Very enjoyable, Lauraine Snelling hasn't failed to please me. This was a lucky find, I thought I had read everything of hers but I missed this one when it was new. Loved the Aunt, Niece dynamic.

In Chicago, Ragni Clausen feels her life is a lie as she has failed at everything important. At her job at Advantage Advertising Inc, she feels like screaming AAI as someone modified her dog biscuit ad campaign.. Her love life just ended unceremoniously. Her dad suffers form dementia. Now her mom has a note from a Paul Heidelberg claiming the family cabin on the Little Missouri is in need of repair after two harsh winters. Her sister Susan and their mom want Ragni to go the Badlands to fix the cabin while on vacation, but Susan demands she also take her niece Erika with her by calling in a sisterly favor.

Not only is Erika irate over having to tag along, she detests the need for a baby sitter as she is a teen though her mom explained she will be busy much of the summer. In the Dakotas, the two females find the cabin devastated and consider persuading mom to sell to Heidelberg. However, they find several paintings by Ragnis great-grandmother Nilda that inspire the two women to make a go at restoring the family cabin and Paul as a surprisingly young neighbor willing to help.

THE BRUSHSTROKE LEGACY is a warm character study that enables readers to compare life between 2002 and 1906 Badlands. The strong realistic evolving relationship between the aunt and her niece is delightfully portrayed though the same cannot be said of the seemingly rushed love between Paul and Ragni. Still the thrust of this fine moving story is the three generations of women finding their respective niche.

Harriet Klausner

Sometimes we need a whole new perspective on our lives, and Ragni's experience provided just that avenue--Erika's, too. Sometimes I too would love to be able to "get into the heads" if the great grandmothers I never knew. As the grandmother of young adult grandchildren, maybe I should think about writing for them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Could not put it down. I would love to see a 2nd book on the life of Erika.

this was a beautiful love story-i enoyed it alot--i have most of lauraine's books and will always look for new ones as they come out--