When she was nine, her mother committed a horrible crime and was sentenced for life in Jefferson Prison. Now forty years has passed, her children moved away and her husband dead, Evelyn returns to her hometown in Jefferson, Missouri, close to the prison, and moves into the second story of her old childhood home. She tries to see her mother, and is devastated when her mother refuses to see her.

Slow moving, introspective, a woman trying to come to come to terms with her past. The prison setting is evocative but maybe somewhat unrealistic. As she find those who can help her get in to see her mother, we learn more about her life in this prison, and the man who prisoner himself, helped make her life her life bearable. Don't think things really happen like this, but I'm far from an expert. Was interesting to see how Evelyn adjust and handles the many setbacks she encounters, as well as the gaps in her memory. What she remembers at mine was far from the full story, and what really happened is the reason I kept reading. That and to see if she would have closure. Sounds like it would be a suspenseful read but it wasn't in any way. The sameness of tone was a bit off putting. So this ended up just being an okay read for me. The prose itself though, was at time noteworthy.

ARC from Netgalley.

Shortly after her husband's death, Evelyn returns to her hometown. Her family home, in the shadow of the prison, also houses her mother, a woman serving life for murdering a neighbors twin babies. Evelyn struggles to come to terms with the loss of her husband and reconnect with her mother. Instead, she meets Roz, a women who is devastated over an upcoming execution.

I didn't particularly enjoy this book. I disliked Evelyn and I really disliked Roz. Both of them just grated on my nerves. Despite this, the book was well written. The characters were real and Evelyn's childhood was fascinating. I would be interested in a different book by this author, this one just wasn't for me.

Would rather not write a negative review suffice to say this book was not for me.

Having worked in a prison, everything about the prison setting in this story was bunkus. That admittedly turned me off. Further, what should have felt like the emotional journey to some type of reconciliation with the past felt more like a hormonal tennis match. Not terrible...just flat and disappointing.

3.5 Stars. DARK.

The enticing book cover and Missouri setting attracted me to this novella first published in 2014.

In 1959, Evelyn Grant Williams was only nine years old. Now, 40 years later, she has decided to visit her mother in prison.....the mother who destroyed her family......the mother who is serving a life sentence.

What goes on behind the LIMESTONE WALL.....What went on in the house across the street.....combined with recent tragedy keep Evelyn's mind and actions in constant turmoil as she struggles to remember what really happened on that horrific day in 1962.

LIMESTONE WALL is a slow burn of grief-filled puzzle pieces that alternate between haunted memories of the past and coming to terms with the present; and while an interesting narrative, (for me) the story did not always transition smoothly between thoughts, characters, or places depicted at a particular time to the point of making me feel like I missed something.

At less than 200 pages, still a decent read, but DO SKIP the spoiler-filled book summary.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Holland House publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short read at less than 200 pages. I enjoyed the writing but found it very sad. I felt for Evelyn who waited 40 years to visit her mother in prison. Mabel is serving a life sentence for the murder of her neighbour's twin babies. It's a story of loss and healing.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

Released in 2014, limestone wall is a literary work. The language is evocative and poetic. The author writes beautifully. The prose is haunting and there are a lot of quote-worthy passages.

I'm generally not the target audience for modern literature, so I truly don't want it to seem that I'm damning the book with faint praise. It is so skillfully written and I did enjoy reading it. For me it was very sad and bleak. The wreck and reverberations of many lives by insanity, criminality, tragedy and consequence. The book ended on something of a bleak note, but given the nature of the book, there wasn't room for a happily ever after type ending. There was resolution (we've all read book that make us want to grind our teeth with non-endings; this isn't that at all), but the whole experience just left me feeling melancholy and misty...

Four stars for the amazing writing. Beautifully, hauntingly written.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.