Synopsis: Imagine feeling like an outsider. Now imagine feeling like an outsider in your own family.

The troubled son of a callous father and socialite mother determines his own meaning of success after learning shocking family secrets that cause him to rethink who he is and where heʼs going. In Lee Winekoop’s reinvention of himself he discovers that lifeʾs bitter circumstances can actually give rise to meaningful consequences.

Bookish Things: 248 pages. The cover is lovely.

My Review: 

For a book to focus so intently upon the personal struggle and growth of the main character, one could be forgiven for thinking it’d be boring. But Red Clover is anything but.

Florence’s writing lures the reader into its murky depths with a siren song of beautifully engaging prose, fully formed and believable characters, and a twisting plot. She wraps it up in a way akin to the tender loving care of a mother with a new born babe.

Red Clover encourages the reader to firstly lose themselves, and then find themselves again. A little wiser and perhaps a little more whole for having experienced Lee’s story.

Witness the complex social rules and run the family gamut of the high-class Winekoop’s and experience the feeling of isolation, lack of belonging and crippling social anxiety issues Lee faces from his early years right throughout his life.

Engaging too is the twisting plot. The way new truths are discovered, unearthed and thrust upon the characters, it leaves the reader guessing as to how things will work out. Some twists are more obvious than others, but their guess-ability lends itself to drawing the reader in rather than boot them out.

Lee is a likeable character, he grows with the reader, and the gaggle of supporting cast is just as likeable. Florence caters to all tastes. Be they kooky, rough, highbrow or anything in between. You’re sure to find a character to like.

This story encourages the reader to look at themselves and check to see if they’re whole, or merely existing to please others. It lends its strength to the reader too in a way I can’t do justice to in this review. It’s just something you have to experience for yourself. 5 stars.

This guest review was contributed by Coffee2Words. As an editor at heart, this blogger reads every story with care, even to mention proofreading type comments in her book reviews. Indie books are most commonly on the menu.