Ivy

Ivy is the third novella in the Montgomery Sisters trilogy. It begins similarly to Poppy in that we first encounter the eponymous sister isolated from her family but, in this case, Ivy's attempted escape from her overprotective sisters has gone very wrong. Ivy suffers from extremely poor eyesight - perhaps cataracts? - so Flannery explores her experiences of living at that time. I found this interesting, but wasn't convinced by Fern or Poppy's treatment of her. In the first two books both the older women had seemed keen for themselves and other people around them to strive for their full potential, regardless of any hindrances. Yet suddenly, now, they are apparently keeping Ivy hidden away and not allowing her any semblance of independence.

Ivy's rescue by a Native American Sioux chief allows her a brief insight into what she could achieve if she allowed herself to believe in her capabilities. I can't say if the Native American life portrayal is historically accurate any more than I can the living with blindness. Both seemed fair and it was nice to have such diversity, but I think I wanted both situations to be explored in a lot more depth. Flannery did repeat herself in this novella, especially in reiterating Hotah's past anguish. The instalove didn't convince me - even with the addition of an instafamily! I did enjoy reading Ivy, but would have preferred the story to unroll over a longer timespan.