Monday, November 3, 2025

Stephanie Landsem: The Fault Between Us

 By Kelly Bridgewater

In this gripping new work of historical fiction from the award-winning author of Code Name Edelweiss, three sisters fight for their lives and for each other amid the danger of a cataclysmic earthquake that rips Yellowstone National Park asunder.

1959. Claire, Bridget, and Frannie Reilly were once as close as sisters can be. Though their mother left when they were young, their loving father raised them with everything they could want. But when Claire marries a handsome cowboy and settles out west, a thousand miles away, the sisters’ strong bond begins to unravel.

Claire struggles to adjust to a life utterly unlike her upbringing, and surprising revelations about her husband’s past make her wonder if she’s made a terrible mistake. With a new baby and a shoestring budget, the last thing she needs is her family’s interference.

Sensing something isn’t right, Bridget takes a temporary nursing assignment in Yellowstone, promising her father she’ll bring Claire home―with or without her husband. When Frannie, the rebellious youngest sister, is sent along in hopes it will corral her behavior, the Reilly sisters reunite on the eve of a seismic event that rips Yellowstone apart, tests their survival, and exposes the ever-widening rift in their relationship.

Based on real events of the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake and inspired by true stories, 
The Fault Between Us is a suspenseful exploration of the bonds of sisterhood, the depths of family drama, and how hidden wounds can only heal when they’re brought into the light.



My Thoughts:

The Fault Between Us by Stephanie Landsem was a moving story about sisters, relationships, and hope. Readers will love how Landsem built up each individual character through a good portion of the story so that readers will know them personally. Landsem does a wonderful job at diving into their hurts, pains, and lives that they felt like they could be my sisters. She does tell the story from several different characters’ perspective, which I believe strengthens the storyline. The setting is very important to the story. It could not happen at any other time. Plus, Landsem does a wonderful job at crafting the setting, so readers do get lost in Yellowstone. The title does have a few different meanings to the plot of the story, and I really liked this aspect. My favorite part is when the climactic moment happened that I knew these characters so well because Landsem built them up that I enjoyed seeing the transformation of each character. Overall, The Fault Between Us by Stephanie Landsem is a moving tale that I enjoyed losing myself in, and the plot and the characters will stick with me long after I finished the novel.
I received a complimentary copy of The Fault Between Us by Stephanie Landsem from Tyndale Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars