First published 2012
Nick and her cousin Helena spent their youth at Tiger House, the family estate on Martha's Vineyard, sharing boat docks bleached by sun and gin parties that stretched past midnight. After World War II ends, both women prepare for new chapters. Helena departs for Hollywood and marriage while Nick awaits her husband Hughes, returning from combat. Their fresh starts sour quickly. Helena discovers her new husband hides his true nature. Hughes comes home changed, his warmth replaced by distance and shadows. Years pass. In the late 1950s, Nick and Helena return to Tiger House with their children, Daisy and Ed, hoping to recover their lost sense of possibility. The summer takes a violent turn when Daisy and Ed stumble upon a murder victim. The crime shatters the family's careful facade. Long-buried secrets surface as each member breaks free from their expected roles. The story unfolds through five different perspectives, revealing how one act of violence can destroy everything a family believed about itself.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, thriller, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: multiple-perspectives, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Martha's Vineyard, Tiger House
Period: 1950s, Post-World War II
353 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: death, violence