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Everything Lost Returns: A Novel
Not yet published
Expected 17 Feb 26
The poignant, utterly original story of two women separated across time but united by the arrival of H
alley's comet, as blazing and as daring as their stories
1986. The Earthshine Soap Company has given Nona Dixon everything, from making her the brand’s first Earthshine Girl to launching her acting career. It also threatens to be the very thing that causes her to unravel when a group of Jane Does file a class action lawsuit accusing the company of putting harmful ingredients into their products. When Nona begins investigating Bertie Tuttle, the company’s third-generation owner, she uncovers a complicated history involving her benefactor and a mysterious woman named Opal Doucet.
1910. Seventy-six years earlier, Opal Doucet, a rural doctor’s wife, is pregnant, on the run, and desperate to get to Paris and to the charismatic spiritualist who supposedly communed with her first love. To save money, Opal goes to work in the Earthshine Soap factory as an Earthshine Girl where she uses her knowledge of medicine, and the spiritualist’s teachings, to prescribe cures to the women who’ve come down with mystery ailments. As she and Bertie Tuttle secretly partner in a labor strike intended to improve the working conditions at the factory, Opal must decide the cost of her own freedom.
Gorgeously written and intricately constructed, Everything Lost Returns is a story of desire and friendship, guilt and redemption, and the power we have, in our own small way, to change the course of history.
1986. The Earthshine Soap Company has given Nona Dixon everything, from making her the brand’s first Earthshine Girl to launching her acting career. It also threatens to be the very thing that causes her to unravel when a group of Jane Does file a class action lawsuit accusing the company of putting harmful ingredients into their products. When Nona begins investigating Bertie Tuttle, the company’s third-generation owner, she uncovers a complicated history involving her benefactor and a mysterious woman named Opal Doucet.
1910. Seventy-six years earlier, Opal Doucet, a rural doctor’s wife, is pregnant, on the run, and desperate to get to Paris and to the charismatic spiritualist who supposedly communed with her first love. To save money, Opal goes to work in the Earthshine Soap factory as an Earthshine Girl where she uses her knowledge of medicine, and the spiritualist’s teachings, to prescribe cures to the women who’ve come down with mystery ailments. As she and Bertie Tuttle secretly partner in a labor strike intended to improve the working conditions at the factory, Opal must decide the cost of her own freedom.
Gorgeously written and intricately constructed, Everything Lost Returns is a story of desire and friendship, guilt and redemption, and the power we have, in our own small way, to change the course of history.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication February 17, 2026
3 people are currently reading
6886 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Domet
5 books88 followersSarah Domet is the author of the novels The Guineveres and Everything Lost Returns, and the craft book 90 Days to Your Novel. She is a professor and the coordinator of the MFA program in creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 6, 2026
1910 -Opal Doucet, a runaway pregnant wife works at a soap factory and helps her coworkers with cures for their mystery ailments - which work until they don’t.
1986 -Nona Dixon is the factory’s original Earthshine Girl, but the company is invoked in a class action suit brought by the women who have been harmed by the products ( the original Opal Doucet formula)
1986 -Nona Dixon is the factory’s original Earthshine Girl, but the company is invoked in a class action suit brought by the women who have been harmed by the products ( the original Opal Doucet formula)
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you @flatiron_books for my #gifted copy of Everything Lost Returns! #FlatironPartner #flatironbooks #EverythingLostReturns #SarahDomet
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔
𝟒.𝟓★
This book was so unique and unlike anything I’ve read. I went into it not knowing what to expect and I was blown away by the writing style, as this was my first book by Sarah Domet. I loved how Everything Lost Returns follows two women decades apart, but they are connected by the Earthshine Soap Company and the arrival of Halley’s comet. The author did such a beautiful job intersecting both timelines flawlessly.
In 1910, Opal is pregnant and on the run. She is the wife of a doctor and is saving money to get to Paris to see a spiritualist she has been communicating with through letters. To help make money, she takes a job as an Earthshine Gil at the Earthshine Soap factory and soon uses her knowledge of medicine and what she has learned from the spiritualist to help create cures for the women at the factory who have started to become ill. Before long, Opal is organizing a labor strike at the factory to help improve working conditions for the workers. In 1986, The Earthshine Soap Company has not only made Nona the brand’s first Earthshine Girl, but they also launched her acting career. Now, a group of Jane Does are filing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of putting harmful chemicals into their products. After a tragedy involving a close friend, Nona begins to gather clues about not only Bertie Tuttle, but also a woman named Opal Doucet.
