Tag: Alabama

The Forget-Me-Not Library: A Novel
Magical Realism / Women’s Friendship Fiction
Release Date – November 4, 2025
Setting – Alabama
Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin’s Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 4, 2025
Hardcover Print length ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250369274
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250369277
Kindle ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250369284
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DPTMY7LK
Audiobook ASIN B0DWHJN2CK

A detour. A chance encounter. Two women who alter the pages of each other’s story.

Juliet Nightingale is lucky to be alive. Months after a freak accident involving lightning, she’s fully recovered but is left feeling that something is missing from her life. Something big. Impulsively, she decides to take a solo summer road trip, hoping that the journey will lead her down a path that will help her discover exactly what it is that she’s searching for.

Newly single mom Tallulah Byrd Mayfield is hanging by a thread after her neat, tidy world was completely undone when her husband decided that their marriage was over. In the aftermath of the breakup, she and her two daughters move in with her eighty-year-old grandfather. Tallulah starts a new job at the Forget-Me-Not Library, where old, treasured memories can be found within the books—and where Lu must learn to adapt to the many changes thrown her way.

When a road detour leads Juliet to Forget-Me-Not, Alabama, and straight into Tallulah’s life, the two women soon discover there’s magic in between the pages of where you’ve been and where you still need to go. And that happiness, even when lost, can always be found again.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Juliet Nightingale survived a horrific lightning accident, but her grandfather did not. She was not left unscathed, though. To try to regain what she has lost, she hits the road for a much-needed solo journey.

Tallulah Byrd Mayfield’s world was turned upside down when her husband gave up on their marriage. Tallulah brings her girls to live with her eighty-year-old grandfather and starts working at the very special Forget-Me-Not Library.

Juliet follows a detour off the highway and soon arrives in Forget-Me-Not, Alabama, where she meets a few residents immediately and soon thereafter, Tallulah Byrd Mayfield. Juliet is a bit confused until the true magic of Forget-Me-Not is revealed, and Tallulah (Lu) realizes what her new life can offer.

Ms. Webber has created kind, caring, vulnerable, flawed, and genuine characters to fill the pages of The Forget-Me-Not Library and placed them in a uniquely magical place. Forget-Me-Not, Alabama, has a unique history and is full of Southern charm. The library cat, Deckle, has his own special talent, too.

It is impossible not to be pulled in by these characters and their stories. They draw strength from each other and grow in so many ways. I enjoyed the multigenerational diversity and the idea of women helping women, although there are some exceptional men in the story, as well. The struggles were real, and the outcomes uplifting. With themes of second chances, friendship, self-discovery, courage, strength, love, endurance, and a wee bit of magic, the healing power in this story shines bright.

Each chapter begins with a Pearl of Wisdom. I found myself highlighting several, but will only share one that made me smile from Forget-Me-Not residents, Vera Ingleby and Renny Russo:

“When life gives you lemons, add sugar.”
“Heavens no. When life hands you lemons, add tequila.”

Other highlights for me were a dog named Daisy, not an Australian Cattle Dog like mine, but a six-month-old Labrador mix who had lost his way and a little girl named Katy, who one of her favorite things to do was to disaapear into the pages of a book, whether it be curled up on Vera Ingleby’s porch swing or high off the ground in a crook of a tree.

Told from two points of view, Juliet’s and Lu’s, and each scene and its characters described in memorable detail, The Forget-Me-Not Library is a delightful, heartwarming story that I enjoyed from the first page to the last. A Perfect Escape for those who enjoy Women’s Fiction with a magic touch. Highly Recommend.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

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About the Author

HEATHER WEBBER is the national bestselling author of more than thirty novels–including Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, the Lucy Valentine novels, and the Nina Quinn Mysteries–and has been twice nominated for an Agatha Award. She loves to spend time with her family, read, drink too much coffee and tea, birdwatch, crochet, watch cooking competitions and home improvement shows, crochet, and bake. Heather lives in southwestern Ohio and is hard at work on her next book. Website

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