Book review: The Cliffs by J.Courtney Sullivan
Published on 24 June 2025
Genre: Family stories, Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Julie
Why I chose this book:
This is one of Reece Witherspoon’s Book Club selection and it was reviewed in Good Reads.
I have enjoyed every book I have read from this selection and the blurb made it sound intriguing.
Quick Summary:
This book turned into a compelling story anchored by a sense of place and by all the people who lived there. A story of families, trauma, ghosts and secrets set on a beautiful seaside cliff in Maine, USA, overlooking the ocean.
Troubled Jane Flanagan is a teenager when she first discovers the intriguing Victorian house set on a cliff looking out to the ocean and to the past and to the future. She falls in love with it and returns daily finding secret memories and even hidden rooms. It casts its spell on her.
Twenty years later she returns after a traumatic event as a troubled archivist whose marriage is in shambles. She is lured back by the current owner of the house who has changed it beyond recognition and who believes it is haunted. Has the reconstruction summoned the wrongs and the ghosts of the past.
We follow Jane in her struggle with alcohol and the unresolved conflicts of her early life as she whilst she researches the history of the house. Through this we go back in history to the early settlers of the area, to the Shakers and travel through time learning of the history of the women who peopled the Cliffs. It is through their stories that Jane learns of her own history and is able to heal some of her wounds.
What I thought:
I found this to be a compelling tapestry of stories, giving voice to the many women whose experiences might otherwise go unheard. She reveals that we all leave an indelible imprint on our families.
Who should read this?
Those that enjoy a well written and researched story.
Read-Alikes: