The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck

Rachel Hauck does it again. She writes another outstanding book. The Writing Desk is a dual-timeline story. One story takes place in the gilded age.  Birdie, a young woman of marriageable age desires to become a writer but it was very difficult from women during that time to be taken seriously. Her overbearing mother wanted her to enter into a loveless marriage that would benefit both families. She was very hateful to Birdie and nothing Birdie could say could convince her mother. Her mother was more concerned about her own selfish wishes than the happiness of her only living child. Birdie tried to stand up to her mother and I wanted to keep reading to find out if Birdie was able to overcome what her mother wished. There were twist and turns in this story that kept me engaged. 

The modern timeline involved  Tenley Roth who has written one best seller and is struggling to write another novel. She lives in New York with her boyfriend.  At the request of her estranged mother she goes to Florida to take care of her mother while the mother undergoes treatment.  At first I did not like Tenley. I thought she was self-centered and a little too quirky but as the story progressed I began to like her a lot better.

Thanks to Netgalley and Zondervan for providing me a digital copy of this book to read and review. The Writing Desk is due to be published on July 10, 2017.