It's the summer of 1938 and Layla Beck is a well-off, young Senator's daughter who has just had the rug pulled out from under her. Because she won't marry her father's choice of a husband, she is forced to find work for the first time in her life. Her uncle sends her to Macedonia, West Virginia through the Federal Writer's Project to help the local government write their town's history for their sesquicentennial celebration. Shocked and horrified, Layla tries desperately to get out of it to no avail. She can't possibly imagine living in West Virginia and what on earth will they have to talk about for their town history? Little does she know that Macedonia is full of interesting stories and people and she quickly finds this out upon meeting her hosts, which is where the real story begins.
Willa Romeyn is just a normal twelve-year-old girl living with her sister Bird, aunt Jottie, and father Felix (when he feels like it). Except, lately she has started to wonder why Jottie never married and why her father is always going out of town. And why do people in town talk slyly about Sol McKibben whenever he and Jottie see each other on the sidewalk? Willa decides to tackle these mysteries herself and won't let anything stop her. That is, until Layla comes to town and her father seems a lot more interested in being around the house than normal. Will Layla break her family up or can Willa keep everything from changing?
The Truth According to Us is so well-written, I could just imagine sitting on a front porch, listening to someone tell me the story of the Romeyns and their own history of Macedonia. Willa's story is heart-warming and the more I read about her family history, the more intrigued I became with the book. Layla and Jottie will keep you laughing and their two very different love stories are sweet yet tragic in their own way. I liked this book a lot, even though it is a bit lengthy, and once you start it, I guarantee you won't want to stop. It reminds me of The Little Paris Bookshop and is a cozy historical fiction novel.