In 1939, Cornelia Simpson is 17 and has spent the five years since her mother's death hiding the fact that she hates God. She still attends church with her family and pretends to be the good Christian they believe her to be. But in the pages of her diary she reveals the truth of how she feels betrayed by the loving God in whom she'd been taught to believe. Her life changes that year when she meets Henry Roberts, a young man coming to live with and to help his cousins on their farm. The two fall in love that summer, but Henry joins the Canadian military and is killed in a train wreck without having seen a single battle overseas. Once again, Cornelia's faith is shaken.
The Silver Suitcase is not just Cornelia's story, however. It is also the story of her granddaughter, Benita Gladstone Watson. Benita is having her own crises. Her husband is unemployed and appears to be not trying hard to find a job, her bosses die in a car accident leaving her unsure of her own employment, and her beloved gram -- Cornelia -- dies and leaves her a silver suitcase full of memories.
As Benita's home life with her husband Ben improves and then worsens, she is drawn to the diaries and the entries written by her grandmother nearly 70 years earlier. But it is after the suitcase and the diaries are stolen that a miracle happens that brings Benita and her family closer together.
The Silver Suitcase was a wonderful read. It is funny, heartbreaking, and all too real at times. Though decades divide the struggles of Cornelia and Benita, the strength they share is evident. Terrie Todd is an author whose works I will read more of in the future.
Rating: 4 Stars
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