Book Review: Maribelle's Shadow

(Review by Carole O'Neill)

Maribelle's Shadow by Susannah Marren is wonderful women's fiction novel. Lucinda Barrows, a controlling mother, is the head of the Barrows corporation, and she runs her family the same way. Even though she comes from humble beginnings, she treats her three daughters as if they had been born with silver spoons in their mouths. Certainly, with erased memories of her being a ninth-grade teacher. But now they all live in a world without color. Everything is either eggshell or fawn.

Her daughters, Maribelle, Caroline, and Raleigh pretend to be loyal while underneath that façade, they are extremely competitive. Mirabelle is the oldest and her husband, Samuel has just died. She is aware that he has been having an affair and almost too quickly his potential crime, leaving the corporation with a loss of nine million dollars, is discovered, and the rest of the family immediately place Mirabelle aside. They expect her to make up the money that Samuel has supposedly taken and move on with her life. She quickly decides to put all her energy in her own magazine, PB Confidential.

The middle sister, Caroline has worked at the corporation along with her husband who she feels knows more about what happened than he is willing to share. She does believe she would be the best person to take over running the company and is spending her days trying to convince anyone who will listen.

The youngest sister, Raleigh – ten years younger than Maribelle - is married with a young child. She is not happy, and we quickly learn her thoughts of another man in her life are taking up all her time. She calls him North and is sure there’s a future with him.

Palm Beach becomes its own character in this book. The fashion, the expectations and the competition are constantly woven throughout the chapters to make sure the reader feels the impact. In any other town, what you wore to a meeting would hardly be noticed. These three sisters are constantly reminded how they should dress and where they should shop.

If style and fashion along with family unrest make a book enjoyable, then Maribelle’s Shadow is definitely for you. But if you think you can figure out an ending before the author is ready to tell you, this book can offer you a challenge and a surprise ending you won’t see coming. Happy reading.

Purchase a copy of Maribelle's Shadow:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/4qt63MN​
Kindle: https://amzn.to/4azlI8u

(See more book reviews here)

​*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.