This one feels a bit more similar to Sarah Beth Durst’s novel, The Lost, than some of her other more recently published ones – even if The Lost is my most recently read of her. Something about the main character in this one felt very reminiscent of that earlier novel, and both novels were centered within a version of our world rather than within a fantasy world setting (like Race the Sand or The Spellshop). Regardless of the setting, mother-daughter relationships always play a prominent role in her novels, though it changes from novel to novel whether her main character POV is the mother or daughter. This time, we get a bit of both as Elisa’s chapters are interspersed with 2 other women’s perspectives at various points in the past.
Elisa has a family curse. The women in her family can’t ever put down roots in a community and must constantly be on the go; if they stay too long or start to feel like somewhere is home, they will turn into a tree. At least that is what she has always been told by her mom, Lori. But after Elisa ends up in a small town in Massachusetts, attracted because it is a place with weird occurrences, she starts discovering more about the family past and the origins of the curse. And as the novel progresses, she realizes she needs to find answers fast because she seems to be snared in a town curse that won’t let her leave – not exactly 2 curses that can co-exist.
The other points of view are Rose and Lori, Elisa’s grandmother and mother. As a result, the reader ends up knowing more about everything much sooner than Elisa. In some ways I enjoyed the discoveries but in other ways, it seems like it weakened Elisa’s story because I was waiting on her to catch up. Through Rose and Lori, we see more about societal expectations for women across generations, and how women’s dreams and desires come up against reality. From the beginning, Rose is introduced as someone who wants more from life and we see how this influences the direction her daughter’s life takes. Elisa is dealing with her own unresolved anger and frustration at her dead mom, thinking that her mom gave up and let herself die.
While the novel was overall a decent read, I preferred the earlier mentioned The Lost and Durst’s more fantasy based novels. So definitely worth the time but also not her strongest story.