I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Audio
Published: May 3, 2022
Summary:
In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment…
After Nessa James’s husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she’s left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn’t take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead—a gift she’s inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.
On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn’t left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett’s life is far from over—in fact, she’s undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.
Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw—until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.
Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl’s murder leads to more bodies, and to the town’s most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don’t apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands…
My thoughts:
I totally took a chance on this one and am so glad I did. I first heard about it during a presentation I attended virtually and that got me intrigued, and then I kept hearing about it, so when it was a Book of the Month choice, I felt I had nothing to lose by selecting it.
This book surprised me in all the best ways and I’m so glad I ended up getting it. I did decide to listen to it, though I’m glad I had the print copy on hand because there were times I wanted to refer back to something and it’s always tricky doing that with an audiobook. But, back to the story…oh my, did I love this one! First, it’s set on Long Island and I just love books set there! Set in a fictional town near the water, I just loved it!
And then we have the genre-bending story. This book is a mash-up of mystery, romance, some magical realism, and even a little feminism and it all came together so seamlessly. The revenge storyline was razor-sharp and I just could not get enough of it.
I don’t even want to say much more about this one except that it is plotted so brilliantly and paced just right. Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. It consumed me until I finished it and I still think about it months later. The characters were so well developed and I just loved their personalities. If you haven’t read this one yet, what are you waiting for?
Audio thoughts:
This was excellent on audio, narrated by January LaVoy, who is one of my favorite narrators. She does a brilliant job bringing this story to life, giving each character their own unique voice and personality. So good!!!
