As always, Ms. Sullivan did not disappoint! I have been a fan of her since reading Commencement so getting the opportunity to read and review this ARC was a true honor. This book does deal with some heavy/sensitive topics including alcoholism, grief, and depression, so if those are triggering to you, please be aware. This book follows Jane dealing with not only the grief of losing her mother, but also the fallout from an event that may cause the loss of her marriage and her job. She returns home to a coastal village in Maine where she begins to pack up her mother's home and unpack her relationship with grief and alcohol. While there she comes across Genevive who hires Jane, and archivist, to help her delve into the history of a historical home that she has bought in the village. Jane uncovers the rich and often unsettling history of the indigenous people that once inhabited the land in much of Maine. We also get a glimpse of some of the history of the Shakers who also are a part of Maine's history. The author includes real life details and facts about these people into the story that really make an impact, especially if you reside in the New England Area. I appreciated the references she gave and look forward to diving more into this topic.

There was a lot to unpack in this book, but J. Courtney Sullivan does it masterfully as she has done with all her previous works. The only place where I will nitpick a little is with the ending. I wish we got to spend a little more time tying up the loose ends with Jane, but otherwise a brilliant novel that I can't wait to get a physical copy of and reread.

Pros: really interesting indigenous history! The main character redeemed herself at the end. I liked using the medium as a central role in telling the story

Cons: it felt like 2-3 different stories that tried to be blended together - somewhat successfully. It was not a quick and fascinating read for me, but did pick up towards the end, although I couldn’t tell you how all the characters fared.

3 stars/C

'If only these walls could talk'. Well they nearly do in 'The Cliffs', the latest from J. Courtney Sullivan. Our main character, Jane, grows up in Maine and has a particular fondness for the purple Victorian on the cliffs that she and her friend used to play in as kids. It was abandoned at the time, but there were still remnants of its prior residents-clothes, toys, and other artifacts.Jane grows up and leaves for Boston, where she pursues her dream of becoming a researcher at Harvard on women's rights. 20 years later, divorced and unemployed, she returns to her hometown and finds the house has been completely renovated and is not occupied by a wealthy Bostonian family. She befriends the owner, Genieve, and ends up getting hired when the family's son begins seeing ghosts. As an archivist, Jane digs into all the history of the house going back at least 50 years. What she finds is stories of women. Women persevering, women failing, women dying, women thriving, whole lives embodied in the house that gives her research on women's rights a whole new meaning. She ends up working out some of her own issues by doing this research on the house, her relationship with her mother, and their alcoholism. This has great character development, and is very well written. It does drag in spots so might benefit from some strong editing. If you love history, and old houses, you'll really enjoy this!

The Cliffs by J Courtney Sullivan is a novel made of many stories. The main story of the character is Jane. She has been balancing her life and needs throughout the story. She is determined not to be her mother and to be part of a person who helps share stories from the past. The story is told in various female voices (including Jane’s) that highlights love, loss and motherhood.

There are at least 3 other stories involved including the story of Hannah, the captain’s wife, and Eliza, the ex Shaker. I enjoyed the stories that highlight the history of the house, but I felt that each one of the stories could be a standalone story. By tying them all together, I feel each story was then more of a lecture about the past than a story of the past. I really wanted to hear more about the Shakers or the original indigenous people than the story of Jane.

Jane was not a likable main character and Genieve was not a likable secondary character. I felt that both characters drained the book for me. I slogged through their stories wanting to get to reading about the more interesting characters. While the novel ended in a positive manner, I didn’t embrace the story as a whole and felt disappointed in the novel.

Having said all that, I read the book for the entirety of the story. I did not like all the parts of the book, but neither did I stop reading it. The Cliffs by J Coutney Sullivan was interesting, challenging, irritating and fascinating - all rolled into one book.

I have enjoyed several of J. Courtney Sullivan's books, and her latest one, "The Cliffs," sounded like a winner from the description. When I first started it, I thought it was going to have a similar plotline to "North Woods," because both books feature a house -- a character in itself -- and the various occupants of the house over several centuries. But while "North Woods" seemed to deal more with ecology, "The Cliffs" captured my attention because of the human characters and the fascinating history Sullivan details.

