I was intrigued with this book the moment I read the summary. What a great book Well written, complex characters and so many different plot twist and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wish it didn't end. I want a book 2. There is opportunity and unanswered stories!! The book is told from so many POV's. I enjoyed each of the characters and how they developed over the pages. I loved the spiritual aspect of the book. The author did it in such a unique way that tied in so well with the story.

I recommend this book for anyone looking for a good read that they can get lost in and won't want to put down

The Cliffs is what I think of as an academic beach read with enough going on under the story to feel like you’re being exposed to credibly sourced information. Moments of history are woven throughout that might want you to do your own deep dive just like Jane, the archivist narrator. But The Cliffs also has friendship, loss, personal struggles, drama and enough mystery to make it hard to put down.

The Cliffs was a cozy, snuggle of a read. It takes place as the primary protagonist, Jane, hits rock bottom, and it follows her story as she discovers a mystery is unfolding around her. A house she felt drawn to as an adolescent resurfaces in her adult life as she is hired to research the history of its occupants through the years.

I don’t want to give anything away, but this book has a lot of thematic elements and explorations of the afterlife, spirituality, indigenous people, minority voices, alcoholism, trauma, strong women, mother wounds, grief, etc.

I did generally enjoy the book. I found it well researched on every storyline, and many portions were thought provoking. In my personal opinion, there were too many story lines to keep up with adequately and tie up nicely. I wasn’t expecting a ghost story, but when the story went there, I shifted gears and did have expectations. As a ghost story or a story of a recovering alcoholic, the resolution was lacking for me. The dark night of the soul seems to happen 85% in and then the last 20-30 pages are left to resolve every story line and plot hole left in the whole book. Some people have said it was tied up too neatly, but some portions were just forgot about completely. The result is kind of a frantic “and everyone lived happily ever after forever. The end.” That’s not precisely what happens, so don’t think it’s a spoiler. But after 300 pages of building to a certain finale, to have it race to a conclusion at a breakneck speed of the last 30 pages felt hurried. I was left with questions unanswered and itches I couldn’t scratch.

In any case, I’ll be excited when this one published so I can discuss it at a book club. It is the kind of book you’ll want to read and discuss with friends.

I’d like to thank Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have read many of J. Courtney Sullivan's novels and have enjoyed them all. Also, from a personal note this author lives in my town and has been very generous in support of our community! I hope to meet her some day!

This is a slow burn fiction/historical fiction novel. It has so many layers and you can tell Sullivan put in significant research, especially regarding Indigenous people.

The novel focus on a house set in coastal Maine and the women who lived in it - even the women who lived on the land before Maine was established! Full of heartbreak, drama and touches numerous issues, such as alcoholism, mother/daughter relationships, infertility, Alzheimer's - Sullivans gives us the kitchen sink of drama.

The book is told from many POVs - almost too many. Any one of the characters could carry an entire novel on their own. I particularly enjoyed Hannah Littlefield and Eliza's POV and wished they were introduced earlier in the book.

I did not love the spiritual elements of the book, esp. the Chapter on Camp Mira. Also, I wish Sullivan came full circle on identifying Benjamin's ghost, but loved how some parts of history were not discovered yet by the characters by the book's end [Hannah's ring].

I recommend this one for fans of Kristin Hannah. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

whoa!!!! riveting book!!! i would totally read this over vacation in one sitting. could not put it down for a few days!!!! 4/5 stars

I will read anything by J. Courtney Sullivan, and The Cliffs lived up to my expectations! What I especially love about her fiction are the nuanced, three-dimensional characters, which also fill this novel. I did not want to put this book down.

This was a book that I could not put down. I just loved it cover to cover. I have enjoyed every book I have read by J. Courtney Sullivan and was so honored to be chosen to read and ARC of her latest book. I have already recommended if for our book club read for next year.. I took me 2 days to read. I just couldn't put it down but it was so enjoyable. Yes there were sad parts but that is the way life is. This is a must read for anyone that lives in or just loves or want to find out more about the Northeast in a fictional readable way..

This book started off strong, but I agree with other readers that it veered off in several other directions, most of which were not as interesting to me as the beginning of the story. I enjoyed the descriptive Maine setting!

Thank you very much to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read this book in one day. I really enjoyed how different each characters story was but how the Sullivan was able to tie them all together in the end. I have always been a fan of Sullivan's characters.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book for a review, which is the ONLY reason I didn’t stop reading it about 1/3 thru. It had such promise , and I kept going back to look at how long it was. Goodreads has it listed as 384 pages (my kindle wouldn’t show the page numbers for some reason), but I swear it’s more like 884 pages. It goes in so many unnecessary directions, there are so many story lines, and rambling on and on and on. It would be GREAT if it could be condensed down. There is a great history lesson in there but unfortunately I was skipping a lot of the rambling pages in order to get to the next direction the book would take. Hopefully the publisher/editor will see this review and whack it down significantly. I DID want to know what happened and how the book resolved , so for that reason I give it 2.5 stars rather than a painful 1 star I would have given if I had quit reading like I wanted to at the first part.

