Reedsy Discovery Book Review by Kennedy Odindo

Originally posted on June 17, 2026 on Reedsy Discovery

Must read 🏆

5/5 Stars

A brief, great memoir about family, love, faith, grief, and DNA testing in the modern world.

In Autumn Leaves, Sharon Beth explores her family tree in depth. Her life story, a blend of new beginnings, endings, happy periods, and challenging times, encourages others with similar experiences to share their stories. When confronted with unbelievably shocking DNA results, she began her detective work.

Beth’s Foreword rings true for many as it triggers childhood memories. For me, I read this part and couldn’t agree more, concluding that the things we’re told in our youth are the same regardless of which part of Earth we call home. Then Beth turns the focus to herself, her childhood, revealing a happy neighbourhood, the fun she had as a child, and above all, the people whose hands nurtured her. And she shares family photos, those grey ones, and they’re all beautiful, especially those of Grandma Sheila.

Remarkably, Beth’s story goes back and forth, interweaving past and present, and I found myself deeply immersed. I met Linda, who wasn’t Beth’s relative but a wonderful woman running her business. Sad that Beth paid her a visit many years later, only to find her long gone. Some individuals had a lasting impact on Beth and departed when their time was up. Beth remembers them, sharing their stories here.

Though I didn’t get to meet Grandma Sheila, she’s very much alive in this memoir, being heard and seen through Beth. In the end, she explained why she didn’t label the tape that captured her at the beach with her daughter, Beth’s mother. She revealed her love for Nino.

I wanted to hear directly from Beth’s mother, and Beth granted me that wish in the end. In her own words, Beth’s mother recounted the DNA discovery’s impact on her, how she was coping, and her life moving forward.

Overall, Beth’s favourite song is “Autumn Leaves” by Frank Sinatra, and I bet memoir readers will want to listen to this song again, especially after reading this great memoir.