Teen-age Jane, the story's primary character, stumbles upon a ramshackle purple Victorian house perched on one of the famous cliffs in coastal Maine. Jane is entranced by the unoccupied property, and it becomes her refuge from her alcoholic, emotionally abusive mother. She and her best friend, Allison, break into the house and are surprised to find clothes in the closets, marbles all over the floor, and a total state of disarray. After moving away, going to college, getting her dream job as a women's archivist and researcher at Harvard and marrying a wonderful man, she returns to her hometown 20 years later a broken mess -- a work catastrophe and the crumbling of her perfect marriage threaten her long sought-after happiness on top of dealing with cleaning out her childhood home after her mother's death. She re-visits the house on the cliff, and is appalled that a wealthy Bostonian couple has bought it as a summer retreat, but they have totally white-washed it to make it a magazine-worthy showpiece.

The home's current owner, Genevieve, who has her own personal issues, hires Jane to research the history of the house -- her motives aren't quite clear, but the fact that her young son has seen a ghost is obviously one reason. Jane needs money and a new sense of purpose, and becomes quite involved in finding answers.

The novel is long and touches on a lot of themes -- mysticism, ghosts, alcoholism, family conflicts, infidelity, friendships, and of course, history. I really enjoyed learning about the Native Americans who were subjugated to terrible violence from the "invading" Colonists, the peace-loving Shakers, along with other interesting subjects, such as the pilfering and sale of Indigenous artifacts, home restoration and mysticism. The book goes back and forth in history, and this can make for some challenges keeping up with all the characters and various storylines. I still thoroughly enjoyed the novel and highly recommend.

J. Courtney Sullivan has been one of my top authors for some time now. Commencement is one of my favorite books. Whenever she has a new title, I’m eager to read. The Cliffs is told in typical Sullivan fashion with several story lines intertwined. This book followed several narratives, but I enjoyed delving deep into each character.
There was quite a bit of history involved, which also made for a more a more interesting read. It was a long read , and at times moved slowly, but Sullivan’s writing and ability to connect varying characters kept me engaged. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

Just a really wonderful, rich story, full of compassion and heart. I will definitely be recommending the Cliffs.

I have read and loved a couple of J. Courtney Sullivan's books in the past, so I was especially looking forward to reading THE CLIFFS! I can be picky about historical fiction, and am not usually a huge fan of ghost stories/horror type of books, but I still really liked this one.. I especially enjoyed following Jane's journey—she was such a complex, fascinating character, and I was engaged in her story from start to finish. I thought the historical aspect of the story was also so well-done, extensively researched, and fascinating to read about! Sullivan evokes such a strong sense of place throughout, too—she does a fantastic job of developing the setting and immersing readers in this small Maine town. Other reviewers have described the story as a sort of short story collection within a larger novel, which I overall agree with, and thought that narrative style was a real strength of the book. Each different facet of the story is important, and all of the different elements gradually connect to each other throughout. That also shows that it has something for everyone—whether you're a history buff, more drawn to a twisty mystery, or love a character-driven read, you'll certainly find something to enjoy in THE CLIFFS this summer! Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

You know that amazing feeling you get after reading a couple of pages of a new book and knowing right away that this will be a book you’ll love. That’s the feeling I got when starting The Cliffs and it lasted all through the book.
I loved Jane’s story. All the hardships and flaws as well as the great friendships and love. Interweaved with her story is the history of a place and the women who lived there. I learned a lot and will think about this book for a long time.

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan is an historical novel about a house and the land it sits on told through multiple timelines. In the present, an archivist returns to her hometown in Maine and is asked to research the house. Her research takes us back in time to the inhabitants of the home, and the land through the years. The house on the cliffs overlooking the ocean reveals the love and loss of the families who lived there.
Beautifully told and immersive, The Cliffs is perfect for fans of historical fiction. Thank you so much for allowing me to read this advance copy of The Cliffs.

20 years ago Jane became intrigued with an old house on a cliff in Maine. She plays in it and turns it into a refuge.
Now she has returned to find the house rebuilt by a woman named Genevieve. Genevieve believes that the house is haunted and she hires Jane to figure out the mystery behind the house.
Jane is a Harvard archivist who has made a major mistake in her life so this becomes a welcome diversion. As she explores she discovers a long history of women going back to colonial times. Stolen artifacts and deaths at sea are just a few of the stories to emerge.
This becomes a story of women's endurance dating back centuries.
The land is described in lush detail and the search to discover if and why the house might be haunted is an engrossing story that I recommend.

