This author is a wonderful storyteller and I have read all their other books - this one follows in the footsteps as a saga that centers mainly around one character who is tasked with clearing her mothers home, which was her home (with her grandmother) before that. The author manages to weave in some historical stories within present day. Through flashbacks to previous years we can see how people can change and the view of someone can be vastly different between people and generations

I normally love a mystery, although I think this one was just slightly too slow moving. Normally a mystery grips me but this one didn't leave me NEEDING more.

I enjoyed this sweeping tale of an old Victorian house overlooking the ocean in Maine. Character tales stretching through the ages with the house as the backdrop, we learn of various relationships the house has witnessed. While the current owner has transformed and modernized the old Victorian house, she fears her changes may have disturbed some of it's past residents as her son begins to see ghostly images. As she hires Jane, a childhood resident of the town, to uncover the past to hopefully discover who is haunting them, she soon is pulled along on an adventure with Jane and her childhood best friend.

I found this book enticing. The focus on the house/land and the women who were part of it over hundreds of years was well done and researched by Sullivan. While I enjoyed the main character, Jane’s, story and her part in solving the mysteries of the house, the stories of the other women of the house were my favorite.

4 ⭐️
growing up jane had a pretty hard life with an alcoholic mother. one day in high school she stumbles upon an abandoned house on the cliffs where she finds solace. after high school she goes to college and plans to never go back to maine- that is until her mother dies from cancer. jane is forced to go back to the place she never wanted to return to. when going through her stuff secrets about her family's past and a connection to that house on the cliffs comes to light. as someone who grew up in maine it was cool to read a book about places i grew up going to and being able to connect in a deeper way. overall i thought it was a pretty good book- some things i felt were dragged out and a little unnecessary but overall i really enjoyed this book!

thank you to the publishers and netgalley for an advanced reader's copy!

The Cliffs is a compelling exploration of women's stories across time and culture, all linked by a piece of land on a cliff in New England. Through their narratives, we gain insight into their personal struggles, tragedies, illnesses, and untold stories. The story is primarily told through Jane, a protagonist who, as a teenager, was captivated by the house on the land. Now, as an adult archivist, she fled to her hometown after a troubling evening that threatened her career and marriage and became involved in helping the new homeowner uncover the land's rich history and secrets.

The book is filled with historical information, prompting us to ponder the concept of land ownership and the recognition we accord to those who preceded us. My critique of the novel is that the multitude of storylines and voices in the narrative at times cloud the plot. The author's attempt to represent diverse voices and narratives in the story might have been a bit ambitious. However, I give the book a solid four out of five stars and recommend it for its thought-provoking themes!

What an absolutely wonderful novel. I've loved everything that J. Courtney Sullivan has written. Her descriptions of Maine are beautiful. I wanted to know more about the people who lived in the house previously. Great characters and development. Can't wait for her next work!

The Cliffs is an incredibly interesting story about Jane, who is struggling with alcoholism after her mom passed away. This book is largely about Jane and her family, but also about how their story intertwines with the story of Native people who lived in Maine before the English arrived and the communities that formed many years after. I found the writing and the storytelling very compelling, I enjoyed to read all the different stories from the different women who lived in different years on the same place. It got me thinking of all the people who lived before us on the same place where we are, their stories and interesting facts that most of us aren't aware of. Very worth the read.

I really enjoyed the concept of the story. I loved the historical details and hoped for more of this intertwined with the dual timeline. The supernatural elements added an interesting twist, though they occasionally felt underutilized. Overall, The Cliffs is an engaging read with moments of brilliance.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had everything: ghosts, alcoholism, mediums, ghosts, HGTV references, deep intense lectures, terrible sisters, workplace drama, religion, academic snobbishness, Native American history, missing dogs, GHOSTS.

I LOVED certain elements… and I literally fell asleep headfirst into my book in others. This was incredibly well-researched but could’ve benefited from another round of structural edits. And maybe less time in Jane’s POV? I would’ve loved an Allison chapter rather than only hearing from her a sidekick.

If you like Kate Morton, I think you’d really like this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the review copy!

This was a beautiful book - well put together, thought provoking and un-put-down-able. Jane, the main character who weaves all the other voices together, is the daughter of an alcoholic mother who appears to have escaped alcoholism to go to college and become an archivist at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard. She met her perfect guy and life seems great.

However, after the death of her mother, Jane's life starts to unravel. Her drinking spins out of control and she loses both her job and her husband. She ends up back in the small town in Maine she grew up in and begins to learn more about its history and her own history. Interwoven with Jane's story is that of Kanti, Sister Eliza, Marilyn and Daisy and current day Genevieve.

Jane's journey, while messy and painful, leads to wonderful things, discoveries and peace. As I said: a beautiful book that I was sad to finish.

What an incredible story! This brought to light so many mis told human stories and how people don't often think about the past and what the land they are standing on means. I was engaged through the entire book and found the story to be very compelling.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. love a book with a house or mansion as one of the characters, even if it's not the main intention. also was loooking forward to the ghost story part of it. however, this felt like schoolwork. instead of a book for pleasure, i felt as if i was getting a history lesson in all the bad things people did and how others were treated/affected (meaning indigenous people in the story).

