Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this beautifully-written novel by Suzanne Berne - 4 stars!
A family can hold so very many secrets. Lorna, a therapist, is still trying to come to grips with the abandonment she felt when her mother, Marika, left their family when her and her brother were still young. Lorna never knew the reasons for Marika's departure yet when she received a postcard letting her know that Marika was living in nearby Vermont, she traveled there with her young son, Adam, to try and reestablish a relationship. When that didn't work, they had only yearly get-togethers at Thanksgiving from that point. Adam, meanwhile, came home from college and won't talk about what happened there and why he won't go back. So when Marika falls and needs help, Lorna and Adam head out to her cottage on the lake in the hopes of reconnection.
I loved the writing of this story, the atmospheric descriptions of the lake and surroundings. It's a slow novel to sit and be still with, very character-driven full of family secrets, trauma, and hope. The relationship between Marika and Adam is so sweet and changes both of them. However, if you like endings tied neatly in a bow, this is not the book for you. There are as many secrets at the end as there are with these characters themselves, but it was only wanting to spend more time with these people that left me wanting.
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