I did like how the layers of this story came together, but I felt that it was a bit too slow in getting there. Having said that, even though the plot wasn't as pacy as I'd hoped for, I stayed for the fantastic characters who I felt were portrayed so well by the author.

The Cliffs
'Entrancing ... filled with mystery' Reese Witherspoon, Reese's Book Club Pick July Pick
by Julie Courtney Sullivan

The Cliffs by Julie Courtney Sullivan is a beautifully written story that weaves together history, family secrets, and supernatural intrigue. The book follows Jane Flanagan, a Harvard archivist who returns to her Maine hometown after a career mishap. Tasked with uncovering the history of a mysterious Victorian house she loved as a teen, Jane delves into its haunting past, uncovering stories of love, loss, and the darker side of history.
I loved how the story explored Jane’s journey from childhood to adulthood, navigating family drama, alcoholism, and personal redemption. The blend of historical insights, ghostly elements, and emotional depth kept me engaged, although the slower pace at times was a challenge. The rich descriptions of Maine and the complex characters, especially Jane and Genevieve, added depth to the narrative.
While the historical and spiritual themes felt slightly overwhelming at points, The Cliffs is a memorable and thought-provoking read.
Very grateful to the publisher for my copy, opinions are my own

'The Cliffs' by Julie Courtney Sullivan centres around an abandoned house that sits on top of a cliff in Maine, the lives of its prevoius and current inhabitants and how they are connected. It features secrets, family dynamics, ghosts and historic content. The novel was a little bit slow at times. But I very much enjoyed learning about indigenous history and culture which was a big part of the book and very well researched by the author. All in all an enjoyable read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.

Such a compelling read. The Cluffs truly is a slow burn novel that will simultaneously break your heart and make you laugh. I LOVED it!

The Cliffs
By J Courtney Sullivan

I love a Maine setting. I love an old house as a character. Ghosts, family secrets, this would have been enough for me. I appreciated the narrative that was concerned with preservation of history, the dynamics between the local community and the blow in gentrifiers. I love the way the author intertwines the back stories of Jane's relatives and reveals insights into how alcoholism affects lovers, family, relationships and how it's effects are passed through generations.

Another element is the insights into psychic ability and mediumship. This all for a bit too woo-woo for me. I get twitchy around people who speak earnestly about such things, and I felt the twitch coming on here, as if the author was trying to convince me there is something in it. My resistance was highly engaged, however it dovetailed nicely with the haunting themes within the story.

If all of that wasn't enough, a significant part of the story deals with the historic treatment of Native people by the colonisers, and about the pilgrim way of life and their beliefs. I really wish that these elements weren't included in this story, in this amount of detail, for several reasons.

Firstly, there is too much else going on and these both distract from what might have been a well layered story.

Secondly, the manner in which these elements are told, the structure employed, feels less like a novel and more like a visitor centre experience. It's like the author has decided that the reader knows nothing about these highly emotive and deeply disturbing parts of American history and I feel slightly patronised.

I admire what the author has tried to achieve, I acknowledge her heartfelt empathy and the amount of research she has undertaken, but there's more than one multi-layered novel here, and I wish she had exercised a bit of restraint.

Publication date: 7th November 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review purposes

I definitely thought that I would enjoy this book after reading the blurb. And I did. It was a slooooow burn which I'm not mad at but if you prefer a very fast paced book be warned. I liked that it was a mixture or modern family drama, had an element of supernatural and also delved into history.

After reading the blurb this one drew me in, but unfortunately I don't think it was for me. It was very slow to get going and by 10% I had lost interest.

This was such a beautiful read, it had so many nuances to it. Exploring the pain and loss caused by family, heartbreak and the past.

Read the blur I straight away thought this is the kind of book for me. Not really one for different POV this book makes it work. I have to admit it was a bit of a slow burn storyline and this did mark my rating for this book. At times I felt it was dragging but I continued with it. Loved how it followed the main character from childhood to adulthood and the drama with family and everyday issues were well written. Great mixture of historical, supernatural and drama genres.

The Cliffs by Julie Courtney Sullivan is a complex novel that is very hard to categorise. It is part family saga, part mystery with a dollop of historical fiction. The main protagonist is Jane, who grew up in a chaotic alcoholic single mother household and incredibly close to her grandmother. She is clever and starts work as an archivist at Harvard. We meet her as she returns home to Maine following the death of her mother when she is required to take a break from her job at Harvard. She becomes involved in researching a house on the cliffs that she was always drawn to as a teenager - it has been redeveloped but is possibly haunted. She discovers her link to the house runs deeper than she imagined. At times, the reader is told the story from the points of view of women that lived in the house on the cliffs. The story explores the impact of alcoholism, generational trauma, religion, equality, racism and grief against the backdrop of modern day America that is struggling to acknowledge the wrongs it has done to the Native American community. This is clearly a well researched and considered novel that explores important themes. Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t necessarily know what it wants to achieve in terms of plot but it certainly honours the complexities of the women featured. It is a thought provoking read.

