TANGLED IN IVY

Lillian Stoney Alexander cares for her ailing father, Graham, in his final days. But it’s his funeral that reignites her desire to learn specifically how her mother, Ivy, died 27 years earlier. Lillian, who was only 6 years old at the time, can’t remember anything beyond Ivy’s apparently fatal accident at their Charleston, South Carolina, ancestral home. But who’s the mysterious woman at Graham’s funeral, and why is Lillian only just now meeting her godmother and Ivy’s best friend, Alice Browder? Lillian ultimately finds a thumb drive containing Graham’s memoir. In an accompanying note, he declares his hope that it will stoke Lillian’s recollections as well as help make peace with her long-hated, fashion designer sister, Layla. His story begins during his first year as a College of Charleston professor, when he initially encountered the daughter of wealthy Edward Stoney. There was nothing conventional about Graham’s eventual relationship with Ivy, from his marriage proposal to the births of their daughters. And what awaits Lillian is a series of disconcerting revelations, even before her memories resurface. Farley’s characters aren’t easy to like. Their lives are teeming with deceit and animus while love isn’t always reciprocated. But the story is endlessly intriguing, with enough plot turns that readers who predict one or two may still be surprised. There’s likewise terrific melodrama: The sisters fight about selling their million-dollar childhood estate, and Lillian’s ex-fiance, Marcus Mullaly, reenters her life. Meanwhile, the appeal of some characters shines through, particularly artistic, sometimes withdrawn Lillian, and the family’s immutable housekeeper, Trudy Jackson, who’s both the protagonist’s close friend and her surrogate mother. The ending befits this realistic portrayal of love, family, and all the complications those two often engender.

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