The Cliffs has a promising beginning. In the small coastal town of Awadapquit, Maine., Jane Flanagan never fit in. With an alcoholic norther and a sister who was sure to follow in Mom's footsteps, Jane took refuge in an abandoned property with a purple Victorian house that overlooked the cliffs and the ocean. The house appeared to have just been left - as if the occupants had just walked out the door and never returned, marbles on the floor and all. Jane spent hours every day here after school the only place that she found solace.
Twenty years later, Jane returns to Awadapquit with her marriage and career as an archivist in shambles. She is devastated and actually angered to find that someone has bought the property and turned it into a modern glass house complete with infinity pool, but without it's soul. She becomes friends with the new owner, Genevieve Richards, (as much as she can be friends with anyone). Genevieve has been feeling unsettle in the house and believes there are ghosts or spirits there. Until this is resolved, she will be staying at the inn run by Jane's only high school friend. She hires Jane to investigate the history of the house and property. In doing so, Jane gets information on the Native Americans of that area as well as the Quakers who settled there. This land has a history of loss, tragedy and hardship. Themes that Jane is all too familiar with.
As Jane begins to delve into the history of the house, the book takes a bit of a tonal turn and becomes more of a history lesson than a novel. While the information was interesting, it made it hard to jump back into the "present" plot again. These detours were too lengthy and not really in keeping with the structure of the main storyline. By the time I was nearing the end of the book, I was not as invested as I once was in the resolution. That being said, there was some beautiful writing and character development along the way. This is the first book that I have read by J. Courtney Sullivan, but I will be more of her catalog.

My thanks to Netgally and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC of this novel.

Who didn't dream of having their own secret hideaway as a child or teenager? Somewhere enchanted that only you knew about? That's exactly what Jane had when she found the abandoned Violet house on the cliff. And the house became hers. Not just as a child, but into adulthood when she would take her husband to visit the house when they were in town.

Of course, it wasn't hers and inevitably, someone else found the enchanting house and bought it. But after the new homeowner commits an unspeakable act that sets the house's spirits into a tailspin, it's up to Jane to figure out the house's history and find a way to honor it.

Add to that the fact that Jane is a mess - an alcoholic in a line of alcoholics who has destroyed her promenent career and marriage, and The Cliffs was a an amazing book that kept my attention all the way to the end. This is definitley one to read by the pool or on a beach as you soak up that last few weeks of summer.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for an advanced review copy in exchange for my honest review. This one is out now.

Historical fiction full of mysteries, ghosts, and history! The historical parts seemed well-researched and there was plenty of human drama in both the past and the present.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

This book started off slowly as it introduces Jane, her alcoholic mother and sister, her beloved grandmother, her fulfilling work at Harvard and her loving, supportive husband, David. Then the book quickly dives in deeper to Jane's troubles and how her life has gone completely off the rails, with how everything she holds dear and important is being at risk of being lost. She returns to her childhood home in Maine, when she has no where to go, to figure out the next steps in her life, connecting with her best friend, Allison, her sister Holly and her mother's dog, Walter. The author provides vivid descriptions of the small town's cliffs, picturesque tourist shops, and a once abandoned house that plays an important role within the story, as the story reflects on the women who had lived there throughout its history and on the land before it was built. The story weaves and intersects the histories of indigenous, Shaker, mystical and modern women in a historical, fascinating, and informative way. I absolutely loved learning about history that I wasn't aware of before and it prompted me to discuss these topics with others, as well as wanting to delve deeper into some of the subjects presented in the future. The characters deal with difficult topics of addiction, generational trauma, colonialism, and strained relationships but the women throughout these stories supported each other throughout their troubles, finding strength within themselves and bringing hope for a better future. I look forward to reading more of this author's work!

Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early digital copy of The Cliffs. After reading this book, now I know why this is the book club pick for Reese's Book Club. It is definitely a great book for the summer, a perfect beach read or to curl up with on a hot day to be transported to its setting. Even though the events of the story aren't idyll, the setting is, and Sullivan is really good at vivid descriptions and imagery that make it easy to picture the setting. This was the first book by Sullivan that I have read, but it definitely won't be my last, and I am excited to take a look at her backlist, and I hope they are just as good as The Cliffs!

What a well-researched story about Maine, indigenous people, women’s history, New England ghosts, and Shakers. A huge amount of history to go with an engaging plot with twists and turns, with focuses on several women., with Jane as the main character. Jane has several flaws and starts to work through them during the story. She has an alcohol problem, lost her mom, her job, and likely her husband. At the same time, she is digging into the history of a fictional town in Maine and a home that sits above a cliff. A great story where you also happen to learn many things.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

There were many strands to this novel, plots to keep alive and to keep aligned, ghosts from different generations of these cliffs jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean on the Maine coastline itching to tell their stories.
Jane, the main character, is a smart librarian of Harvard’s Schlesinger Library but also a native of this corner of the Maine coast and an alcoholic in denial trying to get her life back in order after a humiliating incident and her mother’s recent passing. On a whim she starts research into the abandoned house she adored as a teen, which has now been overhauled by Genevieve who has turned it into an odd McMansion. Jane’s research turns up ghosts of a Shaker and a captain’s wife who had to see her husband’s shipwreck, an indigenous woman who saw her husband taken by the English, Jane’s own grandmother and a dead girl who keeps interfering with Jane’s research because she wants her mother to know her final resting place has changed. There are so many avenues to explore, Jane’s relationship with her husband, Jane’s relationship with her sister, the ghosts and their lives at different times with different needs and expectations. But it all comes together so well, I kept reading, rooting for Jane and I just loved how it all clicked in the end - seemingly effortlessly but so very well written, I loved my reading !