This is a novel that is too predictable to really challenge the reader. It is the story of Joanna who is swept into life in a grand mansion with many secrets. Bethlehem has no biblical connotation, it is the name of the city that was the center of the American steel industry.

Joanna moves to Bethlehem because her husband is too busy handling his job in the growing steel industry. She moves into the Gilded Age mansion that has been in his family and lives with his mother and grandmother. For some reason, the novel is set in 1962. Using this year as a base makes sense for the interweaving of stories from the 1920s, but the reader is given no context for the time period. We know it is 1962 because of the chapter heading. The characters are moved from the early 1900s up to 1962 and the lives of 2 families intersect from that point on. There are many secrets, that the reader is easily able to figure out within the first few chapters of the book.

Characters are thrown in with no development and are often stereotypes. Very little is original.

I was disappointed in the lack of challenge to the reader and the reliance on these trite themes. The author does so much foreshadowing that the reader can unpack the book without continuing to read.

I think the author has enormous promise, but this book is a bit too predictable for my reading taste.