The Cliffs: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan

 

 The Cliffs: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Adult fiction. 

    Jane has grown up in Maine and had a turbulent childhood. Now, as an adult, she returns home. The little town is much the same, but Jane has changed. High up on a hill was a lavender house that had been abandoned and in which Jane liked to explore as a girl. Now it is the rather palatial estate of Genevieve and her family. Jane has pursued a career in which the past and relics from other times are important. 

Sullivan has done a masterful job of melding the present and the past in this novel. Jane's mother and grandmother are presented as well as their neighbors over the years. None of the women know the whole story of the house on the hill, but Sullivan puts all the clues together for us as readers to understand. If you like Maine, you will definitely want to put this novel in your stack to read this summer!