This book had quite a mystery element to it, which I really enjoyed. I did not see where it was going and I really enjoyed how it kept me on my toes and engaged the entire time. It was so thought-provoking and I love books that really make you think and also ones that stick with you, long after you’ve finished them. I also really enjoyed ALL of the Cincinnati references in this book, as someone who lives in Cincinnati. It was so neat to read about my city!
💫Dual Timelines
💫Women’s Fiction + Historical Fiction
💫Strong Female Characters
💫Set in Cincinnati, OH
💫Female Friendship
💫Hidden History
💫Resilience
💫The Power of Women
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔
𝟒.𝟓★
This book was so unique and unlike anything I’ve read. I went into it not knowing what to expect and I was blown away by the writing style, as this was my first book by Sarah Domet. I loved how Everything Lost Returns follows two women decades apart, but they are connected by the Earthshine Soap Company and the arrival of Halley’s comet. The author did such a beautiful job intersecting both timelines flawlessly.
In 1910, Opal is pregnant and on the run. She is the wife of a doctor and is saving money to get to Paris to see a spiritualist she has been communicating with through letters. To help make money, she takes a job as an Earthshine Gil at the Earthshine Soap factory and soon uses her knowledge of medicine and what she has learned from the spiritualist to help create cures for the women at the factory who have started to become ill. Before long, Opal is organizing a labor strike at the factory to help improve working conditions for the workers. In 1986, The Earthshine Soap Company has not only made Nona the brand’s first Earthshine Girl, but they also launched her acting career. Now, a group of Jane Does are filing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of putting harmful chemicals into their products. After a tragedy involving a close friend, Nona begins to gather clues about not only Bertie Tuttle, but also a woman named Opal Doucet.
This book had quite a mystery element to it, which I really enjoyed. I did not see where it was going and I really enjoyed how it kept me on my toes and engaged the entire time. It was so thought-provoking and I love books that really make you think and also ones that stick with you, long after you’ve finished them. I also really enjoyed ALL of the Cincinnati references in this book, as someone who lives in Cincinnati. It was so neat to read about my city!
💫Dual Timelines
💫Women’s Fiction + Historical Fiction
💫Strong Female Characters
💫Set in Cincinnati, OH
💫Female Friendship
💫Hidden History
💫Resilience
💫The Power of Women
Review of advance copy
2.5⭐
The dual timeline in this book connects the lives of two brave women through their jobs with a soap factory and by the appearance of Haley's Comet seventy-six years apart. It is a story of feminism, strength, and sisterhood. A narration of events surrounding women who are looking for answers, answers to their heartbreak, loneliness, and unfulfilled dreams.
1910: After Opal Doucet poisons her physician husband and absconds with their money, she finds a job at the Earthshine Soap factory. Multiple women at the factory turn to Opal with health complaints. Using her experience of being her husband's assistant and a formulary that she stole from his library, Opal begins to dispense medicines to the women. Unfortunately, the pills she made have some disastrous consequences. At the same time, the workers go on strike for higher wages and better working conditions. This made me think of the old movie, Norma Rae, with Sally Fields as the lead character.
1986: At the age of seven, Nona Dixon was the first Earthshine Girl that was used to market Earthshine products. For many years she was almost like a member of the family that owned the business. She is now an actress whose career is fading into the sunset. Meanwhile, Earthshine factory workers are suing the company due to the presence of harmful substances in their soap products. Nora mysteriously finds some critically important information, and she must decide where her loyalties lie.
I was intrigued by the premise of this book but struggled with the delivery. There was almost too much going on. It became so cumbersome at times and didn't hold my interest. It was a confusing and ponderous dissertation on women's perceived frailties, their subjugation by men, and their attempts at breaking free from their secretive lives in both timelines. It may have been meant to be mysterious, including a foray into spiritualism, but it failed to hit the mark for me. Ultimately, the narrative mostly felt disjointed and uninteresting, and I found the characters to be boring.
Thank you to BookBrowse and Flatiron Books for the ARC of this book. Expected publication: February 17, 2026.
