This book could have had a subtitle that aptly states "and the string women who stood upon these cliffs". It intellectually intertwined the women from the psst and the present and how spiritualism does play a part in their lives as they seek to find those whom they can protect or be protected by. There are people who are clairvoyant and can see ghosts as evidenced by Jane's reading. I had true admiration for Jane as despite her relapse which given the circumstances one can understand but she picked herself up and in doing so, found herself and her happiness again. It felt like the she needed to come home to do so as she needed to get away from circumstances that would enable her. It saddened me about the demise of her relationship with David as he is a good man but the ending gave me hope. Eliza's story was intriguing first as a Shaker and later as her relationship with Hannah at a time that no one considered it. I learned a lot about the Native American society and the horrific things that they encountered. This is an intellectually stimulating novel of which I highly recommend.

I received a copy of this book via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Having read all of J. Courtney Sullivan’s other books , I was very excited to read The Cliffs. Set in Maine ,this novel chronicles the lives of women throughout the history of the town. Shifting between the present and the past, the author adequately draws you into the perspectives of the women. There are a lot of layers to this story from alcoholism, infidelity, premature death, injustice against indiginous people and the struggle to do what is right. In addition , the concepts of love and loss are prevalent in all of the characters. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you enjoy books about New England history, friendship and self-discovery.

I absolutely adored this book! It contains many of the elements one sees on the backs of countless summer novels- an old house, a woman at a turning point in life, a coastal town, family secrets - except it's done masterfully well and asks important questions about the stories we tell and who exactly the past belongs to. The characters are well-drawn and oh-so-human. I also loved the nuanced treatment of Spiritualism and, as a visitor to Camp Etna, thought the description of Camp Mira was spot-on. The writing itself is lovely and insightful, but not showboaty.

When I started the Cliffs I was impressed with the fine writing, the compelling story, and the fact that it was focused on women’s relationships. There was a supernatural element introduced in the beginning which kept me turning pages. Having a story revolving around a house and the history of the people who lived in the area is appealing to me. However, I found the different storylines (which do come together at the end) to cause a disruption to the flow of the plot, which was frustrating since new characters were introduced, just when I wanted to continue reading about the most recent one. (That’s how good J Courtney Sullivan is at creating characters: I enjoyed each one so much that I wanted an entire book focused on just their story!). When yet another character was introduced at around the 40% mark, I decided to skim the rest of the novel. There was a lot of telling and not showing, which I guess must be necessary when writing about events taking place over a long period of time, like the ones in this story. However, it becomes monotonous for the reader. I think this could be a 5 star read for many, but for me, it was a 3 star, due to the large swathes of exposition and the flow of the plot. But I will be checking out more by this author for sure!

The Cliffs captured me from the start. There were a few underlying themes in this book. It was a story of a young woman who came from a family history of alcoholism and ultimately struggled with it herself. How it destroys her work and marriage. Then there was the story of a house on a Cliff and the spirits surrounding it. Some medium/spirit action which is fun. Also a bit of Indian history around the home. The flow of the book was sometimes a bit disjointed. For instance, the author quickly got us up to speed on the main character Jane with a very long prologue about her life. Then she introduced varying characters with their back story. The flow of going from one character to the next was awkward. At one point I thought I had missed a section because it felt like a completely different story. Overall a good read.

As an avid history nut, I truly wanted to like this book better than I actually did. In the beginning, I was immediately pulled in by the setting and writing prose. As the chapters progressed it became easy to get confused on what was essential to the plot, and what sometimes came across as a lesson/lecture on how to correctly perceive these historical events. I am in no way saying the viewpoints taken were wrong. I agree with most of them and those of us keen to history are well aware of bias and interpretation in the recording of facts. By the end, I felt that this book might have been more accurately geared towards Young Adult, or those that are still figuring out how the world works. Evil in the heart of man has existed from the beginning of time. You can try and teach people to have empathy and truly see through narratives so we can not make the same mistakes in the future. But there is no going back, recompensing, or erasing the past. It is there for a reason.

Just when I thought there were no good books and no unpredictable story lines, along comes The Cliffs. I had an ARC from NetGalley. This book was so great. There is a history element to it. It’s about strong women, alcoholism, Native America history and forethought.
At first I liked Jane. I really did, but then she annoyed me. But her true to life downward spiral was believable as her drinking got worse. I felt bad for David. But all along I was never sure where things were going- I love surprise in a book. The ending was good. The characters were great. I loved the historical elements and she really did write an enjoyable book.

As a Maine resident, I loved all the location references. There was way too much going on in this book. The section from Eliza's POV I just skimmed through. Needed one solid plot line.

I really enjoyed this story that blended so many elements, from the past and the present and covered cultures like the Shakers, the Native Americans who lived in the northern portion of Maine, and the intertwining of a house and its occupants over the years.

