I liked many parts of this book, but did not get along with the author's meandering style of writing. There are many subplots in this book and while not hard to keep separated, much of the book, reads reads like a textbook. Initially, this book really interested me and seemed like it was just my kind of read, but I struggled to finish this one.

Thank you to Net Galley and Knopf for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

There was a lot to like about this book about a woman coming to terms with her past while also exploring the history of a house haunted by a ghost in the small town in Maine where she grew up. However this book had too many tangential threads. If one or two of the threads had been deleted, it would have been a tighter, more enjoyable book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I have mixed feelings about this book. It is beautifully written and incredibly well-researched, but I think there were too many historical tangents. Some chapters felt almost like reading a textbook which really took me out of the story. I also felt like everything was tied up a bit too neatly at the end. Overall, Sullivan is a talented writer and I would recommend this to certain people who would appreciate the extensive historical research.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

This one is hard to describe. It started slowly and I almost gave up, but I am really glad I didn't. Once I got into it, it was hard to put down. It is the story of Jane Flanagan, or at least the story is told through her eyes. And sometimes those eyes are squinting and bloodshot, because Jane is one of a long line of alcoholic women in her family. But she only knows part of that story, too, although she THINKS she has it all figured out.

As the book begins, Jane is living in her dead mother's house, presumably cleaning it out so she and her sister can sell it. But the truth is, Jane is hiding out. One night, in a blackout drunk, she in destroyed her marriage, lost her job, and lost the respect of her colleagues and for herself. But she slowly starts looking around and finds there are a lot of stories worse than hers, and many of them seem to be connected to an abandoned house that she has admired and wanted since she was a teenager. As we hear of many of the stories centered on that house and the land it is built on, we, along with Jane, get a feeling of how much American history has simply been forgotten, or long buried.

The cliff on which the house stands was once the home of a tribe of indigenous people who lost it when the white people took it over. There was at least one other house there that was destroyed in an uprising against those whites, and the builder of the current house died within site of it when attempting to return home from a long voyage and having his ship destroyed in site of his house, with his wife and children watching. Others who have lived there have their own stories, and none of them seem to turn out happily, but can that change?

Jane's journey includes psychic mediums and charlatans, spirits and past lives, mothers, marriage, and the legacy of alcoholism, the disgraceful treatment the original settlers of this land received while it also shows some hope that there may be justice of a sort yet for them, and for all those that followed.

Going in I would not have classified this as historical fiction but having read it that is what comes to mind. I loved the story. Especially as I love history. So many themes are touched upon. The Shakers, indigenous people, mediums, ghosts, and alcoholism. The mystery and the different generations that had lived in the house was interesting. Really lovely story.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This book had a lot of interesting plot points for me, including an unfolding mystery, a Victorian house, a ghost, local indigenous history, and the coastal Maine setting. It also made me want to do a little more research into the history of the Shakers. Overall it was a great summer escape, without feeling too fluffy.

I have been a big fan of J. Courtney Sullivan's work and was so excited to see she had a new book coming out. I am so thankful to Knopf for sending an advanced copy along.

In this book, our main character Jane is working to uncover the history of a local house that she has always admired. Some of the stories she finds are not the best, but she is a historian seeking to uncover the story of this house.

I read more than half of this book, but I did not finish it. There were too many different storylines happening and I struggled to remain interested in the book. What I will say is that this is the third book I've read this year set in historical Maine and it continues to make me realize how uniformed I have been about the indigenous history of that area. While this book had quite a few interesting details regarding indigenous history and even shouted out my alma mater - UVA, I just struggled with the flow of the book, or the lack thereof. I just felt a bit lost in this book. 2.5 stars, rounded up because I love this author so much!

It started out great. An abandoned house, a little boy seeing a ghost, secrets, & house with history that has been forgotten. However, this story didn’t have the flow and felt like it was forcing information to the reader at times and completely ignoring the storyline for a history lesson.

This had all the makings of a great story. Sullivan clearly did a ton of research on the setting, historical institutions in the Northeast and the history of indigenous peoples in Maine and crafted some fascinating characters bound by a common place...but the story was missing the cohesive driver to put it all together.

“You have to hand it to men, they’ve managed to convince us that the things that make women powerful are weaknesses. Motherhood is the most radical act in the world.”

This book was a little…I don’t know…strange? Janes chapters were truly the only ones I really enjoyed and looked forward to. I wish the whole book was focused on her.

So much of this book could have been taken out. The chapters are LONG, just a bit disjointed, and often academic in nature. I was relived when I made it to the end if I’m being honest.

Thank you @PRHAudio for the complimentary audiobook and to Netgalley, @aaknopf, and the author for the free book!

This is Jane Flanagan’s story. She holds a PhD and works at Harvard. However, she harbors a secret: she is struggling with alcoholism. Jane faces the threat of losing both her job and her marriage when her secret is very publicly revealed.

I enjoyed Jane’s story, although at times, there were too many side stories which made it challenging to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the early read in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

This may be the perfect summer read! I couldn't put The Cliffs down! Every plot line was carefully crafted and woven into the wider story. Jane was a character I didn't always like, but I was rooting for her. There were historical elements that were interesting and made me go on a couple of internet deep-dives. I felt like I was there, in Maine, standing on the cliffs and in Jane's small town with her feeling claustrophobia. A great novel and perfect for summer reading!

Really enjoyed this one. Something about Sullivan's writing always pulls me in. Her characters always feel true and complex. Looking forward to selling this one.

I went back and forth on what I wanted to rate this, but in the end I had to rate it ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Was it a bad book? No, it actually was interesting and started out well! You know me and how much I love ghost stories!! 👻 Sadly, the ghost part of this story is very minor, so no major spookiness here, book peeps!

