On its surface, it's the story of three adult women who as childhood friends survived a brutal attack in the woods by a serial killer their testimony eventually sent to prison.
The killer's death from cancer while in prison brings the three women back together in the town where they grew up and where two of them still live. They'd stayed close through the years, but the killer's death opens old wounds, brings dormant memories back into the harsh light of day, reignites old friendships and casual acquaintenceships ... and unleashes unanswered questions and unraveled realities and out-of-nowhere jolts that just don't let up.
Reader, it's truly mesmerizing. It's all I could think about in the three days it took me to devour it. And writing this brief review is keeping all the delicious chaos, gory details and shocking betrayals swirling around in my head.
As always, I'm verty carefully avoiding key plot points and potential spoilers here, so I'll summarize the narrative as this: It takes place in and around a smallish Pacific Northwest town with an insular social and political history. Everyone has a surface persona and a carefully constructed personal narrative, but nobody is who you think they are. NOBODY. Even the protagonist has doubts about who she was, who she is and who she remembers being. But she's written in a way that I'd totally want to be her best friend if we ever met.
While author Kate Alice Marshall sure knows how to spin a gripping tale, she also knows how to create relatable characters and construct compelling prose that gracefully elevates what could end up sounding like pulpy melodrama in less-skilled hands.
She's also thoughtful enough to give you subtle reminders about who certain people and places are when they pop back into the narrative after long absences. One woman's father, for instance, doesn't make a lot of appearances early on and I'd initially forget who he was every time he came back. But Marshall always provides some helpful context with each reapparance—and without hitting you over the head with it.
This is a book I'll definitely read again—if only to find the Easter eggs hidden in early conversations and rehashed memories that suddenly have new, telling contexts as secrets start to unravel.
You should read it too. Because I'm just dying to talk about it at length with someone.
