Review: The Undertaking of Tess by Lesley Kagen

The Undertaking of Tess

by Lesley Kagen

Publisher: SparkPress

Pages: 118

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  During the summer of 1959, ten-year-old Theresa “Tessie” Finley has her work cut out for her. Not only is she attempting to come to grips with the devastating loss and guilt she feels after she witnessed her father’s drowning, but her kid sister, Birdie, refuses to believe that their beloved Daddy is really gone. Tessie needs to make sure that she does before their Mom gets wind of how much “weirder” her sister’s getting. Stronger, and more down to Earth than ethereal Birdie, she’s always watched over her sister, so it’s only natural for her to come up with a plan that she jots down on one of her never-ending TO-DO LISTS. If Tessie can’t achieve her goals, she’s desperately worried that the beautiful, but self-occupied Louise, might send emotionally fragile Birdie to the county insane asylum.

Her daddy always told her, “A Finley never throws in the towel,” so more than anything Tess wants to make him proud, but despite her resourcefulness and grit, she’s smart enough to know that the odds are stacked against her and her time is running out.


Kritters Thoughts:  A prequel novella that comes before the book I will be reviewing later today.  The reader is introduced to two sisters - Birdie and Tess as children before a major life event occurs that will send their childhoods into a tail spin.  Both girls are affected by this event and will react in different ways.

I enjoyed the introduction to the girls knowing that I would have a whole book to follow with a story, so it was nice to start in their childhood.  I would have loved to learn a little more about their mother, but it was obvious that her absence was a part of the story.  I just wanted more!

The narration was interesting and continued to the full novel, so I will talk more about that later today.

As a concept I like prequel novellas, but I definitely like to read them before I dive into the book and/or series.  


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2014 Challenge: 72 out of 100