The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery

Amanda Cox

Sep 2021 · Revell

About this ebook

Present Day. After tragedy plunges her into grief and unresolved anger, Sarah Ashby returns to her childhood home determined to finally follow her long-denied dream of running Old Depot Grocery alongside her mother and grandmother. But when she arrives, her mother, Rosemary, announces to her that the store is closing. Sarah and her grandmother, Glory Ann, make a pact to save the store, but Rosemary has worked her entire life to make sure her daughter never follows in her footsteps. She has her reasons--but she'll certainly never reveal the real one.

1965. Glory Ann confesses to her family that she's pregnant with her deceased fiancé's baby. Pressured into a marriage of convenience with a shopkeeper to preserve the family reputation, Glory Ann vows never to love again. But some promises are not as easily kept as she imagined.

This dual-timeline story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of a mother-daughter dynamic, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and the lives of others, and the healing power of telling the truth.

Ratings and reviews

I received a free electronic ARC of this southern historical novel on September 14, 2021, from Netgalley, Amanda Cox, and the Publisher Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Amanda Cox writes a fine tale with personable characters and an intricate storyline that will keep you hooked till the end. Told by three generations of Clearwater women, this well-researched historical novel will take you to 1965 through the voice of Glory Ann, a young woman who finds out she is pg after her fiance Jimmy leaves for VietNam and Jimmy is killed in the first week of his service there. Forced by her preacher father into a marriage of convenience, Glory Ann carries on, helping her husband Clarance with his grocery store in the Old Depot building in this small southern Tennessee community. We see the dynamics between Glory and her daughter Rosemary, Glory's growing love for Clarance, and then we follow the story from Rosemary to her daughter Sarah, widowed now in the current time, with a whisper of the secrets kept by each generation, and the repercussions of same. The generational growth of the community, the loosening of the strictures expected of the women and girls, the mores of each succeeding generation are laid bare, as are the alternate choices of these exceptional ladies. We "have come a long way", ladies. Only history will tell us if that is a good thing or a tragedy. Amanda Cox writes a beautiful, flowing story that will touch your heart. I am adding her to my must-reads list. She is an author I will recommend to my nieces. She writes a clean tale without preaching.

This is a beautifully written multi-generational story with a theme of finding redemption by forgiving yourself. Glory Ann is the matriarch of the family, an octogenarian grandmother who wants to finish out her days running the family grocery store in their little town. Her daughter Rosemary, however, is determined to sell the store and ease her mother into the comforts of living out her years resting. Sarah, Rosemary’s daughter, has suffered a tremendous loss in her life and has come home to heal and to work at the family’s grocery store, the last place that she really felt happy and fulfilled. All three women have secrets from each other and all three have to forgive themselves before they can open themselves up to a true family relationship. Told in the present and the past, this book slowly reveals the secrets and the anguish that each woman is secretly holding on to. I especially enjoyed these revelations, anxiously awaiting each secret to be revealed to each other and for the reactions of the others once they were revealed. The characters were so realistic that I almost expected them to jump off the page and speak to me. The plot took what could have been trite and made it into a wonderfully woven story of strong women who have to face the past and find the future together. There are so many layers to this book, with childhood neglect and grandparents who spurn their kin, but the best part was that as a reader, I was reading all of the secrets and urging the characters on to discover the truth and to embrace forgiveness for the past. The lessons that can be learned from reading this lovely tale are manifold, but I think the one that is most memorable for me is that of acceptance and moving forward. I thoroughly enjoyed this book of Christian fiction, with a foundation of faith but not so overwhelming that it took over the entire story. Fans of contemporary women’s fiction will enjoy this novel and ponder the wisdom that it imparts. Disclaimer Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox involves three generations of Clearwater women. I thought the story was well-written with realistic, developed characters. It is a dual-timeline novel that is told from Glory Ann, Sarah, and Rosemary’s point-of-view. The story revolves the family grocery store began by Clarence Clearwater, Glory Ann’s husband. Each woman is at the Old Depot for a different reason. They have secrets that come to light over the course of the book. There is misunderstandings and miscommunications that do not help these ladies’ relationships. There are good life lessons presented in this generational saga. Forgiveness of others and oneself is the first one and the second one is that God is in control. We can worry, manipulate, scheme, and plan. In the end, it is best to leave it in God’s hands because His plans are the ones that will happen in the end. I liked that there was hope in the story. A person may be going through a tough time or grieving, but there was still hope to help get them through. I enjoyed the epilogue that nicely wrapped up this emotional, thought-provoking tale. There is something for each reader in this Southern story. The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery is a story that will linger with you long after you finish it.

About the author

Amanda Cox is the author of The Edge of Belonging. A blogger and a curriculum developer for a national nonprofit youth leadership organization, she holds a bachelor's degree in Bible and theology and a master's degree in professional counseling, but her first love is communicating through story. Her studies and her interactions with hurting families over a decade have allowed her to create multidimensional characters that connect emotionally with readers. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with her husband and their three children. Learn more at AmandaCoxWrites.com.