The dual timeline in this book connects the lives of two brave women through their jobs with a soap factory and by the appearance of Haley's Comet seventy-six years apart. It is a story of feminism, strength, and sisterhood. A narration of events surrounding women who are looking for answers, answers to their heartbreak, loneliness, and unfulfilled dreams.
1910: After Opal Doucet poisons her physician husband and absconds with their money, she finds a job at the Earthshine Soap factory. Multiple women at the factory turn to Opal with health complaints. Using her experience of being her husband's assistant and a formulary that she stole from his library, Opal begins to dispense medicines to the women. Unfortunately, the pills she made have some disastrous consequences. At the same time, the workers go on strike for higher wages and better working conditions. This made me think of the old movie, Norma Rae, with Sally Fields as the lead character.
1986: At the age of seven, Nona Dixon was the first Earthshine Girl that was used to market Earthshine products. For many years she was almost like a member of the family that owned the business. She is now an actress whose career is fading into the sunset. Meanwhile, Earthshine factory workers are suing the company due to the presence of harmful substances in their soap products. Nora mysteriously finds some critically important information, and she must decide where her loyalties lie.
I was intrigued by the premise of this book but struggled with the delivery. There was almost too much going on. It became so cumbersome at times and didn't hold my interest. It was a confusing and ponderous dissertation on women's perceived frailties, their subjugation by men, and their attempts at breaking free from their secretive lives in both timelines. It may have been meant to be mysterious, including a foray into spiritualism, but it failed to hit the mark for me. Ultimately, the narrative mostly felt disjointed and uninteresting, and I found the characters to be boring.
Thank you to BookBrowse and Flatiron Books for the ARC of this book. Expected publication: February 17, 2026.
Review of advance copy
January 5, 2026I don't really know how to classify this book. I really enjoyed reading it and at the same time didn't always understand what was going on. It tells the stories of Opal Doucet and Nona Dixon in the timelines of Halley's comet in 1910 and 1986 respectively. Both are employees of The Earthshine Soap Company which in the 1986 scenario, is being accused of harmful ingredients in their products. The nonogenarian Bertie Tuttle, plays a role in both storylines as the owner of Earthshine. When Nona begins to dig into the company's history, she comes across the name of Opal Doucet and a fire that destroyed the company at the same time Halley's comet occurred in 1910.
Much of it confused me because I didn't feel like the author gave me enough background information on some of the characters. Opal claims to be a spiritualist and has "Comet pills" that she distributes to her coworkers to relieve their problems. She has escaped her husband, a physician who has treated her for some unspecified mental illness, when she discovered that she's pregnant. We never really know if she indeed is suffering an illness or has been made to think so. She grieves for Oren, a lost love, but we don't know anything about him. Nona is equally confusing. She has a good friend Halley, but we don't really get much information on her either, other than she lives a very erratic lifestyle and commits suicide and is the illegitimate daughter of Bertie's son, Charles.
There are just too many unexplained loose ends in the novel that I think the author could have explored a little more. My rating of four stars is based on the superb writing. Even when I was somewhat lost I could not stop reading because it was so involving.
Much of it confused me because I didn't feel like the author gave me enough background information on some of the characters. Opal claims to be a spiritualist and has "Comet pills" that she distributes to her coworkers to relieve their problems. She has escaped her husband, a physician who has treated her for some unspecified mental illness, when she discovered that she's pregnant. We never really know if she indeed is suffering an illness or has been made to think so. She grieves for Oren, a lost love, but we don't know anything about him. Nona is equally confusing. She has a good friend Halley, but we don't really get much information on her either, other than she lives a very erratic lifestyle and commits suicide and is the illegitimate daughter of Bertie's son, Charles.
There are just too many unexplained loose ends in the novel that I think the author could have explored a little more. My rating of four stars is based on the superb writing. Even when I was somewhat lost I could not stop reading because it was so involving.
Review of advance copy
As one review states about this book: “A heady concoction of spiritualism, chemistry, ambition and sex.” And that’s a very apt description for this weirdly strange, compellingly addictive, and oddly satisfying story about the spirit of women seeking the ability to be free to be themselves but understanding the need to connected to each other as well.
Set in alternating periods of 1910 and 1986 - the 75 years between the appearance of Hailey’s comet - the story follows Opal Doucet (1910) and Nona Dixon (1986). Both are part of the Earthstone Soap family as employees and friends to the owners. Both though are trapped by the circumstances of their connection to them as well as being women.
