Rating: 5 Stars
The Memory Tree by John A. Heldt is the second book in The Carson Chronicles series. The book follows the Carson siblings on their continuing adventure of a lifetime as they struggle to find their lost time traveling parents. Book two picks up where book one ended and, as you can imagine, nothing seems to go right for the siblings.
Shortly after arriving in 1918 the siblings decide they can cover more ground by splitting up. Adam and Bridgett, now expecting their first child, have taken up a temporary residence in Minnesota not far from Duluth. This becomes home base with Adam as the head of the time traveling group. From here he will help guide the search for their parents, Tim and Caroline Carson.
The twins, Caitlin and Cody, decide to visit an old friend from 1889 and so they travel to Pennsylvania. The plan is to visit a family war hero, while in Pennsylvania, in the hopes that their parents have done the same. In the meantime, Natalie takes a journalist position at the Minneapolis Post. She will travel as far as war torn Europe to cover her human interest stories. Greg heads off by himself following yet another trail of ancestral clues to Mexico to meet another family member.
In attempting to cover all the bases, in this time traveling game of tag, will the Carson sibling ever caught a break? It seems they encounter even more problems than they did in 1889. Despite the setbacks and hard ships they will endure, the siblings remain upbeat and optimistic. Their parents have left them a big clue and maybe, just maybe this is the time period they are able to reunite.
As I have come to expect from Mr. Heldt, the characters are what make this developing story. Told from various POVs , each sibling and their parents have their own observations and contributions to the tale. The passion which Heldt portrays the characters makes them memorable and you can’t help rooting for them even when you know things are not going to work in their favor.
In addition, the events of the time and descriptions of an era, now one hundreds in our past, are deftly woven in and around the unfolding story. Heldt brings you into this magically time in our history and then sends you on this grand adventure with the characters you have grown to know and love. Overall this is a wonderful story that I hope you enjoy as much as I did.
I highly recommend this book for people who love historical stories, with a touch of fantasy, that are grounded in facts. In several ways this series reminds me of Outlander. The historical interwoven with the fictional families, relationships and romance makes for a delightful read. While I used my Kindle Unlimited account to down load this e-book, the author did request that I read and review it. Regards of how I acquire a book, all opinions are my own.