Synopses & Reviews
When a deep-rooted memory suddenly surfaces, Elizabeth Burns becomes obsessed with the long-ago disappearance of her childhood friend April Cassidy. Driven to investigate, Elizabeth discovers a thirty-five-year-old newspaper article revealing the details that had been hidden from her as a child: April's mother, Adele, drove with her two young daughters deep into the woods where she killed first them and then herself.
Elizabeth, now a mother herself, tracks down everyone--Adele Cassidy's neighbor, her psychiatrist, her sister--who might give her the insight necessary to understand how a mother could commit such a monstrous crime.
Elizabeth's investigation leads her back to herself: her compromised marriage, her demanding children, her increasing self-doubt, her desire for more out of her own life, and finally to a fearsome reckoning with what it means to be a mother and wife.
Review
"Bracingly honest and poignant, this is a novel I will read again and again. It’s that good."—Ayelet Waldman, author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits
Review
"A haunting work of ambition and dimension...This is a big, rich novel that tackles the ambivalence of motherhood full-frontally."—Meg Wolitzer, author of The Ten-Year Nap
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"Heartfelt, painful, and almost hypnotically readable."—Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon
Review
"Extraordinary . . . fascinating and detailed . . . this is a story that needs to be told."--Elle
USA Today
Review
"A captivating thriller."--More magazine More
Review
"Outstanding . . . a haunting eyes-wide openness."--Daily Candy The Washington Post
Review
"The perfect book club book...An amalgamation of autobiography, true crime and melodrama...The story is so engaging...A credit to this narrator's wonderfully appealing voice: funny, frustrated, likable, totally candid about her desires and failings." --The Washington Post
Review
"A page-turning good read...A tautly written story with sympathetic characters and evocative storytelling." --USA Today
Review
"This exceptional, riveting novel will haunt you long after you've reached the end."--Rocky Mountain News Working Mother
Review
"Extraordinary...Fascinating and detailed...This is a story that needs to be told." --Elle, #1 Reader's Pick
Review
"[A] haunting page-turner...A compelling look at what it means to be a mother and a wife." --
Working MotherReview
"A bold, haunting, honest, and wholly original journey into the darker, unchronicled terrains of motherhood."
--Katie Roiphe, author of Still She Haunts Me
Review
"A captivating thriller."--More magazine Rocky Mountain News
Synopsis
"A haunting work of ambition and dimension."--Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion
When a deep-seated memory suddenly surfaces, Elizabeth Burns becomes obsessed with the long-ago disappearance of her childhood friend April Cassidy. Driven to investigate, Elizabeth discovers a thirty-five-year-old newspaper article revealing the details that had been hidden from her as a child--shocking revelations about April's mother, Adele.
Elizabeth, now herself a mother, seeks out anyone who might help piece together the final months, days, and hours of this troubled woman's life, but the answers yield only more questions. And those questions lead back to Elizabeth's own life: her own compromised marriage, her increasing self-doubt and dissatisfaction, and finally, a fearsome reckoning with what it means to be a wife and mother.
Synopsis
When a deep-seated memory suddenly surfaces, Elizabeth Burns becomes obsessed with the long-ago disappearance of her childhood friend April Cassidy. Driven to investigate, Elizabeth discovers a thirty-five-year-old newspaper article revealing the details that had been hidden from her as a child--shocking revelations about April's mother, Adele.
Elizabeth, now herself a mother, seeks out anyone who might help piece together the final months, days, and hours of this troubled woman's life, but the answers yield only more questions. And those questions lead back to Elizabeth's own life: her own compromised marriage, her increasing self-doubt and dissatisfaction, and finally, a fearsome reckoning with what it means to be a wife and mother.
About the Author
Deborah Copaken Kogan is the author of Shutter-babe, the bestselling memoir of her years as a war photographer. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Paris Match, Newsweek, Time, Elle, L'Express, and PHOTO, and on The Today Show, ABC News, Dateline NBC, and CNN. She lives in New York with her husband and three children.