Nell spends a lot of time researching her past in an attempt to understand her mother. What did you think of her endeavors? What information would have been easier to obtain now, and what would be more difficult? Have you ever researched your heritage?
I think she did a fairly good search. As a reader, I was troubled with how conveniently she made her way to the area that Hazel had spent her earlier years. How often would that happen in real life? Perhaps never. Now one had the internet to provide services just for finding your person such as Ancestory.Com, 23andMe, MyHeritage, etc all have platforms to locate your relatives. No I have not researched my heritage, I have several hand written documents from my father’s side that provides information through the Civil War. I also have the basics on my mother’s side, however, since she came from a immigrant family to learn further information, one needs to able to spend time and money to research and travel.
I think Nell worked hard to research the past to understand her mother. She moved to Mississippi. She found the Twilight Room and the Lighthouse Motor Lodge. Nell worked hard to find people from Hazel’s past and was pretty successful if they were still alive. The initials A & K somehow put it altogether so Nell could find out the rest of the story which was heart-warming. A story that led to the reuniting of Evie with Becca, her real mother.
I am not so sure it is any easier today to obtain information unless you go to a site like Ancestry.com. My only research about my heritage has been through family stories and recollections. Of course, memories of when I was a little girl will always hold special meaning for me.
I can understand why Nell spent so much time trying to find out more information about her mother. She knew Hazel was keeping secrets about her earlier life and I think Nell kept searching as a way to know her mother better. From that search she learned that her mother had given up her dream of becoming a singer in order to keep a child she didn’t even know safe from harm.
I would have researched my past too! Good for her for working so hard at the process!
I thought Nell did an amazing job for the time period. Yes, a few things fell into place a bit easier than might have actually happened, but maybe not. She went with the clues she had and kept unraveling the puzzle. I think with Internet access and sites like ancestry.com, Nell probably could have made easier connections, but only if Evie was willing and if Becca had been on the sites looking for Evie. It is still a puzzle that would need to be unraveled piece by piece. It was fun to read how Nell did it and pretty convincing.