by Anita Shreve
First published 2007
Kathryn Lyons teaches high school in a New England mill town. She lives by the ocean with her fifteen-year-old daughter, married to a pilot whose job means stretches of excitement followed by long absences. Late one night, someone knocks on her door. Her husband has died in a plane crash. Kathryn must face her grief while reporters swarm around the tragedy. They want every detail about the accident and her marriage. The plane went down in waters off the Irish coast. Before investigators even locate the wreckage, journalists begin digging into her husband's past. Their questions disturb her. Rumors surface about his activities during those long trips away from home. Kathryn realizes she may not have known the man she married. The scrutiny forces her to confront a troubling possibility. Did her husband maintain a secret existence she never suspected?
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Ireland, New England
Period: 20th-century
316 pages · Kindle Edition · Back Bay Books