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Synopsis
When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn't just any thirteen-year-old: she's the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region's residents. And this isn't the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara's older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore's multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore's most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
Synopsis source: Goodreads
Review
Genre(s): Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Women's Fiction
HB&W Rating: 3 stars
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I liked this book. Part slow-burn mystery, part historical fiction, part women's fiction with a dose of explored class dynamics, this book mostly lives up to the hype. You just have to get to the end and all the revelations to feel that way.
I received an eARC for this book and as pretty as the cover is and as interesting as the synopsis was, it took me a while before I started it. When I finally did, I struggled to keep picking this one back up after I put it down. It didn't grab me right away, didn't attach me to the characters very quickly probably because we jumped around so much from one perspective to another and from one timeline to another. This structure also requires the reader to really pay attention to know what's happening and when. I almost DNFd it. The only reason I didn't is because of all the hype this book has gotten since its release.
A friend gifted me a copy of the audio after the book came out, because I still hadn't gotten very far in the eBook. That helped me a lot. Saskia Maarleveld did a great job on the audio and made it much easier to get into the book.
While parts of the book were unsurprising, there were some twists and I really enjoyed how everything came together once everything was revealed. The blending of individual motivations with various relationship dynamics was fascinating for its plausibility.
What I really loved were the variety of women's stories told in this one book and how each of them represented differed aspects of the challenges women face across generations and class. This is women's fiction at its finest, as each of these women are relatable in one way or another to female readers.
It would make for an interesting book club discussion, I think. I couldn't quite give it 4 stars because it was just so dang slow to get into, but it was worth it in the end. But if you struggle with the eyeball version, I definitely recommend the audiobook.
Thank you to Penguin's Riverhead Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Until next time,
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