Culture blends with lives affected by their heritage and the land they occupy. For those who love the concept of a haunted house, this book provides mysticism, spiritualism, and history. This made this well researched story quite satisfying.

However, there were a number of side stories that at times did interfere with the main telling. All in all, it was time well spent reading this book.

Thanks go to J. Courtney Sullivan, Knopf, and NetGalley for an early copy of this story due out in July of 2024.

Just not my kind of book. Getting drunk , and making out when married. I’m sure others will like it and enjoy ,,, we just all have different preferences
Sorry.

J. Courtney Sullivan has written a novel about a fictional character, Jane Flanagan, who has destroyed her marriage and seeks refuge in her hometown in Maine. She discovers a story rife with betrayals, past lives, shattering loss and historical colonialism.
The prologue is a summary that reads like a biography encapsulation of Jane, written in third person omniscient, a foreshadowing of learning more about this character throughout the novel than is necessary.
The author tells the story rather than shows us what happens. For example, “Once, at an AA meeting, Jane met a woman in her eighties who had known her grandma.” What is so remarkable about that? But a section describing her encounter with the older woman making some connection between Jane and her grandma, perhaps some shared physical features, would have brought the connection home.
The author writes, “If trauma could be passed down from the cells of one body to another, Jane wondered, was it so much further a leap to imagine that trauma might infect the land on which it happened? Was that a form of haunting all its own?” They say that the soil in Kurukshetra still is a dark red from the Mahabharata battle fought five thousand years ago in India. Why are Jane’s thoughts such a leap?
The author methodically supplies more lurid details than is needed to describe a tale of redemption while missing the heroism behind some revered Americans’ actions to illustrate their faults.
If Jane can be a flawed hero, why can’t those people who went before her be too?
Thank you to Alfred A. Knopf Publishers and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The overall theme of the book tying the land and dwelling at a certain location to women who lived there or had a special connection, to it was very interesting. The ending tied everything together but I found it confusing and distracting at times to the story, the long descriptions and history of the area’s indigenous people as well as the Shakers who settled in that area. Each of these could be the basis for entire stories on their own as they are fascinating and much overlooked historical aspects of this country. But it was hard to follow the basic storyline surrounding the land/house on the cliff. The main character throughout was not very likable, even understanding that her alcoholism was a disease. Her ending in the story was hopeful and positive but it was hard to sympathize with her throughout. I did enjoy the book but felt the various characters’ stories could have been blended together more smoothly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. Sadly, this book wasn’t for me. Jane Flanagan grew up in Maine where she discovers a charming, but abandoned Victorian home. It sits right on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and it becomes Jane’s refuge. Jane leaves her unhappy home, and she ends up working at Harvard. Something disastrous happens, derailing her career and marriage. Jane returns to Maine to lick her wounds and clean out her deceased mother’s home. While there, she finds the Victorian home has been transformed. Jane also discovers lots of secrets about her town and her family. I wanted to love this novel, but it quickly delves into politics. The tone is quite lecturing at times, and the author rambled on too much. Not for me, so thumbs down

‘The Cliffs’, by J. Courtney Sullivan is my second book by this author. The story takes place in a coastal town in southern Maine, and is quite enjoyable. The timeline expands hundreds of years and it is obvious Ms. Sullivan has done extensive research to write this book.

THE CLIFFS by J. Courtney Sullivan is an ambitious mixture of a novel: part multi-family, interwoven story, extending several centuries, from the first settlements in Maine until the current day; part historical research in life during that period, with special focus on women’s lives; and part a serious agenda to reexamine historical events in the light of more equitable criteria and most importantly, to make amends for the past. If this sounds “woke,” it is.

Jane, ex-Harvard library archivist, has returned to a family home in Maine, because her life has fallen apart. With the recent death of her mother, she is on the brink of losing her husband and career, due to a serious drinking problem. As Jane works through how, and even if, she wants to put her life back together, she becomes interested again in a mysterious house on the cliff, to which she’s been drawn since her younger years.

In addition to the idea that the beginning of American history is Indigenous history, she must grapple with the parallel idea, that her own life begins in her ancestral heritage, with all its unresolved drama. The words of her first encounter with higher ed haunt and inspire her: “Most Lives Will Be Lost to Time.” In both her personal and professional lives, she works on uncovering the truth of as many lives as she can.

Told through multiple characters’ point of view, the book touches on Indigenous history, the early Maine fishing trade, spiritualism, Shaker history, contemporary mediumship and AA. This book will not appeal to readers interested in a straightforward narrative, but I enjoyed its many tangents.

With thanks to Alfred A. Knopf Publishers and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to The Cliffs, but I am sad to say I really struggled through this book. I loved the main story about Jane, a historian at Harvard suffering from alcoholism, the loss of her mother, and in danger of losing her husband, friend, and the job of her dreams. Through Jane the reader is introduced to a haunted house, medium, boy who sees a ghost, and an entitled mom. I would have loved for more of the book to focus on this story line.

