"The Cliffs," J. Courtney Sullivan's latest book, is a powerful look at history, memory, and the ghosts that live in places and people. This imaginative story takes place in the made-up beach town of Awadapquit, Maine, and connects the past and present through the lens of a single Victorian house perched on a cliff with a view of the ocean.

The story starts with Jane Flanagan, a girl who finds a long-abandoned Victorian house with lavender siding and gingerbread trim full of things belonging to the people who lived there before. This strange house is a safe place for Jane to escape her unstable mother and her crazy home life. She finds mystery and comfort in the house, which looks like it has been frozen in time because the dishes are still in the cabinets, and marbles are rolling across the floors.

After 29 years, Jane, a historian at Harvard, returns to Maine after making a mistake that could cost her her job. The new house owner, Genevieve Richards, has turned it from a magical place to a modern monstrosity. Genevieve, who lives in Beacon Hill during the summer, thinks the house is haunted and hires Jane to learn more about its past. Jane digs deeper into the past and finds tales of lovers lost at sea, artistic awakenings, and the deep wounds of colonialism. These stories form a fabric of the women who lived and loved in the house.

Intertwining Lives and Histories

A review from WBUR said that Sullivan's book skillfully jumps between periods, connecting Jane's journey with the lives of people who have lived in the house in the past. From the middle of the 1800s, when the house was built for Samuel Littleton, a sea captain, and his wife Hannah, the story goes up to the present day. Every element reveals how these women's lives are intertwined and weaves their stories in a timeless and modern way.

The Victorian house is not just a setting but an additional character in the book's narrative. Sullivan describes it as a place where secrets are hidden and one can connect to the past, highlighting themes of memory and inheritance discussed in the book. 

A Self-Discovery Journey

Learning about the house's past helps Jane face her challenging past. Her trip back to Awadapquit is not just for work but also an emotional quest for forgiveness and understanding. The book details Jane's complicated relationships with her alcoholic mother, her divorced sister, and the recent problems in her marriage. 

Through her exchanges with Genevieve, Jane considers the moral problems of preserving history versus modernizing. Jane's deep respect for the past and Genevieve's careless makeover of the house are stark contrasts that show the larger cultural tensions between progress and preservation. 

READ ALSO: 6 Dark Fiction Books Recommended by Thriller Writer Ivy Pochoda

Ghosts of the Past

The book has some supernatural ideas but is not an ordinary ghost story. The ghosts in Sullivan's story show how the past still affects the present. The book has ghosts, mediums, and other psychic events, which adds to its mystery and supports the idea that the past is never really gone.

Kirkus Reviews said that Sullivan's vivid descriptions of historical events and cultural practices, such as the skill with which Shaker and Abenaki people weave baskets and the complexity of spiritualism in the 1800s, show how well she has researched these topics. These details make the story more interesting by giving the characters' experiences more depth and realism.

Conclusion

Even though the book is about tragedy and loss, it is eventually a story of strength and hope. Readers can relate to the problems and successes of Sullivan's characters because she writes about them compassionately, even when they make mistakes or regret what they did. Jane's journey to accept herself and her work to respect the women who came before her are moving examples of how history can heal and inspire.

Sullivan's work is a deep and moving book not limited by time or place. Through the view of a single house, she looks at how the past and present are always connected, how complicated relationships are, and how history changes our lives forever. The book is an unforgettable trip through the echoes of time for readers who want to be deeply engaged and think deeply about what they read.

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Psykhe' by Kate Forsyth Book Review: An Empowering Retelling of a Greek Myth