Millicent Glenn's Last Wish

A Novel

By: Tori Whitaker

Narrated by: Joshilyn Jackson

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Three generations of women - and the love, loss, sacrifice, and secrets that can bind them forever or tear them apart.

Millicent Glenn is self-sufficient and contentedly alone in the Cincinnati suburbs. As she nears her ninety-first birthday, her daughter Jane, with whom she’s weathered a shaky relationship, suddenly moves back home. Then Millie’s granddaughter shares the thrilling surprise that she’s pregnant. But for Millie, the news stirs heartbreaking memories of a past she’s kept hidden for too long. Maybe it’s time she shared something, too. Millie’s last wish? For Jane to forgive her. 

Sixty years ago Millie was living a dream. She had a husband she adored, a job of her own, a precious baby girl, and another child on the way. They were the perfect family. All it took was one irreversible moment to shatter everything, reshaping Millie’s life and the lives of generations to come. 

As Millie’s old wounds are exposed, so are the secrets she’s kept for so long. Finally revealing them to her daughter might be the greatest risk a mother could take in the name of love.

©2020 by Tori Whitaker. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

I will miss these ladies

I found this book to be extremely engaging. The characters were well developed. There was a lot to this story and I enjoyed every minute of finding out about it. The author did a fantastic job of switching between time periods and painting a picture of the early time period. I found myself entertained by hearing about the decades my mother was a kid/teenager. At the same time I found myself agape at what it was like for women in that period. I wouldn’t consider myself a feminist, but I was certainly surprised and saddened by how hard it was for women. The main character, Millicent, was strong and trying to find her place in the world, anchored and at the same time propelled by her childhood experiences. The relationships between her and most every character shaped her in some way. Joshilyn Jackson is one of my favorite narrators and authors. It seems as though people are firmly planted in one camp or the other regarding her narration. I am firmly in the fan camp. She brings compassion, humor and realism to the story. As the headline for my review says, I will miss these ladies, I was not ready for the book to end. I don’t think there is a much stronger recommendation than that. I look forward to reading (listening) to more by Tori Whitaker! Excellent first novel!!

Magnificent book

This story had so much depth to it. The characters lived for me. The narrator was wonderful. I recommend this book highly.

Heartwarming

I enjoyed this book more than I had hoped. I love the generation piece, especially it being mothers & daughters. I only took one star away for the parts that seemed to drag, too much fluff at parts, but still would recommend it and I still enjoyed it.

Great voice of 3 Generations

Great story of 1950’s housing boom and role of women in business in a new era. But the personal life of Millicent and her role as mother, wife, grandmother was so well developed. I enjoyed every mile I walked listening.

Uplifting, for all those who have gone through the tragedy of losing a baby

Flawed, realistic characters, damaged people, who find forgiveness and peace. At first I thought that Millicent’s daughter was much too hard on her, but after finishing the book, I understood why. There are so many ways a person can suffer pain, and inflict pain unknowingly. As this story reveals, it is only through communication (something that also involves risk when opening your heart) that we can truly understand each other, and find acceptance.

Such a nice story.

I appreciated the layout of this story, including jumping back and forth between generations. There was no explicit sex, only minimal swearing, and no violence, just a lot of interesting character development. I really enjoyed this well planned and executed story.

Excellent!

The story is one for many mothers and daughters.. I plan to send to my daughter.

Not the greatest narration

It was extremely difficult to figure out who was speaking. The story had three main female characters, four if you count that one of them was a flashback to the 1950s and herself in 2015. It was annoying to listen to the "pretend little old lady" voice of the 90 year old character. And there really wasn't much distinction between the daughter and granddaughter in 2015.

slow story

this story probably dragged on longer than it should have. the daughter have was a brat. otherwise an ok read.