Lara on her journey to find her biological family. I especially enjoyed the twists the story takes before getting to her destination. The way the puzzle fit together made for an excellent read. It kept me interested and I found it hard to put down. Highly recommended!
July 6, 2015
Lovely book about the search for family and self. Great for anyone who's ever visited Savannah- captures the city wonderfully and Lara is the perfect guide along the way.
September 25, 2015
A great read. I was captivated by the story and I wanted to know as much as she did about her biological family. I highly recommend!
*I was a winner of the giveaway.
*I was a winner of the giveaway.
March 25, 2017
Exceptional fast-paced story
November 10, 2025
I read this book in preparation for my first trip to Savannah. It definitely provided insight into a variety of sites and historical locations around the city, which is what I was hoping for. The plot was interesting and kept me engaged. I appreciated how the characters all intertwined. Wish there was a chapter at the end to provide context on what was historically accurate from the fiction. Overall, would recommend, especially if you’ll be visiting the city!
July 4, 2017
I'm sure there are many people who will enjoy this book. The story itself is not bad. I, however, did not enjoy the author's writing style and for such a small book I felt it moved kind of slow. These are all personal preferences. If you are into historical fiction, then this may be a good book for you.
April 13, 2021
Nothing earth shattering in the literary sense, but a good story. Rounding up to 4 stars here for entertainment value. If nothing else, it gives a good sense of how entrenched the history of Savannah is even in modern day. Relatable characters and an easy read.
February 25, 2023
Fun to read about Savannah and she has a good imagination. Easy to read and quick.
January 12, 2020
This was an easy to read book about an adopted woman looking for her mother. Her search brought her to Savannah GA based on a riddle her birth mother left with her baby’s hospital photo, that the woman found on a break home from college. I enjoyed most of it, but the story went from interesting to summer romance at times.
October 19, 2015
I can't get over the stupidity of this story. It was excruciating to read. The first two chapters were written in past tense then it just switched to present tense. Then there's these awful random flashbacks which are also in past tense. The tense, and the pointless date at the beginning of each chapter, is the only indicator that there's a flashback. No book should be written in present tense. The actual writing is awful too, some chapters are 2 pages, barely, if they're that short they shouldn't even be a chapter. Here's an example of the prose: "Whirring past cars in a haze of haphazard thinking and driving, Lara reflects on the letter, pulling it repeatedly from the passenger seat to review the words as questions squawk in her head. What if her family owned slaves? Will she find a bunch of bigoted old folks who look down their noses at her? Will they like her? Will there be brothers or sisters?"..."Questions and possibilities make it impossible to focus. Other drivers fly past, waving aggravated hands as she swerves to grab the letter." That's about a quarter of chapter 4, by the way. It's SO DUMB. She's swerving around the lanes grabbing for a letter that's 5 lines long? Her first question about her bio-family is if they owned slaves? Then there's the fact that she's from a poor family in New York City, where'd she get the car from? And how does she know how to drive?
The story seems to progress by Lara making random assumptions and weird decisions. For example, she finds a "letter" in the family bible, automatically assumes it's about her since she's an only child (and no other children could have possibly been born - ever), then assumes it means the east coast of the US, and she had to look up the oldest cities in each southern east coast state, and randomly decided that Savannah had to be the city in question. She gets this all from the line "Buried in the first city is a man who holds the 9th key". If it were me, I'd immediately think the first city was Roanoke (the first British colony, founded in 1585), but since the colony didn't last a year, Jamestown would be my second guess (founded in 1607) both in Virginia. Or if you want to go technical and say the first settlement/city that has been continuously inhabited in the Continental US it would be St. Augustine, Florida (founded in 1565). Or, if you want to say the oldest (aka first) city of the United States it would be Lewes Delaware (founded in 1631) since that's the first city in the first state to sign the Constitution. Savannah (founded in 1733) is so far down on the list of 'first cities' it's ridiculous.
The ending of the book was as dumb and boring as the rest of the book. There's these stages in books that they're supposed to follow, Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. There was none of that. Barely an exposition, no rising action (unless you consider Lara making up answers to the "riddle" as a rising action), no climax so there was no falling action, and of course no resolution. Just "whelp, found out what I wanted, now I'm going home to not go to college since I wasted all my loan money in the search for my bio-parents". Never-mind what she actually found out and how it impacted her (that would have been the climax had it been written correctly). She just got the answer of how she was conceived and by whom then called it a day.
full review at http://testybadger.blogspot.com/2015/...
The story seems to progress by Lara making random assumptions and weird decisions. For example, she finds a "letter" in the family bible, automatically assumes it's about her since she's an only child (and no other children could have possibly been born - ever), then assumes it means the east coast of the US, and she had to look up the oldest cities in each southern east coast state, and randomly decided that Savannah had to be the city in question. She gets this all from the line "Buried in the first city is a man who holds the 9th key". If it were me, I'd immediately think the first city was Roanoke (the first British colony, founded in 1585), but since the colony didn't last a year, Jamestown would be my second guess (founded in 1607) both in Virginia. Or if you want to go technical and say the first settlement/city that has been continuously inhabited in the Continental US it would be St. Augustine, Florida (founded in 1565). Or, if you want to say the oldest (aka first) city of the United States it would be Lewes Delaware (founded in 1631) since that's the first city in the first state to sign the Constitution. Savannah (founded in 1733) is so far down on the list of 'first cities' it's ridiculous.
