Based on some of the reviews, I was hesitant to read J. Courtney Sullivan’s “The Cliffs.” I’m glad I didn’t listen to the naysayers because I enjoyed this book. However, I found the description to be slightly misleading.

This is a difficult book for me to review. The book does involve the Victorian house and Jane Flanagan’s connection to it as both a teenager and then as an adult. The house’s presence, though, is used by the author as more of a plot device rather than showcasing it as its own character.

This book had several different narrators. It also goes back-and-forth at times between present day and past decades, even centuries. I enjoyed reading about the modern day efforts related to colonialism, as well as Jane’s educational and professional knowledge as an archivist.

Overall, I recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

I loved this novel so beautifully that I was bereft when I reached the last page. Sullivan weaves history and story together beautifully and manages to be on the right side of history without being polemical or lecturing. Kudos.

The Cliffs is a book with lots of feminist history. It was very slow for me, and I almost gave up reading it. I did end up finishing it, however it took me weeks. It probably wasn’t the right time in my life to read this one. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Sullivan’s writing and I am glad I read this book, but it was an incredibly slow burn. I almost gave up 1/3 through and only stuck it out because I’ve loved her other novels so much. It did pick up in the last few chapters.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A woman, who far exceeded familial expectations, made a drunken whopper of a mistake and blew her career and marriage to bits. She returns home to settle her mother's estate and delves into mysteries of her hometown's origins.

Beautifully written. I love the historical information.

Thank you to Knopf Publishing and the author, J. Courtney Sullivan, for the opportunity to read this advanced reader's copy of The Cliffs in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Cliffs was a surprising novel with a lot of rich, feminist history. Sullivan wore her researcher hat for this one, and it shows and pays off. I enjoyed the history lesson on The Shakers and the Indian tribes of Maine, especially the women that Sullivan highlighted in her book. I immediately requested book upon book on the Shaker colonies in Maine and Kentucky. I hung onto every fact about the Wabanaki people and their spiritual traditions. This is all coming from a reader who has historically shunned and disliked historical fiction.

Sullivan interwove the past and present beautifully to bring full circle a ghostly mystery and a life in shambles. Her character development was wonderful in creating a trio of women whose lives all connect in one way or another, all very different from one another, only to connect them to the past lives of the women who had lived in the old Victorian that has drawn Jane in since the moment she saw it. We are led through a time of self-sabotage with glimpses into Jane's past destructive life with alcoholism, both her family's and her own, and carried through her present struggles and self-discovery. Though I don't think this story was especially engaging from the beginning as I believe her past novels have been, I do believe that if you stick it out you will gain so much knowledge and history from this novel.

I was instantly hooked by Sullivan’s latest novel, The Cliffs which is set on the isolated coast in Maine. Harvard archivist, Jane Flanagan returns to her childhood home to escape a job crisis and her troubled marriage. Jane meets Genevieve, a new homeowner with a cliff side mansion who offers Jane a job researching the new house. Jane welcomes the distraction and digs into the information behind this haunted Victorian home. Clues quickly unravel as stories from the Indigenous people of the area shed light on a childhood mystery.

The Cliffs is a fast moving and suspenseful read full of creepy, supernatural elements. With themes of colonialism, grief and alcoholism, this is the perfect story for fans of New England locations, history and a bit of the supernatural. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the advanced reader’s copy.

I had high hopes for this book after seeing so many great reviews. Sadly it didnt hold my attention and i struggled with this book.

Glad that I got to read this early. I really like 'house' books. This had a lot going on. Very interesting. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

It’s rare for me not to finish an ARC, but I just could not get into this book despite picking it up several times over the course of a few weeks. It moved so slowly for me that I stopped at about 38%. Maybe it wasn’t the right book for the mood/moment? I know lots of readers who enjoyed it, but the pacing was just off for me. I think the premise is interesting but it just didn’t work for me.

I liked The Cliffs, by J Courtney Sullivan. It is about a piece of land on the coast of Maine, and the stories of the women who lived there from the earliest indigenous people to a 21st century second home resident, and the ghosts of some of the former. The narrative does jump around a bit, and the main character never lived in the Victorian house on the cliffs, but every woman whose story is told is somehow connected to that spot. Even though the book is a bit ambitious, following so many different storylines, I enjoyed how they related to each other. I think the core story is about love and family throughout generations. It did feel a bit like a history lesson when it started to describe America's treatment of American Indians and then I felt like the book just sort of ended abruptly, and I wasn't really sure if the ghosts of the former residents were ever laid to rest. The writing, as always, was compelling. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage Publishing for an advance reader ebook copy to review.

The Cliffs (2024)
By J. Courtney Sullivan
Alfred A. Knopf, 384 pages.
★★★

Novelists and editors routinely remind readers that the work before our eyes is a work of fiction in which locations, situations, and people are imaginary. But if you know southern Maine you will recognize in a nanosecond that the place J. Courtney Sullivan calls Awadapquit is Ogunquit with a small splatter of York thrown in. (Sullivan credits a history of Ogunquit in her afterward.)

The Cliffs is Sullivan's sprawling tale of secrets, lies, self-deception, tragedy, and redemption in a small coastal village. (Ogunquit has 1,500 residents.) Although most of the story takes place in 2005 and again in 2015-17, the roots of recent trauma grew from seedlings planted in the Colonial era. The modern day protagonist is Jane Flanagan, who grew up in Maine, couldn't wait to escape, went away to college, and landed at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library. Jane loves archives and her boss Melissa values Jane. Melissa even introduces Jane to David, a wounded divorcee who eventually marries her. If only Jane didn't love booze more than she loves her work or her husband!

