This book is about three generations of women
The story is told so well and I loved the writing style
I was captivated throughout

4.5 Stars

Millicent Glenn's Last Wish is an emotional tale of three generations of women. From the start, this Tori Whitaker read is gripping and will keep your interest throughout.

It's a tale of three women and the tragedies and hardships they faced over the years. The author excels in illustrating that secrets can tear people apart, and the truth can help bring people back together.

At it's core it's the story of one moment and all that resulted from this moment. It's fascinating that one moment is time can so gravely affect so many people. The author does an excellent job of slowly revealing all that happened that one fateful day.

It's a beautiful reminder that life has both good and bad and that the bad moments make the good moments even brighter.

Take note of the major trigger warning. Run far from this book if child loss is a trigger for you.

Millicent Glenn's Last Wish is a tale that includes the loss of a child and the lifelong ramifications. This Tori Whitaker read is complicated and messy throughout. It's a great hurt/comfort tale with a touching ending. I highly recommend this one as a good book club choice.

I’m delighted to bring to you today, Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish! I love family dramas and this was no exception. Millie’s story spans over 60 years from when she is a hopeful mother all the way to her impending great grandchild. Told through Millie’s POV, but in the present time and throughout her life, this book is a wonderful story of a woman’s strength.⁣
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I really enjoyed this rich story of multiple generations. A large chuck of book takes place in the 40s and it’s very interesting to see what a woman’s role was during this time. I especially loved when Millie tried to open her own bank account and was told she needed her husband’s permission! I love how fiercely independent Millie was even though she was a wonderful mother and daughter in law. She dealt with a lot and she always stayed true to herself.⁣
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Millie is getting close to her 91st birthday. She is still able to live by herself and is very independent. Then her daughter, Jane, shows up and moves in with her. Plus, her granddaughter has some wonderful news. But, all of this brings on some terrible memories. And it is time for Millie to share.

There are a lot of aspects covered in the novel. The main one…the struggle of women in the 50s. It was frowned up on by society for a woman to work. Women could not open their own checking account without their husband’s permission. And even their healthcare involved a husband’s opinion. Oh! How far women have come..

Another aspect which I found unique…assumptions. I have to be careful here…I do not want to give anything away. One of the characters overheard something and this lead to assumptions. This changed a relationship and affected many outcomes.

This story also includes a pretty rough tragedy. So get the tissues ready. I had to set the book aside for a few minutes and breathe.

If you need a good novel about life, family and especially love…THIS IS IT!

I received a copy from the publisher for a honest review.

An intergenerational story that pulls you along and keeps you interested.
3 women - grandmother, her daughter (and a grandmother to be) and a grandaughter.
The grandmother has a secret that she has been unable to tell her daughter, which has affected their relationship for many years.

The women meet, and the secret comes out.

What happens then is......well, you'll have to read the book!

A quick and easy read, with some emotional moments as secrets are gradually uncovered and explored.

Wow what a debut! This story involves history between a mother, a daughter and a granddaughter. Do all families have secrets? How do these secrets reflect on other family members?

I loved how the book portrayed the 1940-50's. I enjoyed seeing the differences in the lives of the three generations of women. The author Whitaker really made the characters feel so real. This story shows what secrets can do to harm a relationship and how sharing them can help us to heal. What a wonderful story of a brave woman and her family, this one will truly stick with me for a while.

Thank you to @tori.whitaker.37 @suzyapprovedbooktours @netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

This story resonated with me and made me miss my mother and grandmother. I wish I had more time with them to hear their stories - especially the ones I never knew to ask. The dreams they may have deferred. Their invisible scars. When I was planning my own wedding I found out our family also had a secret. I had no idea why my mother was so upset. When she finally broke down and told me I remember looking at her like she was crazy. "Really? That is all?" Times change. I forgave her. This book also reminded me of some of my feelings growing up as an only child. I had older stepbrothers, but it wasn't the same. I wanted siblings. It wasn't until years later I would understand my mother's sacrifices to help raise the boys she did not birth. The other thing I like about this book was reading about life of the 50's wife. I have not read many books from this time period, but I now want to read more. I was not surprised that Millie slipped into depression and addiction from her loss. I would have stayed so angry. I kept hoping the hospital would acknowledge the actions, but I know this makes them liable. I was so grateful the nurse stood up for Kathleen. Overall, I thought the book could be a little slow at times, but it was an honest portrayal of the relationships between generations of women - of enduring love and surviving loss and second chances. One of my favorite lines of the book, "The whole of one's life need not be defined on the grounds of one decision." For most of us, it is time we forgave ourselves.

At 91 Millicent seems independent, content and happy. She is also harbouring secrets which she has kept close to her chest for decades. She now thinks it is time to come clean and to try and repair the rather tense relationship she has had from the very beginning with her daughter Jane. Her grand daughter Abbie brings delightful news about a pregnancy and Millicent is drawn back into her own turbulent past.

Set in two time frames the past of six decades ago and the present with Jane and Abigail the story runs on parallel lines of how the past and hidden secrets do affect the present. It also speaks of maternal love but the problems of miscommunication and passivity and negativity especially brought about by the morals and what is considered right and wrong by society itself.

The story of the three women could be right out of your own family or neighbourhood. Grandmothers getting along beautifully with grand children and not with their own children. Some kind of restraint holding them back. The possibility of talking things through helps in this story but it is not easy to open up after decades of closing a door on certain chapters of your life.

This was a rather emotional read and not one to be read in a hurry.

I am so impressed with Tori Whitaker’s debut novel. A wonderful story of three generations of women…Millicent; her daughter, Jane; and Kelsey, her granddaughter. Told via a dual timeline, this tale takes you through life as a wife in the 1950’s. However, Millicent is not your typical housewife. She is such a strong person who has goals and career aspirations. While she is excited to become a mother, she wants much more for her life.

The secrets that are threaded throughout the pages will attempt to destroy some of the relationships. However, through the willingness to share the truth of things in the past and the ability to forgive, the lives of these three women is healed.

While there are some misunderstandings, it is Millie’s background story that has your heart aching for her and how it has affected the mother-daughter relationship. As we travel with Millicent through her past, you will feel anger at many situations, hope that she will be able to overcome so many painful experiences, and encouraged by her ability to accept love and support from her family members.

I really enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to future publications by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

“A PAGE-TURNER . . . of the lives of three generations of women, spanning the post–World War II baby boom into the modern age.

Each has experienced life at a different phase of emerging feminism.

As the LAYERED REVELATION of LONG-HELD SECRETS peels away, these women discover HEALING for years of misunderstanding, grief, and betrayal . . . a MASTERWORK.”--
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MILLICENT GLENN'S LAST WISH- a novel.

26 chapters bifurcated into 3 broad parts.
✨What a FABULOUS debut?!!
It TOUCHED ME right from the first para & I was rooting for millicent throughout.
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❤something abt me: My grandmother passed away few months back..Till then, we together were 4 generations.

This story reminded me of her and the love we shared.
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"THEY SAY WE SHOULDN’T ASK A QUESTION IF WE CAN’T HANDLE THE ANSWER. SO I ALMOST HADN’T ASKED MINE"...

✨There are so many LINES WORTH HIGHLIGHTING & PONDERING, that I feared I would colour the entire book, blue & pink!
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📌Sep. 2015
The protagonist, Millicent Glen is going to be of 91 years soon. She's self dependent & single, having lost her husband, DENNIS long back.

Her daughter, JANE/ Janie has just moved near her, taken retirement. She's is a live wire, so unpredictable, her temperaments are always on either side of the extreme.
Millicent was concerned & inquisitive for her sudden decision.

KELSEY, her granddaughter, lives in the same city as well.
She knew about her mother, jane, moving in Ohio, but did not inform her granny.

The 3 generation of women did not share a very transparent relationship with each other.
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"WE ALL DO AND SAY THINGS THAT WE REGRET. YOU. ME. EVERYONE.... ".

There was a secret, a misunderstanding that Millicent had been trying to sort out with Jane, for so many years.
Jane had blamed her of something, she never did..

✨Maybe now, she could clear out the cow webs, so that they could understand each other better..

✨She was clear about & wanted to fullfil her LAST WISH.

WHAT WAs HER LAST WISH & WILL SHE BE ABLE TO FULFILL IT?
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📌The story keeps on skipping timelines, taking us back when Millicent had married Dennis & so forth to "the present" when she's going to be a great grandmother soon.

📌The influence of parents on the mind of a child, the dilemma of working or being a housewife, childcare conditions in hospitals, being a single mom, bringing up a child, loss of a dear one..
These, and many more topics are discussed in this story.

📌READ it if you want to feel a cosy countryside vibe, a mothers love, witness a girl's struggle- more with herself than others & coming out stronger. Forgiving yourself is foremost, before we ask forgiveness from others.
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@Toriwhitaker graduated from Indiana University and is chief marketing officer for a national law firm.
She is also an alum of the Yale Writers’ Workshop.
Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish is her first novel.

💫 Book Review 💫
Millicent Glen’s Last Wish by Tori Whitaker

This book triggered me in a lot of different ways. But it was this quote that kept simmering in the back of my mind while reading:

“Here’s to strong women,
May we know them,
May we be them,
May we raise them”.

‘Millicent Glen’s last wish’ is a story of three women: grandmother, daughter and granddaughter and the connections that weave between them. Millie is 90 years old: widowed, close with her granddaughter Kelsey and with a complicated relationship with her daughter Jane who is moving home. Jane and Millie have always had a complex relationship... there’s been hurt, loss and a lot of misunderstanding. All these things coupled with a secret that Millie is hiding led to hurt feelings and disconnect between the women.

Kelsey is the connecter between her mother and grandmother. Her character may be secondary but in many ways, needed there to bridge relationships.

I really enjoyed this one 💗 anytime there’s a story about women finding where they fit in the world or finding their own voices; I’m a sucker for them. ‘Millicent Glen’ was published on October 1st, 2020. Thank you @netgalley and @lakeunion for the ARC.

This book was a good family drama, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially liked the dual timeline that takes you from WWII on primarily through the 1950s, when Millicent is a young wife. This time period has always seemed idyllic, but it was definitely a trying time to be a woman and not be able to make your own choices. I especially liked this aspect of the novel, learning more about life in the 50's and I loved Millicent herself. She's spunky and a breath of fresh air. Along the way something happens that crushes some of her dreams and affects her and her family's lives in ways that are both seen and unseen. The present day part of the story addresses this "secret" and the toll it's taken on Millicent and her daughter and their fragile relationship. After several other issues present themselves, the story finally comes out and all of the hard feelings are resolved at the end.

Very touching and emotional book about coming of age, the end of your life and getting back to basics with your family. This book is amazing, I really enjoyed the look into a young women's life in the early 1950's coming from a very poos upbringing to having many things, but not the one thing you thought could not be taken from you, a child. Great story, this will be recommended for our book club as well as someone wanting to read something new.

Millicent Glenn is 90 years old and has a secret she must tell her daughter and granddaughter before it’s too late.

I loved this one! It hops from the time of the secret in the 1950s to 2015. The secret is heartbreaking, but this book is soo good!

“Mirror, mirror on the wall: I am my mother after all.” There are whole Etsy shops devoted to pillows and wall hangings and samplers with this quote. It’s the title of a 2011 memoir by Susan Kane Ronning that revolves around a daughter’s resistance to repeating her mother’s mistakes.

It’s also the theme of Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish, a story of the three – soon to be four – generations of Glenn women; the titular Millicent, the tense relationship she has with her adult daughter Jane and the terrific relationship she has with her granddaughter Kelsey – a relationship in which she sometimes feels that Jane, Kelsey’s mother, is intruding.

And Kelsey’s soon-to-be child, gender still unknown, who will make her, at 91, a great-grandmother. A child that all three women are over the moon about, regardless of the stresses in the relationship between them.

Stresses that lie in the past, in the secrets that are hidden in that past. Secrets that Millicent has held close to her heart and grieved over for decades, but that finally need to come into the light. She is, after all, 91, and feels every single one of those years. She’s afraid that if she doesn’t talk soon, her chance will be gone.

And she’s right, but not in the way that she expected. Because secrets come to light on their own time – no matter how much their keepers wish otherwise.

Escape Rating A-: First, this is a timeslip story, or perhaps it might be better described as a memory story. It operates in two timelines; its 2015 present and Millicent’s past in the late 1940s and 1950s, as she replays in her head the history that she has not shared with her daughter and granddaughter – and that she needs to rather desperately.

Initially, Millicent is desperate because of her own circumstances. At 91, even though she is healthy and active for her age, she can’t help but be aware that her time is running out. When Jane admits that she has discovered a lump in her breast, Millicent is suddenly faced with a more immediate threat. Her daughter, like Millicent’s husband, could have cancer. That fear overlays this story like a sword of Damocles.

In the present, Jane wants no muss and no fuss, she wants to take care of herself, as she always has. She certainly doesn’t want her mother to fuss over her as she feels like she has always had to take care of herself.

Through Millie’s memories, we get glimpses of why that is, although not the full story. The full story we do get is the story of women’s lives in the 1950s, the stresses and strains that led to Betty Friedan’s watershed book, The Feminine Mystique, the book that showed that so many women’s lives, lives that seemed perfect on the surface, were restricted in a straitjacket of competitive domesticity, and filled with frustration, boredom, tragedy and all too often, pills and/or booze.

Millie holds the tragic secrets of her own experience close, perhaps a little too close, just as she did Jane when she was growing up. At least some of the time. The rest of the time, Millie left her daughter to her own devices as she worked her way through her grief, her despair, and the pills she took to cope with both.

When the secrets finally come out, the catharsis is both extended and delayed, as they still have to navigate through Jane’s health scare and Kelsey’s advancing pregnancy. In the end, there is healing – but it’s hard won and painful. The band aid over the past that Millie wanted to ease off gently gets pulled off with a hard jerk – and Jane thinks her mother was one.

And perhaps she was.

I ended up with a whole truckload of mixed feelings about this story for all sorts of personal reasons.

I think that people who don’t live somewhere storied or famous or both, like New York City, don’t expect to see their hometown portrayed in fiction. Millicent’s story takes place in Cincinnati, where I grew up. Millicent would have been part of my mother’s generation, and the Cincinnati she remembers from the 40s and 50s match stories my mother told me, or echo things that I remember being told were in the recent past when I was growing up in the 1960s.

If you are ever in Cincy, Union Terminal is every bit as magnificent as it is portrayed in the story, and well worth a visit for its museums and its gorgeous restoration. It was a building that needed to be preserved, but for most of my growing up years it was a white elephant that the city couldn’t find a purpose for. It was a relief when the museum complex moved in and turned out to be a fantastic use for the space.

But the Cincinnati described in the story is the place I remember. As much as I say that Cincinnati is a nice place to be FROM, I was happy to see the author do it proud. Although I still prefer Skyline Chili to Empress (or Gold Star), Cincinnati chili really is ordered as described and they are all a taste of home, along with Graeter’s Ice Cream, which is still the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

Part of the poignancy of this story, at least for me, was how much the relationship between Jane and her mother Millie reminded me of the stresses and strains in my own relationship with my mother, although the causes were different. But that emotional distance, that chill that happens between two people who love each other but can’t quite reach each other was extremely real, and even cathartic that they managed to find a peace together that my mother and I never quite did.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking and ultimately heartwarming story about four generations of women, the secrets that kept them apart and the truths that finally brought them together.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of "Millicent Glenn's Last Wish" by Tori Whitaker in exchange for my honest review!

"Millicent Glenn's Last Wish" is the heartwarming story of three generations of women. Millicent Glenn, nearing 91 and living alone in Cincinnati, is given a change to reconnect with her estranged daughter. As they bond over Millie's granddaughter's pregnancy, Millie realizes that she has some secrets she needs to share. More than anything, her last wish is for her daughter to forgive her. Is it too late?