The ending of the book was as dumb and boring as the rest of the book. There's these stages in books that they're supposed to follow, Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. There was none of that. Barely an exposition, no rising action (unless you consider Lara making up answers to the "riddle" as a rising action), no climax so there was no falling action, and of course no resolution. Just "whelp, found out what I wanted, now I'm going home to not go to college since I wasted all my loan money in the search for my bio-parents". Never-mind what she actually found out and how it impacted her (that would have been the climax had it been written correctly). She just got the answer of how she was conceived and by whom then called it a day.
full review at http://testybadger.blogspot.com/2015/...
July 3, 2016
First, I want to let you know that I received this book from the author through a Goodreads giveaway. My sincere thanks to both.
This was a good book about a young lady, Lara, who had been adopted into a dysfunctional family, the Bonovito's. Her adopted father was an abuser, and at the age of 11 she informed her mother that they had to leave him. Her mom was afraid of losing Lara, so she found the courage to divorce him, but she suffered from very low self-esteem, so she transferred all her neediness to Lara. I felt sorry for Maureen, her mom, since she worked two jobs to support them, and really had Lara's best interests at heart.
Lara had always asked questions about her adoption and her birth mother, and hoped to learn more when she reached 18, but that's when she found out the records were sealed at her birth mother's request. Lara still researched, but had little hope of finding anything until the day she stayed home with the flu. She was on the couch and glanced toward the family bible when she spied a piece of paper hidden inside the pages. It was a letter from her birth mother, in the form of a riddle. Realizing that her adoptive mother had hidden it for fear of Lara's leaving her in search for her biological mother, Lara cautiously called her mom at her job, and asked to speak about it when she got home.
Upon reading the letter, Laura realized the clues pointed toward Savannah, GA, as her biological mother's home town, and she decided to go there to see if she could unearth her 'real' relatives.
The letter also led her to believe that the 'Waving Girl' statue figured into her heritage. Waving Backwards is the story of Lara's search, and is the tale of both coming of age and a great ancestral mystery. Lara's adventures in Savannah do make her grow up a bit, and what she discovers does change her life, but not as much as I thought it would. Lara, although definitely not a 'grown up' did mature a bit on the trip, and I liked her more by the book's end.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery and coming of age novel. There is some romance, but it isn't the focus of the book.
This was a good book about a young lady, Lara, who had been adopted into a dysfunctional family, the Bonovito's. Her adopted father was an abuser, and at the age of 11 she informed her mother that they had to leave him. Her mom was afraid of losing Lara, so she found the courage to divorce him, but she suffered from very low self-esteem, so she transferred all her neediness to Lara. I felt sorry for Maureen, her mom, since she worked two jobs to support them, and really had Lara's best interests at heart.
Lara had always asked questions about her adoption and her birth mother, and hoped to learn more when she reached 18, but that's when she found out the records were sealed at her birth mother's request. Lara still researched, but had little hope of finding anything until the day she stayed home with the flu. She was on the couch and glanced toward the family bible when she spied a piece of paper hidden inside the pages. It was a letter from her birth mother, in the form of a riddle. Realizing that her adoptive mother had hidden it for fear of Lara's leaving her in search for her biological mother, Lara cautiously called her mom at her job, and asked to speak about it when she got home.
Upon reading the letter, Laura realized the clues pointed toward Savannah, GA, as her biological mother's home town, and she decided to go there to see if she could unearth her 'real' relatives.
The letter also led her to believe that the 'Waving Girl' statue figured into her heritage. Waving Backwards is the story of Lara's search, and is the tale of both coming of age and a great ancestral mystery. Lara's adventures in Savannah do make her grow up a bit, and what she discovers does change her life, but not as much as I thought it would. Lara, although definitely not a 'grown up' did mature a bit on the trip, and I liked her more by the book's end.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery and coming of age novel. There is some romance, but it isn't the focus of the book.
July 4, 2015
Waving Backwards by V.L. Brunskill is set in 1991. Lara Bonavito has always known she is adopted. She has been trying to get information on her biological family since she was thirteen years old (records were sealed). Lara has finally found a clue to help her locate her biological mother. She finds a riddle that was sent home with her from the hospital behind her baby photograph. The riddle leads her to Savannah, Georgia. Lara uses her college tuition loan check to pay for her trip.
There Lara meets Robert Taylor. Robert spends his time as a tour guide and then picks one lady to hook up with at the end of each tour. When Robert takes Lara out for a drink, she tells him about her search. Robert states he has information that will help her. Lara follows the clues to find her biological family. Will Lara like the answers she finds at the end of her search? Is Robert a cad or is he serious about Lara?
This novel was not engaging or interesting (except for the history of the Waving Girl). I give Waving Backwards 1 out of 5 stars. This story just did not grab me. The way Lara went about her search made absolutely no sense (kind of haphazard). The writing is okay, but the book is lacking. It was just not for me.
I received a complimentary copy of Waving Backwards from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogs...
There Lara meets Robert Taylor. Robert spends his time as a tour guide and then picks one lady to hook up with at the end of each tour. When Robert takes Lara out for a drink, she tells him about her search. Robert states he has information that will help her. Lara follows the clues to find her biological family. Will Lara like the answers she finds at the end of her search? Is Robert a cad or is he serious about Lara?
This novel was not engaging or interesting (except for the history of the Waving Girl). I give Waving Backwards 1 out of 5 stars. This story just did not grab me. The way Lara went about her search made absolutely no sense (kind of haphazard). The writing is okay, but the book is lacking. It was just not for me.
I received a complimentary copy of Waving Backwards from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogs...
June 29, 2015
Great summer read! Made me want to visit Savannah, and loved learning about the life of an adoptee. Highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews