Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this gothic and thoroughly enjoyable read. i loved Sarai Walker’s first book and was very excited to get to read this new one. I've never read anything similar to this and love how unique and different it is. In the best possible way. This author will definitely be an auto buy in future for me!

blurbed as a ‘gothic ghost story with a fiery feminist zeal,’ this book takes that description and runs with it, while adding some serious sarah winchester* vibes into the mix. this isn’t a horror novel, but it’s tense and dark in a way that draws you in slowly and then goes right for your throat.



*sarah winchester was the lady from the late 1800s/early 1900s who built that whacky mansion out in california because she was certain that the ghosts of everyone who’d been killed by a winchester rifle were out to get her.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it took me a while to get into it but once I was in I was completely hooked. I really enjoyed the style of writing.

The Cherry Robbers follows Sylvia Wren, an elusive artist residing in New Mexico, who recounts her mesmerising and mysterious days as the young Iris Chapel following a series of letters sent by a nosy, investigative journalist.

Foreshadowing is this book's friend, and I found it satisfying (and mortified) that such clues lead the story down dark paths. ​

Thanks to Netgalley and HMH/Mariner Books for providing me the e-arc.

3 stars It started really good, but the story just didn’t hold my attention. There was no relationship between iris and her sisters or parents. And no relationship between Sylvia and Lola, I felt Lola was more a business partner than her actual partner. I just felt it was lacking in the relationship department throughout the book. It was a DNF for me.

With marriage seeming to spell doom for the women of the Chapel family, there may be one lone survivor of it all but there will be a cost in Sarai Walker’s The Cherry Robbers.

The Chapel family produced six daughters, all heiresses to the firearm fortune, who lived in a Victorian home nicknamed the wedding cake. With a distant father focused on business matters and no apparent emotional connections and an aloof mother sensitive to the emotions and world around her, the girls primarily looked after themselves and most of them viewed marriage as a way out of their strange lives. Iris, the second youngest of the daughters was the only one to take their mother’s warning of impending doom seriously when the eldest daughter, Aster, was about to get married; after Aster’s mysterious death, Iris’s outlook on marriage and men was forever marred, and solidified further when death was tragically taking the sisters out one by one. Eventually, Iris escaped from this cursed life and became a well-known, reclusive artist, under the name of Sylvia Wren, but her tragic past as Iris comes back to haunt her when a journalist reaches out, hell-bent on chasing the story, and mystery, of Iris Chapel and her sisters.

With a well-crafted and eerie atmosphere drawing readers in and female characters who are fully realized, this novel captures your attention with relative ease and creates a palpable tension to maintain your interest in learning about the more intricate details of the tragic fate befalling the Chapel girls. The gothic ghost story aspect of the novel was present, and there were true moments of horror (particularly for contemporary readers) and questions raised regarding what was real, but didn’t feel like the focus as it paled in comparison with the extensive exploration of femininity, sexuality, feminism, and grief, which all played a major role in crafting Iris’s identity. Though I wasn’t sold on how the story was being framed when presented at the start, by the end when it was wrapping (most) everything up the narrative’s framing wound up being satisfying enough and demonstrated that knowing what’s to come and knowing the details that went in to creating that outcome are rather different things; the Chapel story and the Wren story, though interconnected could easily be separated and developed with both remaining nearly equally interesting.

Overall, I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow.

Sarai Walker already wrote Dietland (a book I’m now eager to read), but she somehow escaped my radar until June, when I requested The Cherry Robbers on Netgalley. Goodreads listed it as gothic horror, which is something I can’t resist: someone drops gothic horror in my close proximity = I jump. Or, I request it. Knee-jerk reaction at its best.

At any rate, I’m so glad I’m wired this way, because The Cherry Robbers is wow. Delightful.

**


The highly anticipated second novel from Sarai Walker, following her “slyly subversive” (EW) cult-hit Dietland—a feminist gothic about the lone survivor of a cursed family of sisters, whose time may finally be up.

New Mexico, 2017: Sylvia Wren is one of the most important American artists of the past century. Known as a recluse, she avoids all public appearances. There’s a reason: she’s living under an assumed identity, having outrun a tragic past. But when a hungry journalist starts chasing her story, she’s confronted with whom she once was: Iris Chapel.