I adored this book. I think that there's something beautiful about a family coming together and sharing the past. Millie's past, although painful and tragic, is beautiful and informs so much of her daughter's childhood. Hurts that her daughter has carried for years can only be cleared by these secrets being revealed. Although this book is riddled with painful moments, there's something so freeing about Millie's confessions.

The thing I found most compelling was how much Millie's secret hurt her daughter, Jane. It was unintentional, but at times it made Jane feel unwanted and unloved. Millie, blinded by her own grief, couldn't see the pain she was causing. This feels like something more common than we'd like to admit. It's so easy to hurt the people we're close with, without meaning to.

This book is good, but emotionally draining at times. It's a more heavy, but definitely a good read. In the end, I gave this book 4 stars.

Tori Whitaker's debut novel is a dual timeline historical fiction novel that predominantly concentrates on society's expectations of a woman's contributions to a family unit. The storyline alternates from the present day Cincinnati, and Cincinnati of the late 40's (and even earlier at some points).

Millicent Kraus is a young "working girl" (cashier), when she meets Dennis Glenn, a farm boy, Despite their differences, both had experienced hardship, and, Dennis and Milly, marry. in 2015, Milly is 91 years old, her daughter Janie is in her 60's, and Kelsey, the daughter of Janie (and granddaughter of Millie), is in her early 30's and (early in the novel, NOT a spoiler), is expecting her own little bundle. This news of a great grandchild, causes friction between Janie and Millie. As the story alternates in time, very gradually, Millie realizes that a secret that she has been hiding from Janie (and so, also from Kelsey), is the real cause of all the tension that has been festering between her and her daughter. She resolves to FINALLY (she is 91 afterall), tell all. Even though, Millie's Opapaw always told her that she was "STRONG" (Millicent in German means strong), revealing her secrets will demand every ounce of her strength.

The way author Tori Whitaker takes you back in time (basically Millie's childhood growing up in Cincinnati), was so much fun. Not being from Cincinnati,I was not familiar with all the landmarks, but for Cincinnatians, I am sure they would get a kick out of reading this book. Also, as I mentioned at the beginning, Tori does a great job showing the way the role of a woman in family's has changed. I loved her descriptions of the 1950's housewife! In addition, Tori Whitaker does a great job depicting the power doctors HAD way back when.( in fact its shocking!).

I do not have amazon prime, (this was an amazon prime first pick) so thank you #netgalley and @lakeunionpublishing for the e-ARC of #millicentglennslastwish in return for my honest review. I loved it! #5stars

Definitely plan on having a box of Kleenex nearby. I found this to be an amazing read. The characters were well-crafted and felt so real. The plot was detailed and hit you in the feels. The story spans three generations of women. Millicent's story of loss, truth and love ties it all together. She recounts her desire to have a career, along with being a mother. The topics of marriage, childbirth, family and career are all touched on in a way that makes you connect with the characters. An extremely charming, heartfelt read. I loved it.

I would like to thank Tori Whitaker, Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and exchange for a fair and honest review.

Millicent Glenn's Last Wish was a beautiful, heartwarming story that spanned three generations of women all holding secrets that could bring them together or tear them apart.

Millicent wants to make things right with her daughter, but that means diving into a history that she had desperately tried to put behind her. But to heal the past it means finally revealing what happened all those years ago...but would it be enough?

I laughed, I cried and I joined in celebrating as Millicent told her story of love, loss and truth. I loved each character in this book so much that each moment felt like I was hearing the stories of my own family. Tori Whitaker created a world and story that readers can truly connect with and root for.

As Millicent shares her truth, I found so often I could relate to her. Torn between her desire to have a career all her own and being a mother, she often battled an internal question of could I do both?

I loved that Whitaker dove into the realities of marriage, childbirth and family in way that made you immediately connect with each character. This book not only touched my heart, but the depth of Millicent's story captured my heart and soul.

I highly recommend this charming story. I couldn't put the book down until the very last page.

This book simply amazing.
I loved the behind this book.
The characters were so enjoyable to read about.
I very much loved it. Thank you NetGalley Publisher and author for this advance copy.