Welcome to my corner of the web for the BOOK TOUR of Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle. This book was just published on Tuesday, July 28th, and was such an enjoyable and relaxing read.

Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads)

Lil and Frank married young, launched into courtship when they bonded over how they both—suddenly, tragically—lost a parent when they were children. Over time, their marriage grew and strengthened, with each still wishing for so much more understanding of the parents they’d lost prematurely.

Now, after many years in Boston, they have retired in North Carolina. There, Lil, determined to leave a history for their children, sifts through letters and notes and diary entries—perhaps revealing more secrets than Frank wants their children to know.

Meanwhile, Frank has become obsessed with what might have been left behind at the house he lived in as a boy on the outskirts of town, where a young single mother, Shelley, is just trying to raise her son with some sense of normalcy. Frank’s repeated visits to Shelley’s house begin to trigger memories of her own family, memories that she’d rather forget. Because, after all, not all parents are ones you wish to remember.

Review: This story is told from different characters’ points of view: Lil, Frank, Shelley, and Harvey. It was really interesting to see the struggles that all of these characters had and how their lives ended up weaving together.

The way this book was written reminded me of “stream of consciousness” where we move from one topic to another to another while inside our own minds. When it is Lil’s chapters, she often jumps around in time, recording the memories of her life. At first, this was a little tricky to follow but it quickly became easy and enjoyable to read her parts. I just needed to get to know her a little bit first.

Although Lil also lost her mother tragically, she seemed to cope with the trauma of that better than Frank and Shelley are dealing with their own. What I loved about Jill McCorkle’s writing is how she was able to capture that stress and anxiety about things we can’t control and combine it with an overall happy life.

The characters were really what made this story. They were complex, interesting, and all so different from one another. But the ending is where the plot and all the snippets in time really come together. I was so happy about how it ended, even though it had a bit of a cliff hanger, everything finally made sense to me.

Another thing I really loved about this book was the title. I have read some books where I struggle to build a deeper connection between it and the story. In Hieroglyphics, Lil is going through old notes and receipts and diary entries and filling in the history of her life. She is piecing together these bits of writing to create a whole, just like the characters are piecing together parts of their life to try and make sense of their present and future. I found it very symbolic.

Hieroglyphics was a relaxing read that focused on the life we live, the past we leave, and the love we share for others.

Happy reading.

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Thank you Algonquin Books and Jill McCorkle for inviting me to participate in this blog tour of Hieroglyphics!

Does this book sound good to you? Buy it on Amazon!

If you want to see Jill McCorkle in any online events for her virtual tour, tune in to the places listed below through the links in her website!

https://www.jillmccorkle.com/events