Member Review

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read J. Courtney Sullivan's amazing new book "The Cliffs". I've been a big fan of this author since her first book, and this book did not disappoint. Set in Maine, a place where Sullivan has set other books, the layered and nuanced novel examines family, motherhood, history, genocide, repatriation, 'othering' and inclusion. The book is centered on Jane, a woman who returns to her hometown in Maine to clean out her mother's house and deal with an event that threatens to upend her current life in Cambridge. It also centers on a house where Jane used to hang out as a teen, where the current owner has to deal with an event that also threatens to upend her life. It's a ghost story with an open-hearted view of ghosts, a mystery involving supernatural spirits told from a critical perspective, a compassionate and well researched investigation of atrocities perpetuated on the native americans by settlers and how trauma can be passed down through generations, and a family story showing how the strength of family love can overcome (almost) anything. Only someone as skilled as Sullivan could pull these all together, and I could not put this book down.