The Cliffs: Reese's Book Club

A Novel

De: J. Courtney Sullivan

Narrado por: Kimberly Farr, Tanis Parenteau, Emily Lawrence, Brittany Pressley, Cassandra Campbell

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK • A novel of family, secrets, ghosts, and homecoming set on the seaside cliffs of Maine, by the best-selling author of Friends and Strangers

“A stunning achievement, and J. Courtney Sullivan’s best book yet. Sullivan weaves a narrative that’s fascinating and thought-provoking. I literally could not put this book down.”—Ann Napolitano, New York Times best-selling author of Hello Beautiful

On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house, lavender with gingerbread trim, a home that contains a century’s worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. The place is an irresistible mystery to Jane. There are still clothes in the closets, marbles rolling across the floors, and dishes in the cupboards, even though no one has set foot there in decades. The house becomes a hideaway for Jane, a place to escape her 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 shelter magazine. Strangely, Genevieve is convinced that the house is haunted—perhaps the product of something troubling Genevieve herself has done. She 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 artifacts stolen and sold, and the long shadow of colonialism—is even older than Maine itself. Enthralling, richly imagined, filled with psychic mediums and charlatans, spirits and past lives, mothers, marriage, and the legacy of alcoholism, this is a deeply moving novel about the land we inhabit, the women who came before us, and the ways in which none of us will ever truly leave this earth.

©2024 J. Courtney Sullivan (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

Named a Best Book of the Month by The New York Times, Real Simple, and Kirkus

"The Cliffs is rich with ghosts, and its message is that some day we might be forgotten, but who we are and what we do never truly vanishes from this world....[Sullivan] tells the tender love story of a widow and her housekeeper and a story of a mother's love for her child."—Laurie Hertzel, Minneapolis StarTribune

"Sullivan has found the perfect heroine for her compulsively readable novel. Funny, beleaguered, heartbreaking—Jane is a woman who just wants to pull together and will do anything to make that happen. Even if means following the cryptic clues of possibly fraudulent psychic."—Leigh Newman, Oprah Daily

"Haunting....Archivist Jane Flanagan returns to her coastal Maine hometown to discover that the long-abandoned gothic house she was obsessed with as a teen has a new owner. Genevieve, a wealthy outsider, has given the once-dilapidated dwelling a misbegotten makeover that she believes has awakened something sinister. In this provocative ghost story that questions how we right our wrongs of the past, the two must team up to rid the mysterious 19th-century home of its spirits and overcome their own demons."—Shannon Carlin, Time

Loved learning about the history, but too many topics covered

First time I say I’m really glad I read it. I learned so much about different parts of history, but I think the author tried to tackle too many issues. I felt like once I was just getting into a certain historical culture. The story would pivot, and it was a bit too much. if you’re into the history of Maine or the history of Indian tribes or anybody has ever said, you drink too much, I think this is definitely worth your time.

Love the historical narrative

The combination of alcoholism and sobriety, the lives of all of the women through history that lived in that house, and the mystery behind it were engaging.

Beautifully written

Intriguing story with some romance and self help as well as history y really recommend this book. It’s the perfect summer reading.

Expect the unexpected

The New England history laced with clairvoyance and native lore. The addiction sub-theme was real and believable.

The Historical Record

Sometimes one has to dig a little deeper to appreciate the significance of what has come before. History becomes more profound when the past influences the future.

So much!

Not only was this a ghost story, this was a history lesson and also the inner secrets of an alcoholic. There was too much in the story, too much I did not ask for. I was hoping for a nice diversion and this book took me down some sad sad roads. All of these stories need to be told and understood, I now feel I have a better understanding of the indigenous American people and feel bad for my part as the descendent of an English settler, but as I said, this was not the story I was hoping for.

Many Stories in One

The story of The Cliffs is told from multiple POVs and time periods, of the various people who occupied the area and the house on the cliffs. Mostly, we follow Jane, who grew up near the old house, and spent her summers wondering about the old place while visiting her grandmother. Now that both Jane’s mother and grandmother have passed, she is going through the difficult task of sorting through their things, and her past. On top of that, she’s dealing with alcoholism and a strained relationship with her husband. The author takes chapters, here and there, to give backstory on the old house. She tells the tale of Eliza who grew up as a Shaker, then came to live in that house. She tells the story of Marilyn and the tragedy of her marriage and child. She goes back even further and gives accounts of the native people who lived there, their legends and stories, and the robbing of their culture. It’s all connected because of the land and the house, and Jane is conveniently an historian, but I’m not sure I liked the disjointed chapters. If felt like the author was trying to tell too many stories in one book. The multiple narrators for the audio book were all good, and it helped to hear different voices telling the different parts of the book. Not my favorite of Reese’s Book Club picks, but worth a listen.

Love the characters

I related so much to the story of Jane and her grandmother. It made me ache missing mine. Not a history buff like Jane and in every other way she is me.
I did feel it went on way too much about Indigenous people at times. I guess it’s the old person in me that finds it boring. Important I understand and probably should be grateful someone is actively working the issue.

Lackluster storyline that just never quite got there

The story was weak. They spent so much time on the background of the characters but left us hanging. Just pretty blah overall.

Great main story with a lot of unnecessary depressing fluff about the indigenous.

I loved the main story about Jane, Daisy and all the intertwining stories of various women. All the details of the horrors the indigenous faced could have been left out. It wasn’t necessary to the larger more prominent story. It was as if she just wanted to tell people about those horror stories and how the indigenous had been wronged by the white men and she decided to add it to a book she happened to be writing at the same time. Took up an entire chapter having nothing to do with the rest of the story.I felt like I was held captive and had to listen to those parts in order to get the rest of the story. It was completely unnecessary to push her agenda for cultural reparations.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
Why did they not go find the bones from the graves that had been dug up? That was a main part of the story. The ghost of Daisy wanted her mom to know and Jane never told her. She lied to her. So they were never buried together. That was so disappointing.