Various circumstances, including her mother's death, lead Jane back to Awadapquit, where her sister Holly still resides. Holly is Jane's opposite–content to be a blue-collar gal, non-intellectual, and a collector close to the edge of becoming a hoarder. She is as comfortable with chaos as Jane is obsessed with being fastidious and pragmatic. Jane plans to go back to the city as soon as she and Holly sort through their mother’s effects and sell the house that belonged to her beloved grandmother before her mother moved in. Jane is, however, glad to be near her closest friend Allison who runs an Awadapquit inn with her husband Chris. With two children as well as high-season visitors, Allison is also at home with chaos.

As you might imagine, any novel whose protagonist wants to leave ASAP is a setup for circumstances that don't allow that to happen. It is these that both drive and occasionally bog down Sullivan's novel. Among the complications are Paul and Genevieve. They are the kind of people that long-time coastal residents love to hate. They are filthy rich, haughty, high questionable taste, and are unaware of local customs, but they dump lots of money into the local economy. That too is a mixed blessing; it brings opportunity but also leads to soaring home prices. They purchase a rundown but once-grand property on a promontory with a spectacular ocean view. It just happens to be a purplish Victorian where Jane and Ellison used to hang out in high school when it was a boarded up wreck. It is said that it once belonged to a seafaring man responsible for white settlement in Awadapquit.

In architectural theories of Mies van der Rohe, “less is more.” I'm not a fan of austere modern architecture and like a bit of flash and gingerbread, but some readers are likely to find The Cliffs overstuffed. It is to Sullivan's credit that she expertly connects most of the dots, but allow me to be unorthodox in this review and bullet-point some of the ingredients that go into her novel.

• Several generations of Genevieve-like insensitivity to those with diminished resources
• The Wabanaki peoples who settled long before the English
• A mysterious cemetery with a stone burying a single initial
• Real and metaphorical ghosts
• A modern medium
• The Shakers
• The U.S. Civil War
• Spiritualism
• A lake that isn't a lake

All of this is in addition to alcoholism, various tales of marital strain, a crooked antiquities dealer, unexpected children, job loss, the internal truth behind romantic exteriors, dementia patients, reinvention, and taking small steps to correct inherited harm. The Cliffs is, at heart, a deep dive into shifting from arrogance to humility and from fast-track living to dialed back contentment.

Again, though, The Cliffs takes a circuitous route to get there. I liked the novel, but I also wondered if Sullivan could have pared her novel to arrive by the main road rather than so many unpaved ones. It would not surprise me if some readers get lost and never arrive at the destination. Less isn’t more, but more can be too much.

Rob Weir

“Most lives will be lost to time.” This book is heart-wrenching and complex, a woven tale of women across generations, whose stories might otherwise have been lost to time.

Jane is at a personal crossroads, following the death of her mother with whom she had a complicated relationship. She has always loved the abandoned Lake Grove home in her small Maine town. This land, where the cliffs reach out into the ocean, has been an important one for many, and each of these women are connected to this place.

I deeply enjoyed getting to know these women and their struggles. They are flawed people striving to navigate this world as best they can. What they learn about the past informs their future, which is one of my favorite lessons of life. A truly beautiful book.

A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

The Cliffs delivers in an atmospheric beach read with knockout Maine scenery. The premise hooked me, but unfortunately, for me, the writing didn't deliver what I was hoping for. Thanks to Net Galley and Knopf for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. 3/5 stars.

Wonderful book. I think this is her best yet. I loved how it wove all the history with stories of generational trauma and disfunction

Sullivan's atmospheric historical gothic novel gives life to a purple Victorian house and its inhabitants (and ghosts!) spanning centuries. The home is nestled on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic ocean and a small town in Maine. Themes of 'honoring our predecessors' and questions of, 'who carries history?' are flecked throughout this book in meaningful character actions and conversations, both positively and negatively.

The novel fleshes out and personalizes the lives of many women who have inhabited the land, "where the beautiful cliffs meet the sea", going back to the time of the Abenaki people. I am not always a fan of multiple times lines and multiple points of view, I found it worked brilliantly in this book because the women are tied to the same land and house. I appreciate the historical connections our main POV character in present day, Jane, slowly uncovers throughout the book in her work as a Harvard archivist.

I could have spent more time with a few of the historical characters, and focused less on Jane's contemporary issues, making this book 4.5 stars for me. I had a great reading experience and found myself reaching for my kindle daily.

I recommend this book for fans of New England setting, historical context, lives of women, and a bit of early 20th century spiritualism. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for an EARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story has everything— old house,, ghosts, mistreatment of native Americans, a smart alcoholic main character. The heart of the story is multiple searches for the lives of people long dead. Interesting read

I WANT to love Sullivan books...but they are so full of non-plot side themes. I made it 50% through Maine and 50% through The Cliffs before I just couldn't go any farther.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Long Island is a story of a woman originally from Ireland that marries an Italian American. They live on Long Island in a compound with his mother and brothers. This story is a continuation of the book Brooklyn but Long Island is a stand alone story. Having never read Brooklyn I was still able to follow the back story.
Eilis finds out that her husband has fathered another child and once that baby is born he plans to bring that child to the “compound” to be raised. Eilis is not happy about that; returns to Ireland to visit her mother and has her two teenage children join her there. While in Ireland, Eilis gets reacquainted with an old boyfriend. The story continues from there.
There are many complicated feelings and relationships in this story. Never sure what is going to happen. My one disappointment is that the story had an abrupt ending which was very unsatisfying. This may be due to the author writing a sequel.