This is one of those debut novels that you just kinda can’t believe is a debut. I am not familiar with The Virgin Suicides, so not knowing the source material, I think worked out for me as the story was pretty fresh. It was very reminiscent of The Crucible, small village in the 18th century, lots of world building and heavy on thematic elements. The five sisters are seen with caution and as outsiders. Independent women who don’t necessarily bend the knee to the patriarchy and behave in ways that seem pretty normal to a 21st century reader.
The story is told from POV of many in their village, the pub lady, the ferry guy, the fiance. It doesn’t go into the POV of the sisters, and personally I believe that is supposed to be because the reader is the sister, seeing the internal dialogue of gossip and fear of someone different. The themes definitely make you think; its a way to think about our sometimes small minds, judgmental nature, how we make assumptions and put up boundaries.
The ending is a bit ambiguous, I really loved the ending.
Audiobook- the narrator aptly uses an accent and uses different voices for different parts, but there are many POV making me want to listen at a slower pace than I typically do (I typically listen at 2.0 but for this I went 1.5)- it is a shorter novel and you can’t afford to miss anything by zoning out for a few seconds. Although the book is short, the pacing is even, so when a plot point is introduced it is more subtle than in contemporary novels set in America. The narrator was excellent.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. Book to be published 8/4/25
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