Plot or Premise

A romance perverted by possession creates the basis for a long isolated life for a widow in a large house on a hill above a small town.

What I Liked

I liked the dual story near the start — the current life in the town of Mill River and the past when the story of the resident of the house on the hill began. The initial opening — that of a suicide — set up a semi-mystery of “Who is she? Why is she killing herself?” that added some gravitas to the plot.

What I Didn’t Like

The novel was nominated for numerous awards, and all of them touted the book as a mystery. As I said above, “Who is she? Why is she killing herself?”. So you expect the story to somehow pay off as you see all the characters in the town below her mansion. I was disappointed in the ending that in fact, most of the town really has nothing to do with her. There’s no real “mystery” per se, nor payoff in terms of connections. The ending is solid, albeit a bit schmaltzy, but I had to deduct a point for the fact that it is not better connected to the opening and there’s no real sense of “mystery solved”.

The Bottom Line

Solid story, light on mystery