Stormi's Review: Before the Rain Falls by Camille Di Maio
APC PUBLISHER: Lake Union Publishing RELEASED: May 16, 2017 GENRE: historical, women's fiction LENGTH: 336 pages FORMAT: ebook, paperback, audible
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After serving seventy years in prison for the murder of her sister, Eula, Della Lee has finally returned home to the Texas town of Puerto Pesar. She’s free from confinement—and ready to tell her secrets before it’s too late.
She finds a willing audience in journalist Mick Anders, who is reeling after his suspension from a Boston newspaper and in town, reluctantly, to investigate a mysterious portrait of Eula that reportedly sheds tears. He crosses paths with Dr. Paloma Vega, who’s visiting Puerto Pesar with her own mission: to take care of her ailing grandmother and to rescue her rebellious younger sister before something terrible happens. Paloma and Mick have their reasons to be in the hot, parched border town whose name translates as “Port of Regret.” But they don’t anticipate how their lives will be changed forever.
Moving and engrossing, this dual story alternates between Della’s dark ordeals of the 1940s and Paloma and Mick’s present-day search for answers―about roots, family, love, and what is truly important in life. FIVE BOUNDLESS STARS I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a story featuring many different people. Della has been in prison for 70 years. She was convicted of murdering her sister Eula. She returns home at the age of 90 to her hometown of Puerto Pesar. Mike is a journalist who is sent to Texas after a rocky story got him in a bit of trouble. This story he is chasing will hopefully save his career. Paloma is a woman that has returned home to take care of her aging grandmother. She hopes to reconnect with her little sister after years of being away. This book is like a 3 in 1 story. You get three different stories that converge into one amazing tale of heartache, hope, and redemption. I enjoyed this story. It was written very well. Usually, when you have converging storylines and past and present views, the book can get jumbled. It was not like that though. It was profoundly grabbing and keeps you captivated. Della is my favorite character of the book. Her story is heartbreaking and was full of so much pain and hope. Paloma and Mick were awesome characters as well. The budding romance between them is a positive in an otherwise sad storyline. The converging storylines that come to light in this book are amazing. The characters were real and easy to relate to. The ending was awesome. I'm glad that it ended the way it did. This story was powerful. From a small town in Texas to the harsh inner walls of a women's prison, it covers the heartbreaking tale of family devotion and hopes for a better future, no matter how short that may be.