First published 2013
Ava Lark arrives in a Boston suburb in 1956 with her twelve-year-old son Lewis, hoping for a fresh start. The neighborhood greets the divorced working mother with cold shoulders and whispered judgments. Lewis aches for his missing father and finds comfort only with Jimmy and Rose, two other children growing up without dads. Then Jimmy vanishes without a trace. The Cold War atmosphere of suspicion and fear gives neighbors the excuse they need to blame Ava and Lewis for the disappearance. The tragedy scars Lewis deeply. He drifts through his twenties without direction, unable to sustain relationships or connect with his mother. Rose becomes a teacher in a distant city, protecting other children since she could not save her brother. Ava rebuilds her life as the world changes around her. Years later, the truth about Jimmy finally surfaces. Ava, Lewis, and Rose must each confront what the mystery cost them and decide whether they can recover what they lost.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Boston, United States
Period: 1956, 1970s
360 pages · Kindle Edition · Algonquin Books
Content warnings: anxiety, depression