This was my first book by this author and I found that I liked it just okay. I was into the plot overall but the way that the story turned out ended up to not be for me. I greatly enjoyed the setting though and I would be interested in other books by this author for the setting alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read J. Courtney Sullivan's amazing new book "The Cliffs". I've been a big fan of this author since her first book, and this book did not disappoint. Set in Maine, a place where Sullivan has set other books, the layered and nuanced novel examines family, motherhood, history, genocide, repatriation, 'othering' and inclusion. The book is centered on Jane, a woman who returns to her hometown in Maine to clean out her mother's house and deal with an event that threatens to upend her current life in Cambridge. It also centers on a house where Jane used to hang out as a teen, where the current owner has to deal with an event that also threatens to upend her life. It's a ghost story with an open-hearted view of ghosts, a mystery involving supernatural spirits told from a critical perspective, a compassionate and well researched investigation of atrocities perpetuated on the native americans by settlers and how trauma can be passed down through generations, and a family story showing how the strength of family love can overcome (almost) anything. Only someone as skilled as Sullivan could pull these all together, and I could not put this book down.

Fascinating. I've always like the author's novels but I really enjoyed the layers of historical information here. There's so much to explore and so many issues (like museum repatriation) that just have me starting down a rabbit hole of research. The book has all that, plus a compulsively readable plot.

Thank you Netgalley & Knopf Publishing for an eARC ♥️
Step into a world of secrets and shadows, where the past whispers tales of love, loss, and legacy that linger in the creaking floorboards and whispering walls of the old Victorian house.
"The Cliffs “ by J. Courtney Sullivan is a spellbinding tale that will captivate your imagination and tug at your heartstrings like a gentle breeze on a summer afternoon.

Meet Jane, a Harvard archivist, as she returns to her childhood haven in Maine, only to find the old Victorian house transformed into a glossy stranger, stripped of its former charm and secrets. Yet, the whispers of the past refuse to fade, beckoning Jane to unravel the mysteries within, like an old photograph waiting to be developed.

With each page, the story unfolds like a cinematic dream, rich with vivid details and characters that leap off the page like a masterfully crafted puzzle, inviting you to solve the mystery. You'll be swept away by the poignant exploration of women's lives, loves, and struggles across generations, woven together like a tapestry of time.

As the secrets of the house reveal themselves, you'll be mesmerized by the haunting beauty of the narrative, like the golden light of sunset on the bluff. This book is a treasure trove of storytelling, weaving together historical threads, family drama, and the enduring power of love, like a delicate yet resilient spider web.

This was my first time to read a book by this author, but she's been on my radar for. a while because she's had several popular books. I was expecting a cross between Elin Hildebrand and Emily Griffin. And while that may be a somewhat accurate comparison, I was surprised by the underlying gothic storyline in the novel. But in spite of the ghosts, psychics, and haunted houses, this is less of a suspense story and more of a character-driven tale about a woman hitting rock bottom and trying to make peace with her demons. There is also a strong subplot dealing with the Native American people who inhabited Maine hundreds of years ago.

After leaving her husband, Jane has returned to her Maine hometown. All her life, she had admired the Victorian house on the cliff, but now the house has been purchased by someone who is convinced the house is haunted. Jane dives into the mystery surrounding the house and its previous inhabitants. Interwoven in the ghost story is a tale of alcoholism and troubled mother/daughter relationships. The real ghosts, it seems, are the memories of heartbreak and betrayal.

I enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my opinions.

I was rooting for Jane from the beginning. A troubled childhood, a troubled marriage, and a search for a sense of peace makes Jane return to her childhood home. A psychic reading gifted to her by a friend takes Jane on a journey to find herself again and to fill in some missing pieces of history- both her history and town history. I couldn’t put his down.

This is my first time reading J. Courtney Sullivan and definitely won’t be my last! What felt like two separate novels in her latest The Cliffs, were storylines that she brilliantly and stealthily wove together to become one compelling read centered around an old abandoned house near edge of some cliffs in Maine. Part mystery, part ghost story, with some history of the Indigenous people who once populated this area of Maine makes this an engaging and important book. I can’t wait to recommend this to our book groups!

Such a beautiful read. The writing was eloquent and thoughtful knowing when to change the pace and time period so it was seamless.
Jane was particularly well written. Her arc flowed so well and her turning point moment was quiet and profound. This whole book felt quiet and profound. It felt like I was visiting the exhibition in the house. Finding the treasures and life stories as I moved room to room. It calmed me and made my heart full.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

stunningly gorgeous, about a history of a beautiful home and how memories live on even when a person seems to be forgott3en. thanks for the arc.

I have enjoyed her other books but this was a little rough. I felt like it tried to do too much. Starting off with the main character in high school and then picking up when she was a middle aged woman making a mess of her life was interesting but then the book went into too many places. Interesting places like spiritualist communities and Native American history but it never felt cohesive to me. I think it should have been a book about a woman, a house and the families of both but the long passages about ghosts and ethics of antiquities were interesting but generally out of place. I felt like I was read three every different (good, interesting but different) books.