The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore. That’s quite a name and the lady herself has quite a story. In The Heiress, you get a front row seat to all her drama.
Buckle up, baby, you’re in for a bumpy ride.
In Rachel Hawkins latest novel, she treats us to the complicated life story of Ruby McTavish and the fractious family she left behind.
At the time of her death, Ruby was the wealthiest woman in North Carolina. She was also its most notorious resident.
Her notoriety started early when she was kidnapped as a child, a very wealthy child. Her face and story were everywhere. The talk of the town, you could say.
Unlike the tragic case of the Lindbergh baby though, Ruby was found alive and returned into the arms of her family. A seemingly happy ending.
Ruby lived an eventful life from that time forward. Widowed four times over, with marriages the stuff of gossip columns, her early infamy never really had the chance to wear off.
After her death, the family estate, Ashby House, set high in the Blue Ridge mountains, along with Ruby’s nine-figure fortune is left to her adopted son, Camden, much to the chagrin of the other surviving McTavish family members.
Camden doesn’t want anything to do with the estate, or the inheritance. He rejects it and moves to Colorado. He marries, becomes an English teacher and lives a fairly normal life.
10-years later, after the death of his Uncle, a summons for his presence brings Camden, along with his wife, Jules, back to North Carolina and into the fold of the McTavish family.
Cam may be displeased about their stay in North Carolina, but Jules has other thoughts. She loves the property and is enamored by the idea of it being all theirs.
The more she learns about Cam’s estranged family, the more determined she becomes for him to claim everything Ruby intended for him to have. The more they learn about Ruby though, the more tainted her legacy seems to become. What exactly is her story?
I found this to be absolutely addictive. I listened to the audiobook and loved how it was formatted, as well as the multi-cast narration.
We get both Cam and Jules perspectives, as well as Ruby’s story through a series of letters she has written to an unknown recipient. Cam and Jules are both providing the present timeline, as they travel to Ashby House and stay there with Cam’s family for their first time.
Ruby’s letters provide us with a glimpse of her life from the start. We go through her various romances and learn of the events that shaped her into the woman she becomes.
I loved the set-up and Hawkins was successful in capturing and holding my attention. I wouldn’t say there was a ton of action, but as a character study, it’s definitely intriguing.
If you love deep-held family secrets and drama, you will most likely enjoy this one. It’s seriously the most twisted Family Drama, and I love twisted!!
As the past catches up with the present, the truth of who Ruby was writing to is revealed and thus, the truth of her life becomes clear. OMG, what a crazy life!
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this. It’s great storytelling. There’s varied layers of deceit and backstabbing, which we love to see. My only wish is that it could have been a little longer and that there could have been more suspense.
Nevertheless though, a really enjoyable read.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I always get excited for the newest Rachel Hawkins, and am already anticipating whatever she writes next!