Connecticut, 1950: Iris Chapel is the second youngest of six sisters, all heiresses to a firearms fortune. They’ve grown up cloistered in a palatial Victorian house, mostly neglected by their distant father and troubled mother, who believes that their house is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons. The girls long to escape, and for most of them, the only way out is marriage. But not long after the first Chapel sister walks down the aisle, she dies of mysterious causes, a tragedy that repeats with the second, leaving the rest to navigate the wreckage, to heart-wrenching consequences.

Ultimately, Iris flees the devastation of her family, and so begins the story of Sylvia Wren. But can she outrun the family curse forever?

400 pages
Historical, gothic
Mariner Books
Goodreads

**

Cover: Pretty but scary? Pretty and scary? Ominous with ribbons? I don’t know but I like it.

Yay!

- The Cherry Robbers is the story of Sylvia Wren, a world-famous artist. Or maybe it’s the story of Iris Chapel, the fifth of the six Chapel sisters, heiresses and all doomed from birth. The two tales, set on different timelines, entwine in the diaries Sylvia decides to write, unhearting secrets that have been kept under wraps for decades.

- My favorite character is Sylvia, because while the transformation she undergoes is tragic and life-altering, she emerges as a better person. I’m not sure how she manages to do so, where she’s drawing her strength from (Lola would be the obvious answer, but not quite right); the thing is, she’s an inspiration. It’s not easy to achieve that with a fictional character.

- The story is engaging to the max, and Walker’s style is direct, clean. Forget useless descriptions, forget digressions: everything is relevant to the plot. I’ve got half a mind to start a Walker fanclub, because this, this, is how you write a good novel. Also, I just love the concept behind it.
Walker’s prose is sublime, as I was saying. The Cherry Robbers is written in first person, a style that’s hard to master for many authors; as a general rule, I prefer to steer clear of it for the most part, because I don’t have the patience to dive through endless strings of I&action. Here? None of that happens. Impeccable writing, spotless flow.

- The ending is so good. Detailed yet spoiler-free reviews are a point of pride for me, so I’m not going to divulge any detail. Find out what happens, dear fellow readers, because you won’t be disappointed. Maybe a little bit sad, maybe surprised, but not disappointed.

Nay!

- Uh. Nothing. This picky reader is 100% satisfied.

TL;DR
5 stars on GR, and my opening line bears repeating: wow.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel.
Spoilers ahead...
I found this one to be bleak without any lightness to balance the depressing tone.
The past life of Iris/Sylvia is a life of few pleasures and much fear. Though she seems to love her sisters, I never felt the connection between them. The excessive foreshadowing of their deaths caused me to become impatient for them to die just so the story could move forward. The feminist and LGBTQ theme is slowly revealed and most (maybe all?) of the undeveloped male characters are portrayed as selfish, clueless, and cruel.
Contrary to other reviewers, I found Sylvia's story to be more interesting and wish it had been explored more thoroughly. Instead, it's literally a 'dead end'. Sigh.
One interesting aspect of the story was the author's note about various catalysts for the story - especially the art of Georgia O'Keefe.

I am really grateful to the publishers at Mariner for allowing me access to an advance copy of the book in exchange for this review.

This novel by Sarai Walker was beautifully written and I loved the narrative voice. The descriptions and scene setting was so vivid that I could almost picture myself surrounded by the beautiful colours of New Mexico. I found this book difficult to put down and the mystery of the tragic Chapel sisters really drew me in.

The twin settings of modern day New Mexico and 1950’s Connecticut both felt so realised within the space of the book and I loved the dive into the twists and turns before we were ultimately connected and back in the present.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book as I absolutely loved it.

I loved Sarai Walker’s first book and was very excited to get to read this new one. This was a unique book, different than I anticipated, but enjoyable.

The Cherry Robbers takes the form of confessional memoir as the protagonist, world renowned painter Sylvia Wren, writes her childhood story prompted by a tenacious journalist digging into her past.

