Book Review for The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis

This is a story about relationships. It has two main characters Rory and Soline. They each take turns telling their story. Rory’s story begins in Boston in 1985 while Soline’s story begins in Paris in 1939 during WWII. Eventually, their lives connect and the two form a friendship which Rory’s mother Camilla is jealous of. She is not happy about the friendship that her daughter develops with Soline, a hermit. However, Rory and Soline’s relationship brings out Camilla’s long-held secret.

Rory is a college student waiting for news about her fiancé Hux who disappeared when he went to South Sudan to do humanitarian work for Doctors Without Borders. She grew up in a privileged household and her mother Camilla expects her to join her for tea on a weekly basis. Rory decides to drop out of school to open an art gallery. Camilla does not approve of this decision.

Soline is an elderly woman who owns a bridal shop that had caught on fire many years ago and has since remained empty. Rory decides that the building that once housed Soline’s bridal shop is where she wants to open her art gallery. The problem is Soline isn’t interested in letting go of it.

Soline has an interesting history that includes sewing charms into the seams of bridal gowns and working for the cause of The Resistance during the war. She was taught by her mother Esmee—The Dress Witch—that her calling in life is to ensure the true happiness of others, and that happy endings are for other people.

 I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love how it mixed a modern-day story with a story of historical fiction. It included war, magic, love, romance, and had a happy ending. I give this book a full 5 stars!