Author: Susan Conley
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: February 2, 2021
Book Description: A gorgeous jewel of a novel about a mother caring for her two sons while everything else–her marriage and the fishing industry her New England community relies on–threatens to crumble around her.
After a fishing accident leaves her husband hospitalized across the border in Canada, Jill is left to look after her teenage boys–“the wolves”–alone. Nothing comes easy in their remote corner of Maine: Money is tight, her son Sam is getting into more trouble by the day, her eldest Charlie has a new girlfriend, and Jill begins to suspect her marriage isn’t as stable as she once believed. As one disaster gives way to the next, she begins to think that it’s not enough to be a caring wife and mother anymore–not enough to show up when needed, nudge her boys in the right direction, believe everything will be okay. But how to protect this life she loves, this household, this family?
With remarkable poise and startling beauty, Landslide ushers us into a modern household where, for a family at odds, Instagram posts, sex-positivity talks, and old fishing tales mingle to become a kind of love language. It is a stunning portrait of a family, as compelling as it is moving, and raises the question of how to remain devoted when the eye of the storm closes in.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Review: A very sparse novel about a woman who is left to care for her two sons, while her husband is recovering from severe injuries in Canada.
Told in very small vignettes that span from the days Jill meets her husband until post-accident. Her sons are struggling with the aftermath and so is Jill, as she deals with issues her husband would normally help her with.
Susan Conley paints a very realistic picture of this woman trying to do what is right for her family. She is dealt some tough blows from her husband and kids, and she has to make decisions of what is right for her.
This is lovely writing, and pact full of details in this very short book. You might want to read this in small bits, and the author makes this very accessible for that.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 