This book came across as the author was trying to incorporate too many stories into one: alcoholism, family drama, injustice towards Indigenous people, the Shakers, spiritualism and psychics, ghosts, you name it. And not only are they getting combined but it felt like these stories were being inserted all over the place! At times I felt like I was being given a history lesson. While it was interesting at first, it became boring fast. And some characters I’m still not sure what their purpose was, as they really didn’t add much to the story. 🤔 And the bane of my existence - long chapters! One was an hour long. 🫣

But what really upset me is the ending. With a story that focused quite a bit of time on stories of injustice, the author commits one by not resolving the injustice done by a character’s mishandling of their land. Not going to say more as I don’t like to give spoilers. 🙊 But this really upset me that this was not resolved in the end, and no other characters seemed to care. Almost in a way, the character was celebrated. 😡

Would I recommend this to others? Yes, because not every book is for everyone! ❤️ And I did enjoy parts of this book - that’s why I wavered on my rating! I wanted to rate it higher, but I just couldn’t.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

Sinking into the sixth J. Courtney Sullivan novel feels like returning to an old friend. I was so excited to escape into this novel and share it with you, as we had recently discussed Saints for All Occasions for book club. Inspired by the author's visit to Maine, she fell in love with an old farmhouse and its family plot, imagining what living among graves and ghosts might mean for a homeowner. In this story, readers trace a fictional home's rich history in a character-driven ghostly tale written for skeptics.

Despite all odds, growing up in a troubled home with an alcoholic mother and food insecurity, Jane crafted a new life thanks to a school program for at-risk children where teachers flagged her as deserving of an education. In pursuit of her fresh start, she eventually lands a dream position as an archivist for the Schillinger Library, researching women's history in America.

But, ten years later, everything fell apart. Jane's addiction to alcohol leads to dismissal from her job, and her marriage is now on shaky ground. Adding to her troubles, her mother passes away from lung cancer, and she's in charge of the daunting task of going through her mother's resale items and hoarded belongings to sell her property.

She doesn't know that this return will also launch her into a haunting new research project that could change Jane's trajectory. A shallow, wealthy woman recently renovated a historic home in town that was Jane's reading refuge when she needed to escape her troubled home environment as a high school kid. The new owner spared no expense in remodeling this historic property to her modern taste, even removing a family cemetery to make way for her dream pool.

So, it's not entirely surprising when her son begins to see a ghost visiting him at night. As these strange events alter the owner's sense of safety, she wants a full investigation into the home's history. When she discovers Jane's background, she asks her to investigate the home's winding backstory on the property and who might be disturbed by this family's disruptive presence.

For Jane, it's undoubtedly a welcome two-week research distraction with a sum rivaling a month at her previous job. This new assignment will lead her to places the reader will never expect in this page-turning story through the changing of hands as the keys to this home are passed down, including an unexpected visit by a Medium offering clues to help unravel this sweeping saga.

It's hard not to compare The Cliffs to The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois as they both excavate the history of stolen land, in this case, the rich history of the Shakers & Indigenous community. There were some initial pacing hurdles as Sullivan eagerly offered hour-long chapters on this history that rivaled a college lecture. But, at the halfway point, I found the story markedly hit its stride, weaving in a captivating history as this property changed hands and saw the women exploring elements of the Spiritualist movement.

More importantly, it offered a well-told story of alcohol addiction in a family that showcases recovery's slippery slope. I enjoyed Sullivan's take on family dynamics in this story, which is familiar territory from her past books. Keep it in mind for your spooky season book stack, as it's a surprisingly satisfying ghost story with great historic layers.

Endearing story of Jane who finds escape at an abandoned Victorian house on a cliff. She grows up and moves on but returns years later after getting fired from her job and losing her husband. She finds the cliff house completely changed.

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan is an interesting story about Jane. It blends history and personal struggles told over time.

The Cliffs is a slower novel. I enjoy history and the Cliffs provided that with many details. I really enjoyed the atmospheric setting of this remote house on the coast of Maine and all that passed through the house.

This was my first novel by J. Courtney Sullivan and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

From the book’s description I was expecting a ghost story. There’s a lot going on in this book, almost too much. The chapters jump back and forth. Some were more interesting than others, some were too long and drawn out. Some of the history in the book was interesting.

The Cliffs by J Courtney Sullivan is set in Maine on the seaside cliffs.

The story focuses on an abandoned house (a premise I love!) and the women that have lived in the home. I found the descriptions of the house to be interesting. For instance, how could there be marbles on the floor and clothes still left in the closets? What happened here to make the owner move so abruptly?

As the novel progresses, it dives deep into the history of indigenous people.

This book has long chapters and many different points of view. These are things that at times, I struggle with as a reader.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

Jane, a Harvard archivist, finds herself back in Maine after a major blunder. Hired to research the history of a Victorian house, she delves into the lives of the women who once resided there. The narrative unfolds with tales of lost love, heart-wrenching grief, and the enduring legacy of colonialism in Maine's history.

J. Courtney Sullivan's latest novel, The Cliffs, caught my attention with its promise of a captivating story. Initially hesitant, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and complexity of Jane's journey as she confronts personal and professional obstacles. Set against the backdrop of a coastal Maine town, the narrative intricately weaves together past and present, introducing a diverse cast of characters including a ghost, widows, and a Shaker. Sullivan's storytelling skill shines as she masterfully connects the threads of each character's story, offering insights into the lives of early settlers and the dynamics of women's relationships.

I love J. Courtney Sullivan but did not really enjoy this book. I liked the writing style, but there was just a bit too much going on and it felt disjointed. It was hard to get sucked into because of the number of subplots.

3.5/5