Scan barcode
A review by bethreadsandnaps
The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan
4.0
J. Courtney Sullivan's upcoming novel THE CLIFFS (publishes July 2, 2024) demonstrates the strength among women when faced with generational and situational hardship. After a huge personal mistake when working at the Schlesinger Library, Jane takes a leave from both her professional and personal life and retreats to her family home in Maine to get the house ready to sell after her mother's death. There Jane becomes absorbed in a long-ago mystery with a Victorian mansion she became attached to as a teenager as well as she confronts some more personal metaphorical ghosts in her life.
While Jane is the main character, we see several perspectives through the novel. I enjoyed those perspectives because they all related to the main story in some way and heightened context.
Why I really liked this novel:
* The main character Jane - She's messy, she comes off hypocritical when she's judgmental toward her family yet has similar struggles to them. I like an imperfect main character who becomes more self-reflective and/or grows during the span of the story.
* I learned about New England Indigenous history as well as a bit of Shaker history as well as some local Maine and Boston geography.
* Multiple perspectives, particularly when they are intergenerational, add interesting layers.
What detracted a bit:
* The educational parts about Indigenous culture and Shaker history could be folded in more seamlessly. As they are, they stop the story narrative and get a bit "soap box"-y for several pages. It's obvious the author did a ton of research for this novel, and it felt that she forced her research into the story - sometimes a bit unnaturally. By the third time the author did this, I said to myself, "Oh, here we go again."
* There are a lot of topics explored and genres touched on in this novel. We've got: the supernatural via mediums (comes up early on and seems odd given the main character), Indigenous history, domestic abuse, intergenerational alcoholism, house restoration, and more. Many elements of this novel are historical, both nonfiction and fiction, and then you also have a generational/literary fiction saga, mystery, supernatural/ghost story, and women's/contemporary fiction. Some of this has a Kate Morton vibe, particularly the old house and long-ago mystery, which I really liked. I was a bit overwhelmed by all the different topics/genres as more and more got added.
I really liked this story, but I can easily see that it won't be a hit for every reader because so many topics/themes are included that it can come across as jumbled.
While Jane is the main character, we see several perspectives through the novel. I enjoyed those perspectives because they all related to the main story in some way and heightened context.
Why I really liked this novel:
* The main character Jane - She's messy, she comes off hypocritical when she's judgmental toward her family yet has similar struggles to them. I like an imperfect main character who becomes more self-reflective and/or grows during the span of the story.
* I learned about New England Indigenous history as well as a bit of Shaker history as well as some local Maine and Boston geography.
* Multiple perspectives, particularly when they are intergenerational, add interesting layers.
What detracted a bit:
* The educational parts about Indigenous culture and Shaker history could be folded in more seamlessly. As they are, they stop the story narrative and get a bit "soap box"-y for several pages. It's obvious the author did a ton of research for this novel, and it felt that she forced her research into the story - sometimes a bit unnaturally. By the third time the author did this, I said to myself, "Oh, here we go again."
* There are a lot of topics explored and genres touched on in this novel. We've got: the supernatural via mediums (comes up early on and seems odd given the main character), Indigenous history, domestic abuse, intergenerational alcoholism, house restoration, and more. Many elements of this novel are historical, both nonfiction and fiction, and then you also have a generational/literary fiction saga, mystery, supernatural/ghost story, and women's/contemporary fiction. Some of this has a Kate Morton vibe, particularly the old house and long-ago mystery, which I really liked. I was a bit overwhelmed by all the different topics/genres as more and more got added.
I really liked this story, but I can easily see that it won't be a hit for every reader because so many topics/themes are included that it can come across as jumbled.