Mr. Splitfoot

Pinning down the timeline in this book was an incredible challenge for me. I like to know what era I am reading about, it helps me while visualizing the story. Seriously, I probably don't watch that many movies because the stories I see in my own (sick, twisted) brain are so much more entertaining.

Cora's story is present day, that was an easy pin-down, what with all the references to social media and how she talks about her feelings of anxiety when she is away from the internet. I mean come on, the author Samantha Hunt practically stamped the word "millennial" of her forehead. When I was reading her story I was comfortable visualizing today.

That being said and with a reference to one of the characters ages, I have deducted Ruth and Nat's story is from sometime in the early 1990's (or late 80's) but for some reason every time I would start to read their parts of the story, I kept visualizing 1920's dust bowl. Maybe because of the orphanage setting and the whole spiritualist séance thing, and a door-to-door salesman who is really a conman, and cults. Or maybe it was their manner of speech but, It felt like a story that was out of time, and it felt very disconcerting for me to realize that I was visualizing these two stories in a way that makes no sense.

Still, I enjoyed the story, and each time I realized that Cora was in a location that Ruth and Nat had also been to, I got this wonderful little thrill, like when you bite into a York Peppermint Patty. (And if you got that reference, congratulations you are from the same generation as Ruth, Nat, and Badseedgirl.)

I do have to say, there really was no surprise in the revelation of the plot twist in the end. I mean the foreshadowing was so think it was probably closer to "fiveshadowing." But all and all, I enjoyed the story and the duel storylines were tight enough to keep me engaged right to the end. But I did wonder, am I the only one who got the feeling that Ruth wanted Cora and Nat to hook up in the end. I really feel that is what happened. Cora made a point of saying that there was not much age difference between them in a throw away line when they meet at the lodge, just saying