THE CLIFFS
In 1992, American critic Camille Paglia said: “All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!” And that’s what happens in J. Courtney Sullivan’s latest novel, “The Cliffs.”
This is Sullivan’s sixth novel, a confusing mish-mash of generational and cultural plot lines so complexly woven that readers may have a hard time separating one from another, and keeping track will be a challenge. This novel does not pack the powerful punch of her excellent book, “Maine” (Knopf, 2011), a terrific story about family greed and
dysfunction. It does, however, offer detailed cultural history lessons about women among the Shakers at Sabbathday Lake, Abanaki, indigenous women, the defined role of women in the 1800s, and the repatriation of religious and cultural artifacts to Native Americans.
The story follows a modern woman’s interest in the tragic history of an old Victorian
house on a cliff on Maine’s coast. Jane Flanagan, a mid-30s alcoholic who has lost both her job as an archivist at Harvard and her marriage to booze, is now hired to research the three generational history of the house. The new owner, an arrogant, smarmy, rich woman has uncaringly committed an illegal and horrid act in the property renovation, producing a ghost only her son can see.
Jane’s research sets her off on an unsettling historical journey of tragedy, sadness, abuse, intolerance, and cultural diaspora. She eventually regains her sense of balance and self-worth, but it’s a long road of doubt and emotional pain. Readers will have to keep track of all the characters and the eras they cover. And what of the ghost and the
old house? Jane figures it out, but it’s a slog to get there.
DEATH BY CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY SCONE
Do sharks like to eat cake? Or doughnuts or raspberry scones? Or maybe just people who taste like cake? Readers will find out in Sarah Graves’s seventh novel in her “Death by Chocolate” mystery series.
This mystery series is a spinoff of Graves’s popular “Home Repair is Homicide” series, featuring Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her erstwhile best friend Ellie White. The two women operate a bakery in Eastport, Maine (where Graves lives), baking delicious treats and solving murder mysteries. This story is a bit over the top, a fast-paced, complex tale with multiple murders, a missing husband, a kidnapping, attempted murder, lost pirate treasure, seasick stomachs, miraculous escapes, and hungry sharks looking for cake/people.
Graves makes sure there are no idle moments in this mystery, as Jake and Ellie investigate the mysterious disappearance of a fisherman who had possession of a priceless antique gold coin. He is presumed dead at sea, but when dead bodies show up none are the missing man. Who are they? Is the fisherman dead or alive? And why did someone kill his half-brother and leave a cryptic clue at the scene?
Then when a slick shark scientist arrives in his fancy boat, the sharks arrive, too, and they are hungry. Jake and Ellie spend too much time out on the water looking for clues, not realizing they are now targets of sharks and two-legged killers. And a kidnapping makes their investigation very personal.
Add a sunken barge hiding dark secrets, an eccentric island witch who is pretty smart, a new police chief with a load of baggage, a wife who should be distraught but isn’t, a curious “side hustle” that may be illegal, and lots of shark action, and Graves has another hit. But where’s that coin and who wants cake?
Bill Bushnelll lives and writes in Harpswell.
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