Opal comes with more baggage than Nona so she’s central to understanding the story’s plot line. Opal is a spiritualist but she also has great compassion for the women who work with her as their lives are burdened having to work and run a household. Without giving too much away, Opal helps these women and is then blamed for that. What transpires then is Nona’s investigation into Opal which ultimately reveals that women do have collective power and can determine their own fate.
This is a book for lovers of magical realism, feminist tropes and engagingly clever plots that make you think and feel deeply for the characters in the novel.
I want to thank BookBrowse and the publisher to giving me the book to review.
Set in alternating periods of 1910 and 1986 - the 75 years between the appearance of Hailey’s comet - the story follows Opal Doucet (1910) and Nona Dixon (1986). Both are part of the Earthstone Soap family as employees and friends to the owners. Both though are trapped by the circumstances of their connection to them as well as being women.
Opal comes with more baggage than Nona so she’s central to understanding the story’s plot line. Opal is a spiritualist but she also has great compassion for the women who work with her as their lives are burdened having to work and run a household. Without giving too much away, Opal helps these women and is then blamed for that. What transpires then is Nona’s investigation into Opal which ultimately reveals that women do have collective power and can determine their own fate.
This is a book for lovers of magical realism, feminist tropes and engagingly clever plots that make you think and feel deeply for the characters in the novel.
I want to thank BookBrowse and the publisher to giving me the book to review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I received a copy of Everything Lost Returns from the publisher and BookBrowse.
3.5 stars, rounded down for an underdeveloped ending.
Everything Lost Returns is a story of two women connected by the appearance of Halley's Comet and their relationship to a soap factory in Cincinnati. Spanning two timelines, Opal in 1910 and Nona in 1986, the reader is treated to the inner triumphs and turmoil of two strongly defined characters.
Opal's storyline is reminiscent of The Radium Girls, so readers who enjoyed that will find interest in this fictional exploration of factory work and the women who were exploited. The emotional threads that tie the women's stories together, along with the historical background, will appeal to readers of Kristin Hannah.
Some readers may not appreciate the magical realism elements in Opal's story, although they are not overdone or too distracting. The confluence of the two protagonists' stories became a bit muddled and rushed at the end, and I felt the conclusion needed a little more development. Domet, however, is a good writer and creates a dramatic scene very well. The result is a sometimes confusing but compelling read.
The proposed cover art is eye-catching, as well. I am curious what the author's acknowledgements would be, considering they are not included in the ARC. I'd love to know what she researched and how she came up with this unique story.
3.5 stars, rounded down for an underdeveloped ending.
Everything Lost Returns is a story of two women connected by the appearance of Halley's Comet and their relationship to a soap factory in Cincinnati. Spanning two timelines, Opal in 1910 and Nona in 1986, the reader is treated to the inner triumphs and turmoil of two strongly defined characters.
Opal's storyline is reminiscent of The Radium Girls, so readers who enjoyed that will find interest in this fictional exploration of factory work and the women who were exploited. The emotional threads that tie the women's stories together, along with the historical background, will appeal to readers of Kristin Hannah.
Some readers may not appreciate the magical realism elements in Opal's story, although they are not overdone or too distracting. The confluence of the two protagonists' stories became a bit muddled and rushed at the end, and I felt the conclusion needed a little more development. Domet, however, is a good writer and creates a dramatic scene very well. The result is a sometimes confusing but compelling read.
The proposed cover art is eye-catching, as well. I am curious what the author's acknowledgements would be, considering they are not included in the ARC. I'd love to know what she researched and how she came up with this unique story.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This book follows two women decades apart that are connected by the Earthshine Soap company and the impending arrival of Halley's Comet.
1910 - Opal is a doctor's wife and is pregnant but working at Earthshine to get enough money to go to Paris and meet the charismatic spiritualist who supposedly has 'talked' to her dead first love. She works with Bertie Tuttle to develop cures for women who have come down with mysterious ailments. After seeing the poor working conditions at Earthshine, she works to start a strike to help the female workers.
1986 - Nona was the first Earthshine girl and in all of the early ads. Even though she is now working on a soap opera, she is still recognized for her earlier print ads. When a group of women brings a class action suit against Earthshine for the harm that the soap causes, Nona begins to investigate the origin of the company.