Unfortunately, the author strays from the main story to teach the reader about the mistreatment of Indians, the Indigenous people, and the Shakers to name a few. It just did not flow for me and seemed very choppy. The chapters were also extremely long.

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

In the world of thrillers and viral hits, THE CLIFFS is not that book. It's a slow burner that takes its time to delve into its characters and their history, looking deep into the people associated with one particular home and the nearby area. You will not fly through its pages (though it's compelling) or have any big shocking twists (though there are certainly surprises), but if you keep with the story, you will be rewarded with a complex and rich narrative that spans centuries, connecting our characters in fascinating ways and exploring the complicated facets of how the past influences the present.

There are parts of THE CLIFFS that feel too long, as if a history lesson has lasted into another class period, and it can be hard to warm up to Jane, the main protagonist. The story is told from the point of view of various female characters, jumping around in time, but Jane gets the most screen time. They are all tied together by the house and land, but at times, I found myself wishing for more time with our characters older (in time period, not age) than Jane or other modern narratives. Jane's treatment of those around her--even with her alcoholism--was tough to stomach. A female-centric story that still focused so much on Jane pining for her estranged husband was difficult, as well.

There are so many interconnected stories here and the exploration of indigenous people and history is excellent. Sullivan does a great job of exploring motherhood and the idea if one can feel whole without being a mother. The themes of loss and grief run deeply in this story. While I wished there were a few more ghosts in this book (we get one early appearance!) and it felt long at times, it's beautifully written and a wonderful examination of legacies and the passing down of histories and secrets.

I am a big fan of J. Courtney Sullivan and I couldn't put this book down. Like another recent ARC I read, I didn't even mind being up with my toddler for a couple hours overnight because I was able to finish this book. J. Courtney Sullivan is a master of weaving story lines together. You often wonder how these pieces could possibly connect and then...they do! I really enjoyed the profiles of different women within the book too, and how that aligned with Jane's role of curating the lives of women. Overall, I thought it was a beautiful approach to telling untold stories.

All that said, it did feel a bit too robust in topics at times. We had alcoholism, dementia, repatriation, Indian Nation affairs, museum curation, family dynamics, motherhood, Shakers, mediums, rich people behaving badly, and more. While these stories were certainly woven together in the end, it would have been easy to get lost in many of these side plots. As noted above, I am assuming the intent of some of the more substantive histories was to align with Jane's personal interests but it often felt like a bit more of a life history than I necessarily needed to connect the dots. Regardless, this was a 4.5 star read for me.

Smith is one of my favorite novelists and I have enjoyed all of her previous books. This particular one has a wonderful sense of place and Maine is on my list to visit one day because of her amazingly descriptive writing on the state. Maine is probably my favorite of all her work to date. As for The Cliffs, this book is overwhelming! I honestly think there is content, plot and characters galore enough for several books. Sullivan schools us lots on state history and I personally enjoy asides into lessons while other readers may not like to be detoured from the plot. The author’s notes were very interesting to see where the inspiration for various elements and characters came from as well as all of the research materials used. Smith’s skills at developing characters are evident in the protagonist, Jane. There are a ton more voices and storylines but Jane is the link to it all. I felt a bit betrayed after getting close to this tortured soul. We get to follow her entire life from childhood along with her interactions and struggles with her mother and her other relationships. We meet and get familiar with her entire family including a do and a nephew. We experience the death of her mother, her grandmother’s secret past, her best friend and her family, her husband, work colleagues and then all the characters interspersed throughout this story. All of these people felt very real to me. After a deep dive into her struggle with alcohol (the reason she is home) the author seemed to drop her to return to Noami (who, to be honest, I had to think twice to recall. There are a lot of characters!) I do wish I had gotten to experience Jane’s last two years alongside her instead of the summary narrative the author ends with. It sounds like a wonderful ending if more detail had been forthcoming. Otherwise, a great read and I look forward to the next Maybe these characters can be revisited because honestly I did get to care about them and the sense of being dumped at the end is the reason for four stars! Thanks to the author, NetGalley and the publisher for the preview copy. Much enjoyed.

This book is a rich, complex dive into trauma and relationships and then added the history of the Native Americans of the Maine coast. It weaves the stories of multiple generations of women who have lived over time in a house. Jane the central character binds them all together as the historian trying to piece their histories together in a form of a “ghost story” but it’s more of a historical fiction come to life in trying to figure out the history of the house and honoring the history of who lived there. Through researching the history of the history and its previous inhabitants we learn about Jane’s history and trauma and how everyone is all connected. It is a beautiful story in the end about forgiveness and healing.