Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Not That I Could Tell
by Jessica Strawser

When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It’s a rare kid-free night, and they’re giddy with it. They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal.

By Monday morning, one of them is gone.

Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. Kristin was a sociable twin mom, college administrator, and doctor’s wife who didn’t seem all that bothered by her impending divorce—and the investigation turns up more questions than answers, with her husband, Paul, at the center. For her closest neighbor, Clara, the incident triggers memories she thought she’d put behind her—and when she’s unable to extract herself from the widening circle of scrutiny, her own suspicions quickly grow. But the neighborhood’s newest addition, Izzy, is determined not to jump to any conclusions—especially since she’s dealing with a crisis of her own.

As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what’s going on behind their own closed doors—and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else.
(overview and book cover from Goodreads)

My Thoughts

Several neighbor women connect one night to sit outside and drink some wine. The next day, one of them disappears with her two children. This happens right up front and the rest of the novel is based on understanding how each of the women left behinds tries to interpret the disappearance through her own beliefs and past experiences.

After reading the overview, I thought I had a pretty good idea on how this story was going to go down. Initially, when it wasn't going my way. I was a bit put off. But in the long run, I liked the author's version much better. We get to spend time with each of the women individually and collectively as they process their own thoughts and interact with each other. I thought the story came to a very interesting conclusion. All in all, I found this to be an enjoyable read.

From St. Martin's press via Netgally.

No comments:

Post a Comment