This was a harrowing story with dual timelines. I enjoyed reading each woman’s story from different time periods. A decent read!

The novel, Love, Lizzie, is split between two narrators. There is the one with us in modern times sifting through the personal effects of her recently deceased father, and the other of a woman in the 1950s who keeps a diary as "Lizzie". Each explores their personal pain as they reach out toward each other across the decades. 
At first, the story seemed a little disjointed, but that was mainly due to not knowing how these two women were connected. The story moved between the time periods with seemingly no connection. When a connection was revealed, it created more questions than answers. 
Eventually, I began to enjoy the story and the view into their worlds. Connections were formed with them as the story progressed. The author kept me guessing on their connection and surprised me in the end. Can't say anymore on that topic. 
A moving piece of literature that will have you hooked as you dive deeper into its depths. The beginning seemed slow, but the pace picked up as secrets are revealed and truths are discovered. 
Looking for a family drama with a hint of mystery? This might be a good choice for you.

Zaiss’s novel follows two women, Madeleine and Emma, the daughter and first wife of Frank Hoskins respectively, in the 1950s and 1990s. Emma has to deal with her poor health and Frank’s demanding personality, while Madeleine has to deal with Frank’s life and death, her own divorce, and a mysterious generation-skipping trust. Both women take very different journeys to feel validated and powerful after dealing with their personal struggles. Zaiss’s characters are the center of the story, with their struggles and emotions making them realistic and bringing them to life. Zaiss deals with some troubling topics that readers should be advised about, though these topics are not gratuitous in the context of the novel. Setting is not a huge factor in the novel, though the various location shifts along with perspective shifts between Emma and Maddie add to the connections between character and location. Zaiss’s characters are ultimately the heart of the story, and major and minor characters alike are fully developed and dynamic from page one, yet they experience natural growth across the novel. Zaiss’s recent novel is a character-driven, strong story full of twists and turns, growth and loss, and a fascinating plot spanning the twentieth century.

Love Lizzie takes place post WWII - one of my favorite time periods to read about. This book was absolutely riveting. I will recommend to anyone interested in WWII.

A really heartfelt and beautiful story. I loved reading this and just did not want to put it down. Written so beautifully I would reccomend

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was a quietly powerful book. The subject matter of abortion, alcoholism, homosexuality, rape, and more were discussed within the time frame of the 1950’s and how it effected women. This book had a dual timeline the 1950’s and the 2000’s, in the beginning it was a bit confusing to understand where this story was headed and the possible connection between the main characters, but as the story progressed it became clearer and the ending for me was quite gratifying. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in reading a story about strong women.

A truly heart wrenching story. Love, Lizzie touches on so many difficult topics, taking us through the life of Emma in 1953 and Maddie in 2003 with a dual timeline. The issues dealt with throughout the book range from marital rape , abortion, miscarriage, homosexuality, and alcoholism. It’s such an insight into small town Nebraska life in the 1950s, and how life was like for women during the time. I loved seeing how the connections between Maddie and Emma started to appear and how everything interconnected.

4.5 stars

I don't typically read historical fiction, this book reached out to me with such a beautiful cover. I enjoyed being able to get a glimpse into the past and see social issues such as the male female dynamic in a home in the 50s. However, I am personally not a fan of two timelines going back and forth between 1950 to 2003 it becomes disjointed for me and breaks the story for me. I enjoyed the read and it being something much different from my norm.

This was heart-warming yet also heart-breaking story following two generations of women a mother and a daughter. The was a lot of darker elements in this such as marital rape and abortions which could trigger some people and I also think it could cause controversy due to how they were dealt, some people won't agree with how the character, Emma dealt with it. However I felt generally this was very beautifully written and is worth a read.

I read this book as an ARC courtesy of NetGalley! 4.5 stars; This was just as much a sweet and heartwarming novel as it was infuriating for Emma. Heartwarming for the tale of a woman who made her own informed choice to birth a child, full of hope that her daughter would be a light in the world, leaving behind remnants of love for her daughter to one day read. Infuriating was Frank, who drove me absolutely crazy, that stupid bastard!!! I was fuming reading the date night scene, how he claimed to want Emma to bear a child regardless of her health, only to see him pawn Sarah off to nannies and badmouth her mother and grandmother instead of embracing fatherhood. John Zaiss absolutely made me feel involved in the family drama for sure.

I nearly gave up on this book around the 20% mark as I found the writing to be overly descriptive and it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. I was not seeing any connection about how the stories went together and what was actually going on. I am extremely glad I did not though. The book really picked up and took off. I could not stop reading and really felt for Emma/Lizzie. I wish there would have been a little more on the sister's end of the book and it left this a little bit unbalanced in some parts. I will never forget this book and the story ( once it began) was phenomenal. I experience a little bit of every emotion and did not want the book to be over, Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

This book is heartbreaking, but I really loved it. I loved the characters and the way the author wove in such deep and meaningful issues was something special.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

A tale of women, mostly, and the way navigating life's tragedies is just harder when you are a woman. I was able to get through this book pretty quickly, and it kept me drawn in. It's the 50's in small town Oklahoma and it's the more recent past in Las Vegas, and a cast of women who each had something I could relate to in some way.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. There were many plot points (no spoilers!) that I think could have had more meat written about them, more reflection. There is very serious subject matter in this book and my opinion is, especially in literature about the female experience, more heft could have been given to these topics.

It was, despite that criticism, a quick and enjoyable read. If you're thinking about giving it a shot, I would say do it.

This book opened my eyes to so much that happened in the past in the US. Marriage in the US in the past was so wild and this book touched on so many of those topics. I loved the dual timeline and when the two stories start to correlate I really enjoyed it. Highly recommend.

This dual timeline story follows two women, Emma in 1952 and Maddie in 2003. After the death of her father, Maddie discovers a locked box in which is hidden a photograph of a beautiful woman named Emma. Through Emma’s diary entries in which she calls herself Lizzie and what follows after Maddie’s discovery of Emma’s photo, we bear witness to the heart wrenching journey each woman takes.

There are several triggering themes including miscarriage, abortion and marital rape. Though the author handled each with sensitivity, I was uncomfortable that these issues, particularly the one surrounding choice left me with the feeling that if given the opportunity to clearly think things through, Mr. Zaiss felt women will arrive at the decision to not choose abortion and I feel this decision should always be left in the hands and hearts of women.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

In 1952, Emma is married and has just had a devastating miscarriage. To compound her grief, Emma has been told that the pregnancy and miscarriage further damaged her heart. Emma had survived rheumatic fever as a teen and was told that she should never become pregnant. After the miscarriage, Emma adheres to the advice of her cardiologist. Her husband, on the other hand, feels it is his right to have a "normal" wife who can bear his children, so he rapes her. When Emma finds out she is indeed pregnant again, she reaches out to her doctor and seeks information on how to have a medically-approved abortion. She finds herself at a crossroads and on the day she is to have the procedure, Emma changes her mind and decides to go through with the pregnancy.

Fifty years in the future, Maddie is dealing with the death of her father and settling his estate, when she finds a photograph in a lockbox inscribed with "My Emma". This is not a photograph of Maddie's mother and this starts a search where Maddie learns more about her father than she ever really wanted to know. It also teaches her something about herself.

I appreciate the storyline involving the difficulty of gaining access to a safe abortion, but it felt as if the author was trying to show that women don't really want to have abortions and that if they search themselves, they will change their mind. The ending was powerful, but I did not like the very male perspective on a health choice that should be in the hands of the women who need to make it.