March 1, 2025
Bestselling Smith (The Unsinkable Greta James) offers a sibling story. Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude grew up inseparable and with an often-absent mother, who would return to take them on road trips across the country each summer. Now adults, the siblings haven't spoken in years, but Jude brings them back together--and has a secret that could change everything. Prepub Alert.
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Starred review from March 1, 2025
YA author Smith returns to adult fiction (after The Unsinkable Greta James, 2022) with a layered family drama. The Endicotts--Gemma, Connor, and twins Roddy and Jude--grew up with an absent mother and a distant father. Their mother would return each summer and sweep them away to different destinations, but she was never there for them otherwise. Despite their rocky childhoods, three of the four children became famous, Jude as a movie star, Roddy as anathlete, and Connor as a novelist. Gemma, who essentially raised them all, is satisfied with her quiet life in Chicago. But being in the public eye has its disadvantages, and when Connor writes a novel that exposes the family's past, the siblings' bond falls apart. Now, Jude requests that her three siblings meet her in North Dakota to heal those old wounds. But Jude is hiding her own secrets, which she resolves to confess that weekend. Each sibling receives their own point of view chapters, with flashbacks to different junctures in their lives. They all interact with one another differently to form the complex plot. This novel is a page-turner, and readers will root for each of the siblings despite their shortcomings.
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