The Cliffs
'Entrancing ... filled with mystery' Reese Witherspoon, Reese's Book Club Pick July Pick
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4.0 • 23 Ratings
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- £5.49
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB JULY PICK
A deeply satisfying and enjoyable novel about family, secrets, ghosts and homecoming
'Entrancing ... filled with mystery' Reese Witherspoon, Reese's Book Club July Picks
'I could not put this book down' Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful
'Compulsively readable ... funny, heartbreaking' Oprah Daily
On a secluded cliff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house that contains a century's worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned - yet there are still clothes in the closets, marbles rolling across the floors, and dishes in the cupboards. The place is an irresistible mystery to Jane, and becomes a hideaway for her, a place to escape her troubled, volatile mother.
Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage. Jane is horrified to find the Victorian is now barely recognizable. The new owner, Genevieve, a summer person from Beacon Hill, has gutted it, transforming the house into a glossy white monstrosity straight out of a magazine. Convinced that the house is haunted, Genevieve hires Jane to research the history of the place and the women who lived there. The story Jane uncovers - of lovers lost at sea, romantic longing, shattering loss, artistic awakening, historical artefacts stolen and sold, and the long shadow of colonialism - is even older than Maine itself ...
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Past speaks to present in this gripping historical novel set around a Maine beach town property. While renovating her new summer home, wealthy matron Genevieve illegally digs up a small graveyard to put in an infinity pool. Convinced that the angry former residents are now haunting the house, she calls in an archivist named Jane to research the house’s history, which dates back to the 19th century. Jane, a troubled alcoholic, specialises in making unknown women’s voices heard but isn’t so good at listening to herself. As she digs into the stories of the dead women—a gifted painter, a former Shaker turned maid and others—she learns more about herself and her own connection to the property. Author J. Courtney Sullivan explores complex issues like colonialism, the legacy of the Civil War and 20th-century gender roles. In the process, The Cliffs becomes an intimate patchwork quilt of love, loss and finding joy in unexpected places.
Customer Reviews
Not quite sure about this one
I have no idea what this book was about. I glazed over so many times that I didn’t know who was what or what time zone I was then in! And the ending?? Did I need to know all that American history stuff I couldn’t see what relevance it had 🤷♀️ but then I did zone out again.