I want to start by saying I loved it. I read it in one sitting, that’s how much I was sucked in to Days Of Wonder.

We first meet Ella as she’s being released from prison. We get to know her now, and over the past few years, concurrently. We get to know her mother and her boyfriend, as well, along with their relationships with Ella. These stories are rich, interesting and nuanced, just like human beings.

I often find myself put off by endings. They are often too neat and tidy. After finding out what needed to know about Ella, Helen, Jude and the secrets they keep, the story ends. It’s hopeful, with promise for the future but not perfectly wrapped up with a bow. That feels so right.

Days Of Wonder is a must read. Thanks to NetGalley + Algonquin books for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

When we first meet Ella, she is being released from prison, after serving six years of a twenty-five year sentence for attempting to murder her high school boyfriend's father. Ella's single mother Helen, who was raised in an insular Hasidic Jewish community, is there for her daughter, smothering her in love and suggesting that the two of them leave New York City for a small town that won't know about Ella's notoriety.

But Ella has other plans. While in prison, she gave birth to boyfriend Jude's baby and is now determined to find her child. With some highly improbable snooping, she learns that she has a daughter who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her adoptive parents. Ella lies to Helen about why this college town appeals to her, finds a job writing a weekly advice column (that pays enough to live on?), and starts a new life that elides her past.

I had trouble connecting to the novel's characters, who frequently behave like actors in a mediocre Lifetime movie drama. We follow Ella as she makes a series of bad decisions in Ann Arbor, and Helen as she tries to make a life for herself after focusing solely on her daughter for 22 years. There are also flashbacks to the star-crossed romance between Ella and Jude, complete with an Evil Ogre who tries to keep the lovers apart, and the act that resulted in Ella's incarceration. The plot occasionally drops in on present-day Jude, whose character isn't developed much beyond Poor Little Rich Boy. Both Ella and Helen are presented with potential new romantic partners, but the men are barely three-dimensional and feel superfluous, especially for Ella.

The story's most emotionally resonant relationship is between Ella and Helen. The flashbacks to Helen's expulsion from the Hasidic community explain her desire to recreate a feeling of belonging with her daughter. Despite their love, the two women hurt each other both purposefully and inadvertently, but when Ella's world comes undone a second time, their relationship pulls her through. By the book's conclusion, their bond is healthier, allowing Ella to demonstrate newfound maturity in her decisions, and Helen to finally start living her own life.

The characters and plot of Days of Wonder were too melodramatic for my tastes. YMMV if you're okay with almost constant angst that includes triggering passages about biological and adoptive parents.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.

Thank you NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the copy of Days Of Wonder by Caroline Leavitt. The power of first love! The intricacies of parent-child relationships! A young woman paying for a terrible
crime! This book has something for everyone. Leavitt’s characters were unforgettable, coming alive on the pages of gorgeous prose. I loved this book and thought about it when I wasn’t reading. This book is for you if you want a compelling and emotional read.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This is a beautifully written, highly emotional story of young love and the tragic circumstances of one night. It’s also the story of a mother/daughter relationship and all the good and bad that inherently goes along with that. It’s a story about the lengths a mother will go to for her child and the lengths a young couple will go to for love.

The writing is superb, the plot is engaging and the ending is perfect. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It’s simply perfect, 5/5 stars!

Thank you, NetGalley and Algonquin books for the ARC.

Ella Fitchburg had all the yearnings of a young teenage girl, mostly she dreamed of falling in love. She was raised by her single mom who had grown up in a Chasidic community in Brooklyn, exiled when she brought the family shame. The two of them lived a simple life with no extended family and few friends. When Ella meets Jude at a party they share an instant connection. Although Ella is pretty and smart, Jude’s domineering and abusive father, a Judge, forbids the young couple from spending so much time together. When sneaking around becomes too much, the young lovers make one bad decision after another. Accused of trying to poison the Judge, Ella is sentenced to 25 years and Jude disappears. With an early release after only six years Ella tries to rebuild her life. Her mother does everything she can to make Ella comfortable but her attentions are suffocating and Ella is overtaken by an obsession to find the daughter she birthed and put up for adoption while she was in prison. When an address leads to the adoptive parents living in Ann Arbor, Michigan this is where Ella reestablishes her life. Living in constant fear of her actual identity being revealed, Ella lives in a world full of secrets and constant distress. As the story is narrated between the past and present the reader finally learns what really happened that momentous night, the night that changed everything. I really wanted to love this but didn’t. The writing is excellent but there is a lot of repetition and unlikable characters that are tough to root for. It could have been edited down and become a much smoother read. On the fence with this one.

Caroline Leavitt has written another emotional moving novel.My heart went out to Ella a young girl who fell madly in love with Jude and do to repercussions from their love affair her life took a terrible turn.So well written so involving.#netgalley #days of wonder

What a moving read! Caroline Leavitt writes novels that stay with you and her latest novel, Days of Wonder, most definitely will grab you by the heart. This novel centers around Ella Fitchburg and her mother, Helen, and the intricacies of a mother/daughter relationship. The storyline time hops between Ella at age 15 and 22, and the night that forever changes them and the domino effect thereafter. I was captivated the entire way through and highly recommend this 5 star novel! Days of Wonder is a character-driven novel that would make a perfect book club selection!

A mother and daughter find their lives upended by unexpected pregnancies in each of their lives. Ella, the daughter, who has been released from a prison sentence, is trying to restart her life. She is also desperate to find the daughter she was forced to give up while she was imprisoned.
Helen, her mother, wants to support her daughter, but must confront truths about her own pregnancy and shunning by her Hasidic community.
Within this story is a young man, Jude, whose sad and difficult life is linked to the 3 generations of females.

This is a compelling novel by a favorite author which deals with complicated mother/daughter relationships. The author actually leads the reader to a third generation of females in this saga. I loved reading about the struggles of handling young love, mature love and maternal love.

Thank you Netgalley for this wonderful book about the complex feelings and relationships between mothers and daughters.

I felt for Ella and thought her character was very well-developed. She had been through a lot of crap, and Leavitt crafted a good story around that. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

4-4.5-Ella and June are a teenage couple in love, but Jude’s dad, a judge, has a different future mapped out, one that does not include Ella. The couple talk of life together, without Jude’s father. We learn in the beginning of the novel that Ella is convicted of the attempted murder of Jude’s father and he gets off without a look back. Ella is released from prison and goes to live with her mother who has been visiting and doing all that she can to prepare for Ella’s return home. The story is heartbreaking to read. Ella has been through so much, and just when she is able to get a fresh start, more bad luck follows. I loved the storyline and the characters are very well written. However, I felt there was a little bit too much of the bad things happening to her. It almost felt as if she lived every day as Friday the 13th, crossing under ladders and seeing black cats. In the end, I did feel there was a little bit of a storyline that was wrapped up too easily to be realistic. Overall, I still really enjoyed this book and will for sure be looking for this author in the future.