Heather’s Bookshelf: Folly Park
Author: Heidi Hackford
Released: 11/15/22
Genre: Historical Fiction
“That family was hers, and she was the one who had released its ugly secrets. The time had come for her to make a choice—reject her heritage or be complicit in the enduring evils spawned from the deeds of her ancestors.”
“Folly Park” introduces Temple Preston, a young woman living on the property of her ancestral home, Folly Park, which also happened to be a slave-owning plantation in the southern US. She is fighting to keep Folly Park from becoming a parking lot, but she’s also learning a lot more about her family’s history than she could have ever imagined.
When Vee, a volunteer student historian joins Temple at Folly Park, she comes with a theory and a desire to find out the truth about the former residents. But when, in a panicked moment, Vee reveals her theory to a group of tourists, everyone in the town (including all her friends and relatives) express their opinions on the subject.
Temple doesn’t let other’s reactions deter their pursuit of the truth, but the more she learns the more secrets she uncovers about her family. Will the truth be the end of Temple’s life as she knows it? Will it be the end of Folly Park?
Trigger Warning: violence, racism, sexism, slavery, adult language, discussion of rape
Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I will preface this review with a little of my background for context. I was born and raised in the Northern US and Europe until I was fourteen years old and my father received orders to move the family to Florida. To say I experienced culture shock with the relocation would be a terrible understatement and the author captures this feeling amazingly. On top of that, a recent divide in the US about such things as what to do with confederate statues or what to teach/discuss in schools related to slavery and this book could not be more topical (though now that I think of it, I don’t think it would be allowed in a Florida public school library).
And back to the review… As I said, I really enjoyed this story. The dilemma and conflict between Temple and her family is palpable on the pages. She’s a young woman trying to find herself and her purpose, while seeking love, dealing with the loss of her father, and the reality of her family. It’s a lot! On top of all of that, she’s trying to find the one place she feels at home standing and every where she turns it seems people stand against her. I found Temple to be a realistic, emotional, and likable protagonist. And while a majority of the rest of the characters in the novel are both flawed and good in ways, I found her father to be a one note terrible person. I really wish that he as one of the main antagonists would have been a little less on the nose. The plot moves along nicely, but the thing I enjoyed most was the mystery aspect to the story. I kept flipping pages to figure out what happened with the characters and with all of those letters! Because this was a historical fiction novel with a lot characters, past and present, I felt a family tree diagram might have been helpful to keep track of how each related to others. The ending of the mystery was somewhat unexpected but made sense when explained and may have been guessed looking back on it. The story also felt complete at the end with all mysteries solved and a clear direction for the main characters.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A historical fiction set in the southern US. A strong protagonist seeks to find the truth about her family while also finding herself.
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with Heidi Hackford
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Find it for purchase here
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