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.
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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.

The story begins with a teenage Jane who comes across a long abandoned home in her small town in Maine. She is immediately drawn to the house and all the items still left inside. The house quickly became a safe haven for Jane as she tries to imagine the lives of the people who have lived there.

Years later circumstances bring Jane, now an archivist, back home and she is once again drawn to the house and its history.

This novel has so many elements in it that I typically love. A story about a town that spans generations and a mystery involving a beautiful home on the cliffs of the town that may be haunted. The historical details were so fascinating. It was clear the author was very passionate about the subject and must have done extensive research. However, the story seemed to loose steam in the middle. With so much focus on the history of the town the book began to read like a textbook and I lost the threads of the mystery element. While I found the conclusion satisfying, I feel the story could have benefited from a tightening up of the plot and a slight reduction in the historical content. If you are a history buff this story will definitely be for you.

This book took me by surprise and the supernatural elements were refreshing and not too much. Sullivan weaves a tale through history within an enchanting setting.

This book is part history, part mystery, and part mystical-ghost story. It's very atmospheric, with the abandoned house, the cliffs, and Sullivan creates a strong sense of foreboding and unease. I didn't find the haunting and details about the family history as engaging, but others may enjoy this. I would recommend for readers who love historical fiction, a striking sense of place, and paranormal mysteries. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
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This book was compelling and especially the last third I was eager to read quickly. However, it really dragged in sections where it became more recitation of facts than storytelling, and the jumps in storyline were sometimes jarring. It's also very hard to stay with the unlikeable main character. It felt like there was a compelling story within this book, but it needed sharper editing and a bit more focus and it still could have tied together in a satisfying way. It felt like it only had one foot in historical fiction and while I'm glad I finished, it took some effort.

When I first read the description of the book, I wasn't that excited: a woman is sad that a beloved teenage hideaway/house was purchased by someone who changed it? So what? And then I started reading. It had been a minute since the last time I read a J Courtney Sullivan book, and this book reminded me of why I love her books so much. She draws the reader in and the reader becomes absolutely immersed in the world Sullivan has created. She writes real, flawed characters that have realistic redemption arcs, where everything isn't tied up neatly in a bow, but you can see that it might be. Sullivan meticulously researches her topics, so much so that you learn while you're deeply embroiled in a novel--the best of both worlds.

Jane escaped her small town and earned an illustrious job that she loved and married a man who was her soul mate. But then, after one night, everything exploded and she went back to her small town under the auspices of cleaning out her now-deceased mother's house but really because she had nowhere else to go. Jane returns to her best friend Allison, her sister Holly, and meets new town resident Genevieve (who bought the aformentioned teenage hideway/house). Through a chance opportunity to research the old house Jane was once obsessed with, she goes on a journey through the town's history and founding by white people. She learns of the origins of Shakers, meets Spiritualists, and dives deep into the Abenaki's seemingly untold story. Jane also unwittingly finds her way out of the rock bottom she finds herself in through the research and hometown she had tried so hard to leave behind.

While some may complain about the history of the book, I think it only enhanced it. We can read a hundred books about a woman trying to get out of rock bottom, but how many make us understand that the streets we walk on were not always ours? How many of them take us to a deeper understanding of our country's founding by whites? How often do you get to learn about a Native tribe in such colorful detail?
And I think one of the aspects of the Abenaki history woven into this book about white women in Maine is that it's done so well. How many people (women?) would pick up this book that's seemingly about a white woman who's angry about a house remodel and learn about the history of people they probably couldn't have named before? I love it. It's brilliant. And I hope that whether or not Sullivan meant to, it opens eyes that had previously been shut.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC of this book.

At the opening of The Cliffs, Jane is at the beginning of what feels like a promising adult life - about to go off to a prestigious college. Five years later, she is on what she hopes is a temporary leave from her job, her marriage, and her life. She has returned to her small hometown in Maine on the pretense of getting her recently passed mom's house ready for sale, but if she's honest with herself, she also has nowhere else to go. When the new owner of an old house Jane has always felt connected to asks for her help researching the history of the place, the novel becomes an exploration of the multi-layered history of Maine as well as an archival exploration of how Jane has ended up at this point in her own life.

I enjoyed many aspects of the book. I read it in Maine, and felt deeply connected to the place as a result of J. Courtney Sullivan's deeply personal connection to the state as well as the copious research she always does. I also admire that we met a large cast of characters and they all felt like real, flawed people.

However, the narrative often felt disconnected to me. It felt like Sullivan was so inspired by the research she did that she wanted to include all aspects of it (the history of Spiritualism! A local shipwreck story! The founding of the Shaker religion! The history of the local Native American Nations!) even when those aspects did not connect organically. I have seen others describe her writing style as lecturey, and while I didn't actually feel preached AT, I did often feel like she was in front of a classroom, presenting her findings in breathless wonder. It's beautiful to see that passion, but it didn't come together as a complete narrative for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to receive an Advanced Readers Copy!

J. Courtney Sullivan is becoming one of my favorite authors. (“Maine” and “Saints For All Occasions” were also great reads.) “The Cliffs” takes place in Maine and tells the stories of multiple generations of women and their impact on a local town. It’s got great historical information woven throughout the story, which I loved! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thanks to @netgalley for a free copy in exchange for honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for an early copy. This review is my personal opinion.
Mystery? Historical Fiction? History Lesson? I can’t quite decide.
Jane, as an adolescent, was drawn to a long abandoned house on a cliff. It was as if its inhabitants just walked away. Everything was left, clothes, dishes, everything. Twenty years later Jane returns home in disgrace to find the home drastically remodeled. The new owner is convinced the house is haunted and wants Jane to research its history. Here is where the book turns out to be a long drawn out history lesson with many characters. This is also where I began to lose interest. Heavy on past lives and the effects of alcoholism I was hoping for more from this book. Sadly, it was not. 3.5 stars.