The Last of the Moon Girls

This charming story centers around Elzibeth ‘Lizzy’ Moon, a successful creative director and perfumer in NYC who returns to her New England hometown of Salem Creek and her grandmother Althea’s Moon Girl Farm after her death. A past tragic event involving two teenage sisters found in a pond on the property has cast a pall over Althea and all the Moon women, with townsfolk presuming Althea’s guilt and strongly intimating that all the Moon women are witches, despite the fact that they’ve always used their farm and talents to bless their neighbors. Lizzy, who left in shame after these events, now returns eight years later, and despite initial reticence, is inspired by her grandmother’s Book of Remembrances to clear Althea’s good name before she sells the Moon Girl Farm, walks away from their family legacy,  and returns to her independent life in NYC.  Only, someone doesn’t want her digging into the past and is finding increasingly threatening ways to try to stop her.

I had a fear early on that this was going to play like a made-for-TV movie, which isn’t really my thing, so it did take a couple chapters to feel invested.  Once the storyline moved to Lizzy’s hometown of Salem Creek, the book picked up steam and came to life.  Although the mystery of the deaths of the two Gillman girls at Moon Girl Farm is the central plot device to keep the story going, at the heart of it, it’s really a romance and a journey of Lizzy working through her pre-conceptions of her destiny and duty as a Moon girl, and all the perceived requirements of her legacy as such.  To note, this legacy means that the Moon women remain single and independent, only needing a man long enough to impregnate them with the next Moon girl, but never giving their hearts to a relationship with them. 

While I appreciated the murder mystery aspect of the plot, I honestly think that was the least successful part of the story.  By the time I found out the big “whodunnit”, it felt underwhelming, mildly predictable and just a necessary thread to wrap up.  If you’re looking for a big twist or shocking reveal, you may be disappointed. The reason I can still give this book an enthusiastic 4 stars is because, ultimately, I really enjoyed Lizzy’s journey of getting to the place where she’s at peace with her life, choices and personal legacy.  The journal entries in Althea’s Book of Remembrances for Lizzy were deeply insightful and often extremely touching.  Seriously, wise Grandma award?  She’s got my vote.  Equally cool is Evvie, Althea’s whip-smart devoted friend who stuck with her through her final days and offers Lizzy her own brand of wisdom.  

I won’t mention specifics on one story arc involving Lizzy’s mother, so as not to spoil things, but it also adds an unexpected and emotionally satisfying depth to the story.  As for romance, the “will they/won’t they” thing between Lizzy and her childhood friend Andrew, who’s been “mooning” over her all these years (see what I did there?) was in turns sweet and mildly frustrating, but a very nice arc, nonetheless.   That dude is perfect.  More of him please.  All things said, I really liked this book.  It didn’t shatter any boundaries or surprise me, but Ms. Davis wrote an engaging story with interesting characters and a lot of charm that should please those of you who like magical realism, mystery, romance and journeys of self-discovery.

★★★★