Author: Julia Glass
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Pantheon
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
Book Description: When two unexpected visitors arrive in an insular coastal village, they threaten the equilibrium of a community already confronting climate instability, political violence, and domestic upheavals—a cast of unforgettable characters from the rich imagination of the National Book Award–winning, best-selling author of Three Junes.
A decade from now, in the historic town of Vigil Harbor, there is a rash of divorces among the yacht-club set, a marine biologist despairs at the state of the world, a spurned wife is bent on revenge, and the renowned architect Austin Kepner pursues a passion for building homes designed to withstand the escalating fury of relentless storms. Austin’s stepson, Brecht, has dropped out of college in New York and returned home after narrowly escaping one of the terrorist acts that, like hurricanes, have become increasingly common.
Then two strangers arrive: a stranded traveler with subversive charms and a widow seeking clues about a past lover with ties to Austin—a woman who may have been more than merely human. These strangers and their hidden motives come together unexpectedly in an incident that endangers lives—including Brecht’s—with dramatic repercussions for the entire town.
Vigil Harbor reveals Julia Glass in all her virtuosity, braiding multiple voices and dazzling strands of plot into a story where mortal longings and fears intersect with immortal mysteries of the deep as well as of the heart.
Rating: 4. 5 Stars
Review: This story set in a small coastal town near Massachusetts 10 years post Covid. Centered around several community members that are all interconnected. With the community still overwhelmed with grief, a divorce that rocks the community and a terrorist attack in nearby Cambridge, this sets the tone for the entire novel. Rich with complications, a lot of backstory, you start to feel for each community member that is portrayed in this book.
The last third of the book culminates into life and town altering means and what the aftermath is. While it does take a long time to get to this point it it well worth the entire book.
Filled with a nuanced community worried about climate change, politics, talk of vaccines, Vigil Harbor makes a great book for book club discussions. There is a deliciousness in this close knit group of community members. I am really not sure how this book came my way, but so happy it did. I will remember this one for a long time.
Thank you NetGalley and Pantheon for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 