The Artist of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy ~ a Review

by MK French

After a broken engagement and her mother's death in 1925, Sadie Halloran learns that her great-aunt Marguerite, needs a live-in companion. Blackberry Grange is Marguerite’s mansion in Arkansas, where she is compelled to paint eerie, hallucinatory portraits of old lovers. Time seems to shift in the mansion, and Marguerite had secrets. Now, Sadie must uncover the secrets before Marguerite’s memory slips away.

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May 2025; Lake Union; 978-1662524158
audio, ebook, print (324 pages); historical fiction

Sadie doesn't have anyone she can truly rely on at the start of the novel; engaged to a married man, she's the pariah in a family set on making good impressions in Kansas City society. She hears of Marguerite and figures it's a place she can go to lick her wounds and regroup, but learns to truly care for her. Marguerite had a scandalous past of her own, secrets she keeps even from herself, and dementia. The house seems haunted, and some of the paintings that Marguerite made have the ability to draw people into them, experiencing the past like a ghost. While Sadie is drawn into this world, it also takes its toll on her and can be potentially deadly. 

The author noted that Marguerite is meant to have Lewy Body dementia, a form that comes with hallucinations and behavior changes more often than the Alzheimer's type. Even without knowing that, the picture of what it was like to be a caregiver is very clear. Sadie sees glimpses of the woman beneath the illness and hears stories about what life had been like for them in the Gilded Age. The present Roaring Twenties aren't too much better for Sadie, but she soon realizes that Marguerite is hiding things and blaming her dementia for keeping secrets. The magic with the paintings allows her not only the guilty pleasure of travel and a relationship, but to also see Marguerite and her sisters as they were, which allows her to eventually get to the truth. The secrets kept became something of a generational curse, and it was going to affect Sadie if left unchecked. 

I was drawn into the story due to the level of detail and care that was taken in describing Marguerite’s life and ailing memories, as well as Sadie growing up more while in that household. I enjoyed it, and had to keep reading until the book was done.

Buy The Artist of Blackberry Grange at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever.

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