In 1950 Wren went by the name of Iris Chapel and was one of six daughters of a wealthy firearms magnate. Their father is rarely around and their mother, troubled by haunting visions and premonitions is convinced that the family is cursed. When the eldest daughter dies abruptly after her wedding night, the mother falls into greater despair and is eventually sent away to a psychiatric facility. As time goes on, it would appear that her visions may hold merit as tragedy befalls every Chapel child. In present day, Sylvia, who fled the devastation of her family, is now an old woman. Has her past finally caught up with her?

I really enjoyed this dark and melancholy tale. Walker writes in beautiful and luminous prose and is able to capture the eerie atmosphere of a family home that is repeatedly devastated by tragedy. I have read reviews that liken this to a Shirley Jacksonesque horror and while I can certainly see some similarities, I wasn't unnerved in the same way as I was with some of Jackson's more sinister tales. So here I think readers expecting an unsettling tale full of twists and suspense will be disappointed.

The Cherry Robbers strength is in its coming-of-age tale of a young girl and woman who doesn’t fit the mold of societal expectations. It is her road to self-discovery in terms of creativity, sexuality and personal freedoms that is most engaging. Walker has captured female subjugation beautifully, although perhaps at times it is a little on the nose.

The Cherry Robbers is at times a slow burn, but if you (like me) enjoy historical fiction, the razzle dazzle of high society in the fifties and tales of sisterhood then I definitely recommend you to add this one to your tbr.

This was an interesting book. I enjoyed the writing style, poetic and engaging. We started out present day with artist Sylvia Wren in New Mexico then go back in time to her childhood. She grew up in Connecticut, one of six sisters to a wealthy father who manufactured guns and a mentally ill mother.

The opening with Sylvia made you want to know more and then finding out about the family was told in an interesting way. I felt like I really came to know Iris and sympathized with her. The ending was nice in that it tied up loose ends.

There were a few places that seemed to drag a bit to me, that I felt could have been edited out since it is over 400 pages. But that was a minor issue and story was still very compelling.

I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Sylvia Wren is a reclusive artist, famous for feminist painting of flowers that look suspiciously like female genitalia. She lives in New Mexico with her partner of 60 years, Lola, and doesn’t leave unless she absolutely must. She is a figure of curiosity, but no one could suspect how much she is truly hiding until a journalist accidentally reveals a name that Sylvia thought she had left behind decades ago: Iris Chapel, daughter to the owner of Chapel guns.

While Sylvia is scared, she tries to push the letter out of her mind. But the journalist refuses to let it drop, sending letter after letter asking for an interview. Sylvia decides to take matters into her own hands and begins to write down the first twenty years of her life in a series of diaries that will become the story readers experience.

TW:
Attempted suicide (hanging) by a pregnant woman
Mother’s mother, grandma, and great-grandma all die in childbirth
Disturbing scenes of death
Death of family members
Grief and scenes of severe grieving
Scene of a child (4) trying to cut her ears off with gardening shears
Mother put on meds that cause for grief that cause her to become lucid for only short periods of
time
Ghosts of gun victims
Conversations of gun victims and gun violence
Bloody death
Scene of self harm
Underaged drinking and driving
Drowning, questionably a suicide
Discussion of marital rape(?)
Unwanted sexual touching by police officer
Mother and daughter incarcerated in mental hospital by men
Sexism
gaslighting

I would like to start by saying that no synopsis can do justice to the emotional intensity this book evokes. The relationship of the sisters to each other and the devastation when they die one by one is something I cannot accurately communicate. I had to leave so much out to focus on the main points of this book, but there is a lot to this story, and it does get very dark for quite some time.

I didn’t want to make it a trigger warning because I don’t know if it’s warranted, but Daphne’s sexual encounter does get descriptive. It’s on location 2499 if you want to check it out for yourself. I wouldn’t necessarily make such a point about sexual encounters, but it is between two 16 year olds, so I wanted to make you aware of it.

There are a lot of explorations of sexuality in this book. At one point Iris finds a painting by Daphne labelled the white iris, which is definitely Veronica’s vagina made to look like a flower. This is how, unless stated otherwise, all the flowers painted in this book are meant to be. The author has stated that she took inspiration from Georgia O’Keefe, quite obviously. I put the more important paintings on the gift list, but it seemed repetitive after a while, so I left some off. Also, there is a scene where Iris, wanting to imitate the white iris painting but having no woman’s body but her own, sketches her own vagina. There are also feelings of shame at female masturbation and feelings of attraction towards women.

