Hello Fellow Reader,

I find that once again my reading outstrips my book reviews. Not that I aspire to write about every book I read. There are things I read as just “palate cleansers” or what I have in the past called “popcorn” books. When things are going crazy around here, I just want to read something I will finish fast. Something quick and absorbing.

Like social media, this blog is a curated show of my reading. If you are wondering about the full picture, check out my Goodreads. I keep track of my full reading on there. I do that for two reasons. I like to see how many books I read in a year, and I sometimes need to go back and see if I have read a particular book.

Today’s book is not a palate cleanser. The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan has elements of a great beach read. The characters stick to you while you read the book and you can remember where you are in the story every time you pick it up.

Jane Flanagan is the lead character. Jane grew up on the coast of Maine. She is bright and as the book opens, she is invited to a summer program at Bates College. Despite her mother’s discouraging words she starts attending the program. She overhears one of the professors talking one day about how the program is to help disadvantaged students become the first in their families to go to college. While when she reflects on this statement, she finds it true, she is still bothered by it. After that day she does not return to the program, although she finishes all the program readings.

As a part-time job, Jane works for a boat tour company giving tours. During the course of giving the tours, she sees a derelict house up on a cliff. She finds her way over to the house and explores the land and part of the house. The house was left with everything in tact as it was many years before. There are clothes in the closets and paintings on the walls. This became Jane’s spot. She would go up to the house sit in the yard and read for the rest of the summer. One day her mother finds out that Jane has been going to the house and tells her to never go there again. Jane doesn’t understand or listen to her mother. She continues to go to the house until she goes to college and then forgets about it.

Jane did very well in school. She went to Wesleyan in Connecticut and then on to get a PhD at Yale. After several years, she was hired for her dream job at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard. Right before her 30^th birthday, she met David. Her boss had set them up and they fell in love.

Then we move to 10 years in the future. Jane has disgraced herself and is living in her mother’s house. Her mother died, and she is living there to clean out the house. She takes a trip to see “her” house and finds that someone has bought the house and has transformed it.

 Genevieve lives in Beacon Hill and is used to living a life of social achievement. She talked her husband into buying the house (and they had to jump through hoops to do that) and now she and her son are living in the newly refurbished house for the summer. She worked so hard to get the house the way she wanted it but things kept going wrong. A freshly painted wall would crack, a brown spot on a bedroom ceiling, and scratching sounds inside the walls. Was the house haunting her for some reason?

It seems that both Genevieve and Jane have secrets.

I enjoyed the book. There were enough twists and turns to keep me wanting to read more to find out what happens to the characters. The characters have real-world flaws that they have to work through during the story. I recommend this book. Put it on your summer TBR (To Be Read) pile and escape to a place of flawed characters that you aren’t related to.

I was given a copy of this book for my unbiased review. The book will be published on July 2, 2024.

Thanks for reading!