Many thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for gifting me a digital ARC of this novel by Sarah Moss. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!
It is the 60s and, just out of school, Edith finds herself traveling to rural Italy. She has been sent by her mother with strict instructions: to see her sister, ballet dancer Lydia, through the final weeks of her pregnancy, help at the birth and then make a phone call which will seal this baby’s fate, and his mother’s. Decades later, happily divorced and newly energized, Edith is living a life of contentment and comfort in Ireland. When her best friend Maebh receives a call from an American man claiming to be her brother, Maebh must decide if she will meet him, and she asks Edith for help.
Ripeness is a wonderfully written novel that will make you think about identity, family, belonging. Told in alternate timelines, both are intriguing looks into these issues as Edith feels like an outsider in both tellings. Definitely keeping details sparse here, because this is a book that surprised me with its shift. This book also made me feel even stronger about those family DNA tests, as related to past atrocities. A quiet book that will move you.
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