My wife read it and absolutely loved it. She gave it 15 stars. I told her she had to send me a review of the books and she did but I think it fails to capture how much she loved the book. She kept reading parts to me and relaying odd bits of Maine history.
Her review:

The Cliffs by J Courtney Sullivan is beautiful, complex story that explores themes of grief and motherhood over the course of several centuries. What starts as a ghost story and a narrator dealing with alcoholism turns into a multilayered exploration into the many cultures and people whom have occupied Maine. Told from many different points of view, Sullivan delves into the lives of those indigenous to Maine touching on a variety of issues and leading surprising connections.

Wow, this book covered a lot of topics - alcoholism, the mistreatment of Indigenous people, the lack of women's stories in history, ghosts....

I'll admit I wasn't sure about this book for the first 50% and I really almost lost total interest during Eliza's story, but I'm glad I stuck with it because all in all I really enjoyed it. Some reviews have mentioned feeling lectured, but I didn't feel that way. I just sometimes felt there were a few too many stories. There were a few great characters and storylines where I would have loved to learn more, but it wasn't really possible because the sheer number of stories/characters included.

I did really enjoy the story though and it would be fun to revisit this town in a follow-up book!

This historical fiction is set in Maine and deals a great deal with the previous owners of a house set on the Cliffs high above the Maine Shore. Jane grew up here and later moved off to begin her life. She returns when her mother dies and she has to sell the house and clear out family things. She becomes engrossed with the history of the early Indian tribes, the Shakers and early settlers and learns of the ghosts that inhabit the house. This book is highly researched and sometimes I felt that I was in a lecture hall at college. I love history so that is not a bad thing but the books goes into a lot of depth that is sometimes hard to stay with. There are a lot of family dynamics with alcoholism and marriage failures as well as dysfunctional families and so many characters it is so in this story It is somewhat overwhelming but overall I enjoyed the book and learned a great deal about the mistreatments of the local tribes in those early days of settling that part of our country. This is my introduction to this author and I hope to read others by her in the future. This is truly a book of “If only these walls could talk.”

I wish to thank NetGalley and Knopf Parthenon, Vintage and Anchor / Knopf Publishers for allowing me to read a copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan was fantastic! This particular book mentioned ghosts which would ordinarily cause me to look for something else but being familiar with the author I decided to give it a chance and as it turned out that aspect was more of a side element to the story. The main story is of Jane Flanagan who grew up in a small town in Maine but left for college and never returned. Now, “twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage” and in the author’s skillful hands this was a riveting read from beginning to end. J. Courtney Sullivan writes tremendous fiction about people, family, dynamics etc. her characters are so well developed you feel you know and understand then. That’s an amazing gift. If you’ve never read anything by the author prepare to be wowed and if you have this is one more to add to the TBR pile. If you’re a New Englander these may feel a bit extra special.
#TheCliffs #NetGalley

I very much enjoyed this novel. J. Courntney Sullivan pulls so many themes into the story. The main character, Jane, returns home to her home town after a fall from grace. She is drawn back to house that entranced her as a teenager. She is pulled into the history of the house while trying to work through her personal problems. The uncovering both the history and her issues makes for a fascinating story. If you enjoy ghost stories, mysteries, Native American history and women studies - you will enjoy this novel. I can see myself recommending this novel a lot this summer.

I felt like this was more of a collection of short stories rather than a full novel. It was all tied together by thin threads here and there. I enjoyed the premise, the background, the research and effort, and the storytelling. Would recommend

This was an interesting read for me. I enjoyed the way it intersected fiction with history to remind us that stories being passed down are important. Overall, the book felt a little choppy to me. Several different stories are being told at once, which is fine, but they weren't always blended well, which led to a kind of chopped up read, which then in turn left me a little confused overall about how things fit together. I wish there had been a little more depth to the ghost portion of the novel. I enjoy a good ghost story, but this aspect seemed more like it was thrown in as kind of a flashy thought than a well thought out plot line.

I really did enjoy this book overall and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a little side of history with their fiction reading.

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan is an atmospheric novel which draws you into the history of an area in Maine from the native people through colonization, the Shakers, to modern times. The main character Jane is a cautionary tale of the problems of familial addiction and broke my heart. I loved everything about this novel in spite of the fact that it dragged a bit in the middle. That just gave me a bit more time to savor the anticipation of the ending. I wasn't disappointed! Thank you to the author publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

J. Courtney Sullivan wrote another interesting and compelling novel that kept me hooked from start to finish. The book tells the story of one house through it's many owners, allowing you to be transported into the past. Sullivan examines how our past experiences shape who we are today and speaks directly to land rights and the importance of origin.