Moon Over Manifest discussion

Personally, I felt Moon Over Manifest was a slightly complicated but very fun read. The book is partially told through the main character, Abilene. Abilene reflects on her life in “Manifest, Kansas” connecting past events with her current situation. During the summer of 1936 she stays with an old friend of her father, Shady Howard. She discovers an old Lucky Bill cigar box filled with papers, letters, odds, and ends. The letters spark her interest in discovering more stories on the past of the town of “Manifest”. When exploring the town, she comes across a divining parlor where she meets Mrs. Sadie. Abilene seeks help from Mrs. Sadie in discovering the meanings of the letters she had discovered. Parts of the book interchange from the narrating of Abilene to the stories of past events through the perspective of Mrs. Sadie. Abilene is eventually able to piece together all her findings and discovers some of the secrets of her town and events that her own father hasn’t been entirely truthful about.

The book is (for a lack of a better explanation) an, “organized mess of stories of the lives of different characters”. As mentioned earlier, the book was a slightly complicated read but, the stories all do come together which left me in relief and excitement.

This was my first historical fiction novel that i’ve read that involved a mystery. It’s definitely worth the confusion. Clare Vanderpool did an amazing job in creativity in all aspects of this book, especially with characters and storyline.

hi