Gothic Ghost stories aren't a genre I would normally look at, but the outline of the story got my attention and I was drawn to read it. Having never read Sarai Walker before I had no idea what to expect.

Thank you to Netgalley for affording me the opportunity to read this outstanding book.

From the outset I was gripped and grabbed any moment in the day to continue reading the compelling lives of the Chapel sisters.

Sarai's writing made me feel as though I was "just outside the frame" but still very much part of their story, laughing with them in the wedding cake house, enjoying the lavish lifestyle their father's business afforded them, even visualizing their beautiful dresses was easy from the wondrous descriptions Sarai's pen had scribed across the pages. Not for a single moment did I think their mother was crazy but instead wishing they would list to her. I felt like I moaned the loss of each one and hoping against hope that somehow each sister didn't die. I was so invested in the story that I really wanted Calla, Rosalind, Aster, Daphne and Zelie to come back for Iris and right up until the last line I hoped they would.

I loved Dietland, but this is decidedly not that... but just as wonderful, in a wholly different way. THE CHERRY ROBBERS is a rich, atmospheric novel with fascinating heart and a framing device that doesn't feel entirely necessary. Walker beautifully draws us into the world of the Chapel family with pathos and spookiness in equal levels. I probably could have kept reading about the sisters for another couple of hundred pages. An absolute pleasure, highly recommended.

This is easily my favorite book I've read all year. I was seriously looking forward to bed every night because it would mean a few hours of uninterrupted time with the Chapel sisters. And in my waking hours I daydreamed about them. Their world was so vividly drawn and the character developments felt natural but still built a pit in my stomach. I am so excited to recommend this book to my community.

Six sisters, five die mysteriously, one runs a away and starts a new life with a new identity. Sixty years later the surviving sister, Sylvia, has lived as a monumentally successful artist. Sylvia receives a letter from a reporter who has figured out her true identity. Sylvia begins to tell the story of her sisters deaths and her mother’s haunting.
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The book is a real page-turner. I couldn’t get through it fast enough. It’s described as a “feminist gothic ghost story”. It’s not super scary but you will be gripping this book with both hands and wide eyes.
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Thanks @netgalley and @marinerbooks for an advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it! It will be released 2/1/22.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Renowned artist Sylvia Wren has a secret. The reclusive artist built a new life for herself at the age of 20 to escape a tragic past. What happens when the past finally catches up though?

Belinda Chapel is a woman who was not built for marriage and six daughters, especially when that marriage is to the magnate of Chapel Firearms. Belinda believes the family home to be haunted by the victims of the firearms sold by her husband's family, and as her daughters grow older, she fears that this curse will cost her her children. Aster, Rosalind, Calla, Daphne, Iris and Hazel all see their mother as somewhat eccentric and a tad crazy, ignoring her for the most part. That is, at least, until Aster's upcoming wedding. Iris begins to believe her mother's warnings that something awful will happen to Aster if she marries. When her mother's premonition comes true, the family is fractured, only to be crushed further when daughter Rosalind dies under similar circumstances

I loved this book. It's dark and ominous, weighted heavily in guilt and grief. The characters are so well described that the reader can see them clearly. The personalities are distinct and fleshed out well. I found myself pulled deeper into the narrative as the story continued,. This is Iris's story of how she escaped her family's tragic legacy. If you are looking for a book that is deep, meaningful, and just slightly creepy and dark, this is the novel for you.

I must admit while this book has flaws, like the obvious influences, I couldn’t put this book down. Reading this, I knew the story of the woman the author was inspired by, but that didn’t stop my utter enjoyment and intrigue with this title. The sisters stories are heartbreaking, and shocking. And the authors ability to weave in modern feminist thought was welcomed by this reader. Read this novel!

What a thrilling tale! Walker keeps you on your toes. You think you have an idea of what is going to happen next and she makes it happen in a completely different way than you imagined. A bit bizarre, but I thoroughly enjoyed this story from start to finish.