Just Jennifer

American Pop by Snowden Wright

This sweeping Southern epic follows the story of three generations of the Mississippi Forster family, founders of the Panola Cola (Panola) company.  Patriarch Houghton, was trained as a pharmacist, has never shared the exact recipe with his four children, nor does he seem particularly interested in turning the company over to any of them: his eldest son Montgomery, pursues a political career after serving in World War I, but is haunted by the loss of of his lover Nicholas who was killed in the war; his youngest, twins Lance and Ramsey, are living the high life off the family fortune; Harold, the second son lives much apart from the family, even starting a forlorn museum, an homage to the company.  Houghton’s grandchildren do prove to be more suitable heirs for the business, though Monty’s daughter, Imogene, wheelchair ridden due to Polio and her brother Nicholas who any affinity for the company, though Imogene is disinherited for unknown reasons.  The family’s fortune ebbs and flows through the years, the company waivers in stability after some poor business decisions, but the family, as desperate as they are, come together in ways that create a tapestry of a Southern dynasty that will feel both familiar and refreshing to readers.

Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs

Widowed photographer Camille Adams has become very cautious since her husband’s death and ruins a canister of 40-year-old film she has been hired by history professor Finn Finnemore to develop when she gets a phone call from the ER that her 14-year-old daughter was injured during her surf rescue class, a class Camille never gave Julie permission to take part in.  At first Finn is furious the film is ruined as it might explain Finn’s father’s disappearance in Cambodia, but he is so taken with the young mother that he puts his anger aside.  Camille is not interested in pursuing a relationship but finds herself in France at the same time as Finn when her father Henry receives a trunk of things from France that came from his family home.  As Camille explores the mystery of her grandparents, her grandmother died in labor, her grandfather executed as a Nazi sympathizer, Finn helps her uncover the historical significance to what she finds as he slowly works his way into her heart, opening her up to the possibilities of love and a life without her husband.  Flashbacks to World War II France and Henry’s mother add depth to this romance and show what happened as Finn and Camille are finding the clues in present day.