J. Courtney Sullivan writes a fascinating story that is loaded with an informative history of America, which can sometimes make this rather dry, a mystery with a ghost, thought provoking and covering a range of different elements. When Jane Flanagan was younger, living in Maine, she used to escape her troubling and volatile home life and make her way to a abandoned lavender Victorian house overlooking the ocean. It held an allure and sense of mystery that drew in and captivated her, no one had lived it in for so long, yet it was strewn with items, such as dishes and clothes. Now years later, a self destructive Jane returns, with the task of clearing out her mother's home with a view to selling it, having been an archivist in Harvard, but following an error, her career and marriage to David are under threat.

The flawed Jane's Victorian house in the present has become unrecognisable, renovated into a monstrous horror owned by the wealthy Genevieve Richards, rife with rumours of being haunted after odd events. Genevieve hires Jane, interested in history, to delve into and research the land and the house's past, a job that will end up having personal repercussions and resonance in her own life and the challenges she faces. There are multiple historical dual timelines, of women who had lived there, that cover a range of issues, loss, tragedy, grief, generational trauma, and heartbreak, touching on the Wabanaki nations, Native American culture, colonialism and the Shaker movement.

The author writes a family drama, of alcoholism, the house, strong women, secrets, loss, grief, and a mystery, a well researched and complex historical novel that highlights the need information, for history, understanding it, and the inevitable legacy it leaves behind. The narrative does have a gothic feel but does not always flow smoothly, but I was able to overlook this, drawn in by the characters and informative history. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

The Cliffs might just be my favourite book of the year. I was completely entranced by this novel, was invested in every character, and savoured it for as long as I could. The writing was spectacular, I'll be looking into Sullivan's previous novels immediately. The mix of past and present, the emotional family core, the reveals - a masterclass in storytelling and character building. All of the characters were so richly drawn and real to me that the epilogue was a real treat.

This was an interesting read and had lots of different elements to it, but I feel as though I am still left with questions and there were some aspects which felt shoe-horned in and weren't really all that relevant. The ending I saw coming too and was a bit too predictable. That being said, it is still an enjoyable read and does make you think a lot about things in life such as the influence of family, strong women, death...

Jane and David are having a break. We don't fully know the reason behind this until the latter part of the book and this works well. It means that we are drawn to Jane, feel for her, get behind her. When the truth of Jane's troubles is revealed, it works well as it means we already have compassion for her and don't instantly judge her, which we may have done if we were told everything at the start.

Jane is interested in history and preserving stories of strong women. Her intrigue and passion really comes across well.

There are several chapters which suddenly go into a different person's story, but only the once, we don't go back to them again. And this didn't really work properly, it meant you couldn't be fully invested. I'd have preferred it to be two timelines with Jane and Eliza's story.

It was unbelievable how everyone was linked. Allison was a big part of Jane's life yet I'm left wondering what happened with them at the end, same as with her sister. The part about the afterlife, previous lives, etc didn't really work and I still don't know what Jane really thought about it. It was all a bit odd.

This story has got a lot of interesting elements in it but there are so many aspects which could have been tied up better and explained better - I didn't need a whole chapter on Jane's university days and then just nothing more than a sentence about how she and David met...

Archivist Jane returns to her family home in Maine after the death of her mother triggers an alcoholic meltdown that threatens both her marriage and her job. There she sees again the old abandoned house she has always loved and retreated to, now bought and being unsympathetically renovated by the insensitive and self-obsessed Genevieve. When Genevieve asks Jane to do some research into the history and previous inhabitants of the house, Jane discovers connections to her own life that she had never suspected. I loved this book to bits! The stories of the Native Americans and their brutal treatment are fascinating, the ghost and spiritual parts gripping, and Sullivan is very perceptive about families, inheritance and legacy. The novel is rich in American cultural history, exploring how we tell stories, past and present, and how we can atone for the mistakes of the past, and particularly how the voices of women and minority groups have not been heard or valued and how we can change that. There is strong emphasis also on family, especially mothers and children, and their continuing bonds, even beyond death. I adored the character of Jane with all her flaws and her ability to self destruct, and felt that the portrayal of alcoholism was one of the most convincing I have read. Multi-layered and moving, this is a book to relish and reflect on.

This started out a little confusing with all the different women's povs, but I loved the setting and enjoyed reading it slowly. Thank you for the ARC.

A very interesting read telling us tale of Jane abd her family, deceased grandmother , alcoholic mother , single mother sister and husband who she’s estranged from . Jane is different from her family she has succeeded in her career with a coveted position at Harvard but the cracks soon start to appear bringing her back to the town of her youth Awadapquits . I really enjoyed the way this book was written telling Jane’s story as well as giving in-depth history that intertwined with the subject matter very cleverly written

This book is such a fabulous read.

I loved the the 'old' house and the secrets and I had a good time imagining living there, I also loved the 'new' house But I totally understood Janes emotions when she saw what the new owners had done to the place.

Old house evoke such emotions and the ghosts that live there have a right to be left in peace. Jane is asked to find out the history of the once abandoned house and I loved the unveiling and the joining of past and present.

I loved this book.. I really didn't want it to end. It is richly descriptive and brilliantly told.