The Last September

by Nina de Gramont

Set against the desolate autumn beauty of Cape Cod, The Last September is a riveting emotional puzzle that takes readers inside the psyche of a woman facing the meaning of love and loyalty.

Brett has been in love with Charlie ever since he took her skiing on a lovely Colorado night fourteen years ago. And now, living in a seaside cottage on Cape Cod with their young daughter, it looks as if they have settled into the life they desired. However, Brett and Charlie’s marriage has been tenuous for quite some time. When Charlie’s unstable younger brother plans to move in with them, the tension simmering under the surface of their marriage boils over.

But what happened to Charlie next was unfathomable. Charlie was the golden boy so charismatic that he charmed everyone who crossed his path; who never shied away from a challenge; who saw life as one big adventure; who could always rescue his troubled brother, no matter how unpredictable the situation.

So who is to blame for the tragic turn of events? And why does Brett feel responsible?

 

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Psychological Thriller, Book Club

307 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2015

About the author

Nina de Gramont's latest novel, The Christie Affair, is an international and New York Times best seller, and the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick for February, 2022. Nina is also the author of a collection of short stories, Of Cats and Men, as well as the novels Gossip of the Starlings and The Last September. She has written several YA novels (Every Little Thing in the World, Meet Me at the River, The Boy I Love, and -- under the pen name Marina Gessner -- The Distance From Me to You). Nina teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She lives with her daughter and her husband, the writer David Gessner.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 When the unthinkable happens, Brett must confront the truth about her marriage, her love for Charlie and where the responsibility lies in the tragic events unfolding. From the very first we know something terrible happens, so I would not call this book a thriller. It is narrated by Brett, how she and Charlie met, her friendship with his brother who was since college her best friend and his subsequent mental deterioration. But could he have really hurt Charlie, regardless of his mental state?

This is a story about a marriage, where one loves more than the other, hurts and betrayals, it is Brett's story and is well told. A friendship that changes and an old love that is never quite out of the picture. A child that Brett must pull herself together to raise. For most of the book I wasn't sure I really liked the character of Brett, some of her actions and decisions but I realized she and many of these characters are very flawed. It is hard to say what one will do in a particular situation until one is confronted with the same.

A very good book, but not one I would call a thriller nor particularly suspenseful. The story is more of a telling and a watching, a man unravel and a marriage dealing with many stresses. It is well done, well written and interesting. I really got into Brett's story, it flowed smoothly and Brett is a very human character.

ARC from NetGalley.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can already tell this book will suffer from its cover and Claus von Bülow/Presumed Innocent sounding blurb on the back cover. It's not a murder mystery, or a psychological thriller, or a look at mental illness; it is a rather quiet, introspective look at love, friendship, and family told through the lens of long-time friendship, a love triangle, a marriage hitting a rough patch, and a brutal murder. A smart beach read.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Many thanks to Algonquin Books for making it available!

"Homer, Dante, Milton. They knew about the middle, how all of life revolves around a single moment in time. Everything that comes before leads up to that moment. Everything that comes afterward springs from that moment. In my case, that moment—that middle—is my husband's murder."

From the moment she met him, Brett loved Charlie. The easygoing, confident, dynamic brother of her best friend Eli, Charlie quickly mesmerized Brett and captured her heart, despite Eli's warnings to the contrary. When Charlie leaves town, leaving Brett alone again at college, she feels a palpable loss even as she knows she may never see him again. But her heart doesn't care.

Years later, after many ups and downs, Brett and Charlie finally marry and live in his family's cottage on Cape Cod with their young daughter. But despite the fact that they finally have the life Brett has dreamed they'd have, life keeps intervening in different ways, particularly with the continued reappearance of Eli, whose mental illness has taken a toll on the entire family. When the unthinkable happens, Brett is at odds between holding fast to the life she dreamed of and the life she seems destined to live, and needs to determine just what sacrifices are worth the love of your life.

I really enjoyed this book, although I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be a murder mystery, a psychological thriller, or a meditation on love, loss, and family? Were there elements to the plot that would surprise, or was the power of the plot simply in the storytelling and not in the unpredictable twists? I'll leave you to discover what happens.

Nina de Gramont is an excellent writer, and although at times I wanted to shake Brett to make her act or speak up, I found this book utterly captivating and definitely emotional. It definitely made me think how I would react if faced with the mental decline of someone I once truly cared about, someone of whom I wasn't sure whether to pity or fear. And it made me acknowledge once again how fragile love is, and how quickly our lives can change.

Give this one a shot!

See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do wish publishers would be careful about the quotes and hype they put on books. This one is compared to The Girl on The Train, slated as 'a literary whodunit' and 'impossible to put down' among other things. None of those did the book any favours. It is a readable story about Brett who has been in love with Charlie for a long time. They marry, have a daughter and live in a seaside cottage on Cape Cod. All sounds idyllic. But the marriage in reality is far from idyllic. The book opens when Charlie dies and then takes the reader back to fill in the gaps of how this came to be and the relationships between characters. As well as Brett and Charlie there is his brother Eli, who has mental health issues. This is very well described and reading the notes at the end by the author it is obvious why this is so. Eli is a suspect for Charlie’s death. But I was never convinced of that. There is also Ladd who had at one time been engaged to Brett and who intensely dislikes Charlie, who always seems to end up with what Ladd wants.
None of the characters in this book are particularly likeable. I really got over Brett, her obsession with Charlie and her Emily Dickinson references. She is very selfish in the way she treats others. But she is not the only one.
I wouldn’t call it a thriller, or unputdownable. To me it’s bad marketing. It was a quieter book than you are led to believe from the cover. I did put it down several times and while I picked it back up again and kept reading, it was more about just getting to the end to see what transpired and then being done with these selfish, self-obsessed characters, of which Eli was possibly the most likeable.

[Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brett, Eli, Charlie, and Ladd....all connected and all a part of each other's ​lives and decisions.

THE LAST SEPTEMBER starts out in present day and heads back to the ​past when all four friends met and events began to unfold.​

Brett was the main character. We find out about her involvement in all three of the men's lives ​both ​past and present. The murder of Charlie​, ​how Charlie affected many lives, and the mental illness of his brother​ ​are ​the main focus​.​

The background of each character and their lives is marvelously detailed by Ms. De Gramont, and has you wondering if one of them murdered Charlie for personal reasons since Charlie hurt each one of them in some way.

THE LAST SEPTEMBER is a deep​, emotional​ read about decisions made, promises made, promises broken​, mental illness, and love​​.​

​Ms. De Gramont has an exquisite writing style​ ​that has the reader sharing every emotion the characters are experiencing.

THE LAST SEPTEMBER is not an uplifting book, but one that is gripping simply because of the way Ms. De Gramont tells the story. It is a mystery about life as well as a mystery about finding the person who murdered Charlie.

THE LAST SEPTEMBER pulls the reader in because of how deeply involved and connected Ms. De Gramont has you become with each character.

THE LAST SEPTEMBER is a book that needs to be savored and ​one that you will think about even after the last page is turned because it won't easily leave you. 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

Silver's Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com

[lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sure this would be a literary thriller, and I was looking forward to it, especially since I received an unexpected ARC from a librarything.com giveaway. However, this book ended up being a disappointment for me, although it was a decent enough read. I finished it over the course of a single day, and it kept me entertained to the end. There were a lot of characters I just hated for the entire book, mostly for their selfishness, but that part didn't bother me about the book. At the end I could see it was an entire story about selfish people, and how they end up being burned by themselves, and each other. I didn't mind reading about these creeps, since I could see they deserved each other, but the story didn't really focus on a crime, or a mystery, like I thought it would. It focused on the evolution of a friendship between Eli, and Brett, who meet in college. Eventually, it moves most of the narration to focus on Brett's increasing interest, and eventual marriage to Charlie, Eli's brother. All this is just fine, but it was not what I expected from the jacket's description. While it was a lovely portrait of a marriage that is only as strong as the pretenses it was made on, I got a little tired of reading about Brett's weird possession of Charlie. Like Catherine in Wuthering Heights, it was a lot of "Oh, I hate that I love him! Send him away! No bring him back! I can't live without him! No, let me try! Oh, what can I do!" Except all the dramatics are narrated in a quiet, steady, somewhat obnoxious tone, which after awhile starts to get on the nerves, especially as Brett becomes more and more entitled as the book goes on. (Why shouldn't her ex-fiance's uncle open up his multi-million dollar beach house to accommodate her, and her daughter by another man?) While it was an OK read, I don't know that I will be recommending this to anyone.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this novel through Goodreads First Reads giveaways

This was a much quieter novel than I expected, and one that's a bit hard to classify. It begins with the murder of Charlie, Brett's husband and the father of their toddler, Sophie, but it's not a murder mystery or thriller. The main suspect Eli, Charlie's brother and Brett's best friend in college, suffers from severe schizophrenia, but it's not a book about mental illness. After the murder, Brett looks back on the years, months, weeks, that led up to Charlie's death, examining everything that happened from when they met to the day he died, but it's not quite a romance novel, either.
It is a beautiful book, though. It's filled with vivid, deeply flawed and human characters. It's believable, everything rings true. It's a portrait of love, grief, loss, mistakes, and life.
I really enjoyed it, even though it wasn't at all what I was expecting.

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received The Last September from Librarything's Early Reviewer Program, and while I've had excellent experiences with their matching me up with books before, it was a struggle for me to finish this one.

The book advertises itself as something of a love story, something of a murder mystery. It advertises itself as a book where the woman at the center is examining her life, trying to make sense of her husband's murder and whether or not she may have been complicit. The books is said to be 'moving and unpredictable'. All told, though, I'd say that none of this is true.

The protagonist, Brett, is so incredibly self-involved that it's impossible to care for her, and while the back cover of the book proclaims that she loved her husband from the first day she met him...well, as the book presents the story, she might have been infatuated with him or in lust, at best, but it certainly wasn't love. And when she apparently gets involved with another man, and then engaged (out of what? boredom?), she then simply wanders away from him, at their engagement party no-less, to her ex-lover. From the beginning, I'm afraid she's painted as a conceited and immature graduate student, with little awareness of the real world or what it means to be in love, and as a result, much of the inertia that the book could have held is lost in her endless references to Emily Dickinson and her never-ending self pity. The last straw for me, personally, which probably guarantees that I won't pick up another De Gramont work, comes with Brett declaring that hers is a more powerful and extensive grief than that of another character (who is far more sympathetic)--after all, she has a child, and he never had one, so hers must be more powerful. Never mind the fact that we've seen no evidence of real connection between she and her husband, that they were estranged and cheating on one another before he was murdered, or that the other character has ever remained faithful to just the memory of his life and still speaks of her with what is clear love.

Can you tell that, by the end of the book, little as I wanted to finish, I truly wanted the other characters to leave helpless and annoying Brett to her own devices, rather than taking care of her as if she were a five year old? Perhaps this isn't a bad portrait of a wannabe academic whose life isn't what she envisioned, but she's not anyone I want to spend five pages with, let alone 300.

Simply, there's very little of a murder mystery here until the last ten pages, when that portion of the book is almost laughingly crammed in--and no, I'm afraid there's no surprise or twist there, either. De Gramont's characters may be believable, as is the plot, and her writing may be graceful and beautifully-delivered, but none of that makes up for the fact that we're presented with a boring story about characters who are unsympathetic, and closer to pathetic than interesting

Obviously, I'm afraid that this isn't something I'd ever bother recommending.

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! It was a story of love, forgiveness, family, suspense, and mental illness. I was kept guessing until the very end. This author clearly loves animals (me, too) and has a great understanding of the impact of mental illness on families, which was beautifully portrayed with heart and grace. I highly recommend this book for fans of family sagas.

[Ilyssa Wesche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's what I was confused about - was I supposed to like Brett? Because I really, really did not. Every step of the way she was self-absorbed, thoughtless with other people's feelings, and just generally annoying.

[Laura Wonderchick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what I call a no-bookmark needed book! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! Devoured it in one afternoon! Highly recommend!

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read the blurb on this book, I thought it might be a sappy, romantic novel and I wasn’t sure I should give it a try. But something about it said “read me” and I’m glad I did. The writing is excellent, the characters are well developed, the setting is beautifully described and I completely fell under its spell.

The love story is an intense and tragic one and the characters are human and flawed. This author has a keen sense of human nature and a knack for realistically portraying her characters’ feelings. It’s a quietly told story. I loved the references to Emily Dickinson and Yeats scattered throughout the book. Brett, the main character, says of her loved one in trying to make her mother understand her feelings that “He’s my Maud Gonne”, which said it all. One of the characters, Eli, has a mental illness and I thought the author did an excellent job of showing the change in this young man and the effects of the illness on his family and friends and the fears that developed.

All in all, this was a beautifully told story that I enjoyed spending time with and didn’t want to let go of at the end.

I won this book in a LibraryThing Member Giveaway and am under no obligation to give a review but was asked by the publisher for an honest review, which I have given.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is this book? As a mystery it's not very good, as a novel it's just downright depressing.

And why is every character in this book so....unproductive? Brett has spent EIGHT YEARS studying "The Poet" and still doesn't have her shit together (because she can literally think of nothing but Charlie). Charlie is just...lazy? I dunno. And Ladd has all the money he'd ever need so he just spends his days doing whatever.

It's hard to relate to these people, so it's hard to care about their problems. And as for the 'mystery' there are really no clues or twists. Just a lot of Brett talking about Charlie.

To sum up this review: 'meh'

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads....loved it! A murder, an emotionally puzzling analysis of a marriage broken for some time, and a moving story of a woman's search for self-acceptance make for a great novel of suspense! Will definitely look for more from Nina de Gramont!

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago I’d read this author’s short story collection, Of Cats and Men, and found it Impressive and very memorable. The Cape Cod setting here immediately tipped the scales, as that amounts to a siren song for me! Nina De Gramont writes beautifully – another plus! A haunting story of a doomed love, this novel has an unusual plot conveyed in the first person. Although the reader realizes at the outset that there’s no fairy tale ending, it was easy to remain enthralled, savoring the prominence of the surroundings.. A touch of mystery adds another dimension. Maybe three stars, but very close to four.

[Mary Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The heartbreaking messiness of loving the wrong people, life, and mental illness. Good story, but just too long.

[Angel Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

**I received an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review**
Brett's specialty was American Renaissance poetry. Her husband Charlie had been murdered when their daughter Sarah was 15 months old. Brett knew Eli, Charlie's brother, first. She met Charlie when she was 18. Eli told Charlie Brett was one of his best friends. Brett and Charlie had one night together then she didn't hear from him in a long time. 7 years later, Brett was engaged to Ladd and saw Eli again.
Brett was the kind of person that fell in love with someone after one night, even after he hurt and deserted her. When the choice was between a guy she was engaged to and the guy she loved, she chose the guy she had loved.
This was kind of a strange story, including mental illness in the plot. I did enjoy it. I read it all in one sitting. I couldn't stop once I started it. Yet, somehow I had a lot of emotions about the story. I did enjoy the book, even though it was sad and tragic in a lot of ways. It was still a good book and good writing. I would recommend it.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I read a different book than those who gave it 4 & 5 stars

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it but it feels wrong to like a book that starts with a horrific murder! This is not a spoiler - it is literally revealed in the first sentence.

This book is a thoughtful and emotional read rather than a murder mystery thriller. The insight into dealing with a mentally ill family member was particularly interesting to me.

P. S. I enjoyed the Emily Dickinson references, especially because I recently read a book about Emily Dickinson!

[Carin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a distracting and entertaining book and this one fit the ticket! Thrillers often do, as they are designed to grab you and suck you in.

You learn in the first few sentences that Brett's husband Charlie, has been killed. What lead up to that, who did it, and why, of course are the rest of the book. And we flash back...

In college Brett and Eli were best friends. One night at a party, Brett met Charlie, Eli's older brother, a ladies man. Eli tried to warn Brett off but she was head-over-heels the minute she met him. They had one glorious night together of skiing and fun and sex, and then he disappeared. But she compared every man to him for years. Until she finally had given up and moved on. She was engaged to another man and meeting his entire extended family on Cape Cod, when who should she bump into but his neighbor, Charlie. And that was it for Brett. Charlie and Eli's mother was dying of cancer, and Brett helped Charlie through it. The situation was made worse by Eli's poor mental health. In college, Brett had been with him the night he'd had his first mental break, when he'd hurt her and, after he jumped from the roof of a building, ended up in the hospital.

Throughout their young marriage, Brett and Charlie repeatedly took Eli in, even when he was off his meds and doing poorly mentally. But after their daughter was born, Brett put her foot down about Eli. Eli was there when Charlie was killed, and everyone assumes he did it, but did he? If he did, did he have a reason? If he didn't, who did? Does he know? Is Brett safe? In Brett's happy family and simple suburban life, it seems baffling that they could have any enemies, but as the book progresses, it becomes clear that there is more than one suspect in readers' minds. But of course Brett's family is not very happy and her life is not very idyllic, once you scratch the surface.

This book kept me turning the pages and kept me second guessing my assumptions. Characters were well-crafted, and subtly so. They always behaved as they would, but sometimes you didn't notice the fine distinctions right away. This isn't a mystery so it's the odd reader that will figure out who really is the killer until the end, as there aren't adequate clues. But there are adequate clues to figure out who it is not. I was also impressed with how Ms. de Gramont took a normally sunny happy place like Cape Cod, and made it ominous and menacing, kind of like in Jaws. It's almost scarier this way. In the off season, the Cape is such a deserted place, that it almost operates like a closed-room mystery. Creepy and twisty, this tale of domestic wretchedness and marital pain will keep you riveted.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review at: http://everydayiwritethebookblog.com/...

The Last September by Nina de Gramont was one of my favorite reads of the summer. It’s hard to describe – it’s about the demise of a passionate marriage, but it’s also a suspenseful murder mystery. Brett and Charlie meet through Charlie’s younger brother Eli when Eli and Brett are in college together. Brett falls deeply in love with Charlie, despite Eli’s warnings that he is a womanizer who can’t commit to a relationship. After one night together, Brett doesn’t hear from Charlie again. She tries to move on, getting engaged to another man, but runs across Charlie a few years later (ironically through her fiance) and is simply powerless to resist him.

Meanwhile, Eli is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Brett and Charlie marry and have a baby, but their marriage is always under the cloud of Eli’s disease – the ups and downs, the dangerous episodes and hospitalizations. And Brett remains deeply insecure about Charlie’s love, an insecurity that is proven justified when she discovers that he has had an affair.

The Last September opens with Charlie’s murder, and the rest of the book traces Brett and Charlie’s relationship and marriage. It also eventually deals with the question of who killed Charlie. The obvious choice is Eli, off his meds and out of control, but Brett isn’t so sure.

I really, really enjoyed The Last September. de Gramont’s writing is understated but beautifully detailed. Her characters are flawed people trying to make the best of a really awful situation, finely drawn and utterly realistic. I had a hard time putting this one down. Brett is a tough character to like, in a lot of ways – she’s impulsive and self-absorbed, willing to sacrifice anything to be with Charlie. But if you’ve ever been crazy in love and desperate to be with someone, then you can start to understand why Brett does what she does. I thought the first 4/5 of the book was absolutely perfect, and then took issue with some of Brett’s actions that seemed out of character. But in the end, I still really enjoyed it. There were enough plausible suspects for Charlie’s murder that I was left guessing until the very end.

The Last September also provides a heartbreaking glimpse into the sad effects of mental illness on the afflicted and their families.

Highly recommended for fans of domestic fiction and/or mysteries. The Last September is a beautifully written combination of both.

[Virginia Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved the beach in Autumn. It's quiet and clear, and the sky is still blue. The grays of Winter have yet to come, and the window of Time holds open the end of Summer. Such is the mood and setting for author Nina De Gramont's contemporary Cape Cod murder mystery, "The Last September". At just eighteen, Brett Mercier's young heart had been stolen by the golden charm of Charlie Moss. Years later, when Brett had become engaged to Ladd Williams, Charlie came back into her life, and this time her took her away from her expected future and into a very different set of dreams. Complicating their togetherness is Charlie's schizophrenic brother, Eli, whose troubled existence shadows their peace of mind. When her mother passed away, Brett used her inheritance to help Charlie open a restaurant. Their life together, and their marriage, is blessed by the birth of their daughter, Sarah. However, an affair between Charlie and his employee, Deirdre, opens a rift in the happiness Brett has known with Charlie. Deirdre does not take the end of the affair in stride, becoming vengeful in her state of rejection. When Charlie tries to fire her, she refuses to leave, threatening to sue Charlie for sexual harassment. A decision is made to close the restaurant--not really ever a moneymaker--and Charlie and Brett move with Sarah back to the cape. Living in an old summer house that had belonged to Charlie's father, they have not yet solidified their new life together when Charlie is horribly and brutally murdered. Past merges with present, and unresolved relationships combine with secrets and whispers to blur the lines of reality. Who killed Charlie--and why? When the truth is finally revealed, what will life hold in store for Brett and Sarah? "The Last September" is a character-driven mystery tale, perfect for reading in just a sitting or two.

Review Copy Gratis Library Thing

[Gail Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seldom has a mystery combined three elements so brilliantly - murder, marriage and mental illness. Related in flashback form The Last September is a beautifully written gripping story set in Boulder, Amherst and the stark fall beaches of Cape Cod. In its own way it is also a coming of age story, although Brett does come of age in a difficult, sometimes frightening way.

Brett has been in love with Charlie, a handsome, charismatic, unpredictable fellow, since their first meeting. She was 18-years-old at a college house party hosted by Eli, Charlie’s younger brother. It was a cold, snowy night and Charlie suggested they go skiing. With borrowed gear they took off and ended the evening in Brett’s dorm room. She was hopelessly in love, haunted her mailbox but did not hear from Charlie again until she had to call to tell him that Eli, now clearly unstable had jumped from a rooftop and was hospitalized.

Brett tried every way she knew to forget Charlie, even to becoming engaged to another. Yet eventually Brett and Charlie did marry and had a daughter, Sarah, now 15 months old. Throughout the years Eli has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals, and the day comes when he is coming to visit them. Brett objects, fearing for Sarah, but Charlie who has always been protective of his younger brother suggests she take Sarah to a friend’s house - he will call and let her know how Eli is doing.

The call never comes because Charlie is dead - his throat slashed but by whom? It seems Eli is the obvious answer but there are others who would like to be rid of Charlie Moss.

The Last September grabs you from the opening paragraph and doesn’t let go until the final page. You may read it in one sitting as I did because De Gramont has not only given us a terrific whodunit but an intense study of human emotions.

- Gail Cooke

[Penelope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off great, but then got worse and worse till I was happy to be done. Too bad, it had promise.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of Nina de Gramont's fictional novel, The Last September compliments of Algonquin Books via LibraryThing's Member Giveaway and appreciated the opportunity.

The novel is part psychological thriller, part romance; a journey that includes love, tragedy, betrayal, mental illness, murder... with a level of mystery and suspense that kept me craving more. It was a quick read, a page turner right to the very end. The tale toyed with my emotions, the raw truth about lost love and incomprehensible grief on many levels. I had love-hate relationships with many of the characters, my sympathy growing thin at times... The setting in Cape Cod added a layer of peace and yearning against the loss and despair.

This is my first exposure to the author's writings and declare myself as a new fan. I provided a 4/5 star rating with a positive recommendation for anyone seeking a book that tugs at your heart strings and keeps you guessing.

[MeggieBree · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading the description for this book I assumed it would be a murder mystery, which it is, but it was also so much more. It is a story about love, life, and death in all it's messiness.

I really enjoyed this book. I think that the author did an especially awesome job portraying schizophrenia. My heart broke for Eli and his family.

The only problem I had with it was the end. I felt that it wrapped up too neatly and I didn't like the identity of the killer.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story's main character, Brett, doesn't grab my attention. Brett is characterized as a very educated person who loves and studies literature. She tends to compare her life to classic characters. However, Brett doesn't make any wise decisions in her life. This story was only intriguing because of Eli, who suffers from a mental illness. The story does not have any suspense. I expected something different.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one writes tragedy like Nina de Gramont. This book is brilliantly executed. Brett is a mousy, bookish girl who has a one night stand with a golden boy who is the brother of her best friend. The book opens with his murder and we go on from there. De Gramont is a master of language and atmosphere. You must read all of her books. :)

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A quick, absorbing read about mental illness, love, loss, and "sliding doors."

It really made me feel sad and frustrated about the limited options for adults struggling with mental illness and their family members. The main character, Brett (named after Lady Brett Ashley in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises) felt very fleshed out and real, not a perfect heroine, but very relatable (even if I wanted to tell her, "C'mon! Get over him...he's not worth it! He's just not that into you!" about a certain character so many times). I thought the Emily Dickinson thread woven throughout the plot (the main character is writing her PhD dissertation on Dickinson's romantic exploits) was unique and drew a lot of parallels to what Brett herself was going through. The setting - Cape Cod in the off-season, in that golden, sad time between summer and autumn - was fantastic and evocative.

This is not a thriller, but a wistful, quiet mystery that is far more interior than you might think from the beginning, which starts with a murder. The reveal of who did it didn't feel fresh to me, but what did feel novel and important was the depiction of mental illness and the effects it has on changing the person and their family and loved ones.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is told by the main character Brett who has loved Charlie since
she first saw him. She was warned by her mother not to marry him,but
does so anyway. Other characters involved are Eli, Charles's younger
brother, and Ladd a friend. The setting is Cape Cod in the fall and deals
with the Brett's love and loyalty and how the murder of her husband is
found. Sarah is Brett's daughter. The tale opens in the middle and then
goes back to their earlier years of friendship and then later the murder.
It is about marriage, murder and distress. A thought provoking tale. Enjoy!