My problem with this book is that there were too many characters that we didn't get information about. I found it difficult to really get interested in any of the characters and think it would have been helpful to get more background information about the main characters.
This beautifully written novel is story of friendship, guilt and forgiveness and the power we have in our own small way to change the course of history.
1910 - Opal is a doctor's wife and is pregnant but working at Earthshine to get enough money to go to Paris and meet the charismatic spiritualist who supposedly has 'talked' to her dead first love. She works with Bertie Tuttle to develop cures for women who have come down with mysterious ailments. After seeing the poor working conditions at Earthshine, she works to start a strike to help the female workers.
1986 - Nona was the first Earthshine girl and in all of the early ads. Even though she is now working on a soap opera, she is still recognized for her earlier print ads. When a group of women brings a class action suit against Earthshine for the harm that the soap causes, Nona begins to investigate the origin of the company.
My problem with this book is that there were too many characters that we didn't get information about. I found it difficult to really get interested in any of the characters and think it would have been helpful to get more background information about the main characters.
This beautifully written novel is story of friendship, guilt and forgiveness and the power we have in our own small way to change the course of history.
Review of advance copy
The girls who were the image of soap! During 1910, bar soap was the product used by many women to look and smell beautiful. Earthshine girls were the front image used to sell the product. But behind the scenes, young girls and women worked in miserable conditions in the factory to make soap. Move ahead to 1986, Nona and Halley decide to uncover the truth why "Jane Doe's" appear after use of the soap. The story line is very interesting, and the characters are well developed. The beginning of the story is a little confusing until you get into all the roles of the characters but what was interesting how the ending in 1910 wraps around to the beginning of 1986. All the drama, actions and fears revolve around the coming of Halley's Comet. It was interesting how the author tied all of this together. It would be ironic if a sequel came along, a legal thriller and discovery of the ingredients of the soap!?! Thank you, Book Browse for this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
There are many elements of this novel that I loved. The idea of a factory with underpaid, exploited women making a product that would decades later prove to impact women's health was creative and engaging. I couldn't help but think of the lawsuits against the manufacturer of talcum powder. I liked the dual timeline headed by Opal in 1910 and Nona in 1986. The use of Halley's Comet was a great anchor for the story.
The author lost me when she granted mystical powers to Nona. I have not read any of Sarah Domet's other novels, maybe that is a technique she uses. I finished this novel wishing it had been a more streamlined story focusing on the Earthshine soap factory and the Earthshine girls.
Review of advance copy
Thank you to Bookbrowse for this ARC. I had many questions when reading this book which makes me think it would be good for a book club discussion. The questions kept me engaged and reading but didn't satisfy me in the end. I had a lot of trouble believing the timeline which the author tied to the last two appearances of Halley's Comet. The Earthshine Soap storyline was interesting, but again I had so many questions that were not answered. Finally, I didn't care enough about the characters - especially as I won't comment on the ending. I think more background and character development may have helped improve this book.
December 7, 2025
I am stumped, I have been reading this book which I should like for several days, but I cannot get engaged in the story. It is not the dual timeline; I have read many books with that. I like the idea of the Earthshine Soap company. The main characters, Nora Dixon, the first Earthside girl, who doesn't need to work at the factory, and Opal Doucet, who worked in the Earthshine Soap Factory 76 years earlier, do not engage me in this story. I am puzzled by this. Have to give up struggling with this book.
Review of advance copy
I really enjoyed this book! It’s such a unique story with a mix of mystery and just a touch of magical realism that kept me hooked. The dual timelines—1910 and 1986—are connected through the Earthshine Soap Company and Halley’s Comet, and I thought that was such a clever way to tie everything together.
What stood out most to me were the themes: women’s rights, spiritualism, and how corporations can put profit over people, often with devastating consequences. The story made me think about how history repeats itself in different ways.
What stood out most to me were the themes: women’s rights, spiritualism, and how corporations can put profit over people, often with devastating consequences. The story made me think about how history repeats itself in different ways.
July 15, 2025
"Now Mr. Longworth was wearing a suit with a pink handkerchief tucked into his breast pocket. He had a Tom Selleck mustache but not a Tom Selleck face" (55).
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews