Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

2.5 stars This is a well constructed novel born of the descendent of industry royalty (I came to learn in the acknowledgments), but I struggled with several central aspects. Elle, the m.c., is a middle-aged woman whose husband Peter, three children, and mother (Wallace) all join her in the present day at "The Paper Palace," a rustic family retreat. They are surrounded by friends and neighbors, and Elle is nearly infested (much like the physical location) with memories and trauma. Heller provides a clear sense of place, and one commendable feature is the connected description. While the detail feels overwrought at times (and flat out weird at others, like when Elle thinks of a white cat on the porch as "porny"), there is not a moment during the present-day scenes when readers cannot see, smell, and feel the environment. This attention to specifics highlights the themes of decay/rot, long-term burden, and connection between memory, place, and the development (or lack thereof) of the self. Prospective readers should know that there are multiple references to rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and incest, and that all of these horrors are committed against children. It's relentless. If you are the kind of reader who can know that such a scene exists, manage or skip it, and keep reading, you need to know that this is not that kind of work. As someone who can generally manage this content, I felt overwhelmed by it here. It's not just the details but more so the profusion. Heller effectively demonstrates how damaging this kind of abuse can be and the long-term effects it creates on those who experience it, but unfortunately, readers can get swept up in this, too. When this material IS present, I like to come out of the novel feeling like all of the details and references were worth it: that the emotional labor was necessary. Upon completion, I do NOT feel like that at all. Along with the at times difficult subject matter, the characters are often infuriating. Secrecy is a main point, but WOW these characters are poor communicators, especially as adults. I found their lack of growth and their responses to each other confounding at times. The one relationship I did find fascinating is between Elle and her sister, Anna, and I was disappointed at how little of that is ultimately available. I see enough in this novel to want to read more from Heller, but I am leaving this work feeling a sense of hollowness from the characters and from the overall plot. When I reflect on the piece as a whole, I feel most struck by the profusion of assaults on children, and this is disappointing for obvious reasons.