The Cliffs

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK - A novel of family, secrets, ghosts, and homecoming set on the seaside cliffs of Maine, by the New York Times best-selling author of Friends and Strangers

On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house, lavender with gingerbread trim, a home that contains a century's worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. The place is an irresistible mystery to Jane. There are still clothes in the closets, marbles rolling across the floors, and dishes in the cupboards, even though no one has set foot there in decades. The house becomes a hideaway for Jane, a place to escape her volatile mother.

Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage. Jane is horrified to find the Victorian is now barely recognizable. The new owner, Genevieve, a summer person from Beacon Hill, has gutted it, transforming the house into a glossy white monstrosity straight out of a shelter magazine. Strangely, Genevieve is convinced that the house is haunted-perhaps the product of something troubling Genevieve herself has done.

She hires Jane to research the history of the place and the women who lived there. The story Jane uncovers-of lovers lost at sea, romantic longing, shattering loss, artistic awakening, historical artifacts stolen and sold, and the long shadow of colonialism-is even older than Maine itself.

Enthralling, richly imagined, filled with psychic mediums and charlatans, spirits and past lives, mothers, marriage, and the legacy of alcoholism, this is a deeply moving novel about the land we inhabit, the women who came before us, and the ways in which none of us will ever truly leave this earth.

1. The Cliffs begins with the limited scope of Jane's adolescent life. As she recites local history to the passengers on Abe Adams's lobster boat and navigates the summer program at Bates College, what does she know about the world and her place in it? How does that knowledge change by the end of the novel?

2. Why is Jane drawn to the violet-colored Victorian house? What forms of refuge does it provide to her, despite its dilapidated condition?

3. Discuss Lake Grove's rumored curse that the women who move there end up alone. What common threads are shared by the husbands, from Captain Littleton and Herbert Martinson to Paul Richards? Is it a curse to end up alone? Which of the house's inhabitants were the least lonely?

4. What accounts for the differences between Jane and Holly, even though they were raised under the same circumstances? How do their sibling ties compare to Hannah and Agnes's? And to Eliza and Emily's?

5. Despite her intense need to be independent, Jane tries repeatedly to save her marriage. In what ways were she and David a good fit for each other and yet a terrible match? In contrast, Jane thrives on her friendship with Allison. What enables their bond to strengthen over the years?

6. What were you predicting for Sister Eliza's story? How does she serve as a reminder of the voices that remain silent to even the most skilled historical researchers?

7. In chapter 16, Brother Michael tells Jane that the goal of the Shaker faith was utopia, adding, "Imagine what the world could have been had they [the naysayers] listened." What's your reaction to that wish?

8. Do you believe that the dead can communicate with the living? Is there any harm done at places like Camp Mira?

9. Discuss the novel's many different depictions of motherhood and childhood, including Genevieve's recounting of her own painful girlhood (page 223). Where does Daisy ultimately lead Jane and Genevieve? If you were Marilyn, would you be able to forgive Mary Flanagan?

10. For Mary, her daughter, and her granddaughter, what are the legacies of alcoholism? What factors beyond genetics perpetuate it in their family?

11. The Cliffs is packed with historical artifacts, from the small Indigenous basket to Staffordshire china, the bonnet, the jar of marbles, and many other tangible pieces of the past. To some, the only value that matters is the financial one. What are the other, nonmonetary reasons to preserve and display such artifacts? What are the most cherished possessions in your own family archive? How much do you know about the final resting places of your ancestors? Which of their stories have survived for generations?

12. In Naomi's chapter, with scenes of the first people to encounter the cliff and ascribe a sacred purpose to it, what do we learn about the way conquerors use history to perpetuate their power? What does it take for hidden histories-including unmarked burial sites-to be reclaimed and illuminated?

13. J. Courtney Sullivan's storytelling provides a distinctive perspective on life's turning points. Which turning points resonated with you the most in The Cliffs and in her previous novels that you have read?

Named a Best Book of the Month by The New York Times, Real Simple, and Kirkus

"Lovely and lively... In J. Courtney Sullivan's latest treasure of a novel, The Cliffs, the house is itself a major character... Shot through with empathy and humor... Sullivan's extraordinary book... contains a hopeful vision of cultural and social justice, and does so with plenty of humane and humorous insights." -Daneet Steffens, The Boston Globe

"Wonderful... Fascinating... Riveting... The Cliffs is both a mystery and a portrayal of houses, people and geographical locations...This skillful novel makes the case that knowing what came before offers us our best chance to truly understand our connections to one another, and what we owe to the land we inhabit." -Alice Elliott Dark, New York Times Book Review

"[A] quintessential page-turner of a ghost story, eerie and atmospheric....The Cliffs is a novel to get lost in and to remain haunted by." - Maureen Corrigan, book critic, Fresh Air

"J. Courtney Sullivan's The Cliffs is a deeply moving exploration of history....Characters in this novel are created with considerable authorial care, and Sullivan's historical research yields numerous sections with substantial depth....One of the pleasures of reading Sullivan's novels: getting to know interestingly flawed characters in richly composed settings....Sullivan has included a wealth of details that are by turns lovely or heartbreaking....Sullivan's sensitive portrayals...demonstrate the power of reading fiction." -Carol Iaciofano Aucoin, WBUR

"The Cliffs is rich with ghosts, and its message is that some day we might be forgotten, but who we are and what we do never truly vanishes from this world....[Sullivan] tells the tender love story of a widow and her housekeeper and a story of a mother's love for her child." -Lau

rie Hertzel, Minneapolis StarTribune "Sullivan has found the perfect heroine for her compulsively readable novel. Funny, beleaguered, heartbreaking-Jane is a woman who just wants to pull together and will do anything to make that happen. Even if means following the cryptic clues of possibly fraudulent psychic." -Leigh Newman, Oprah Daily

"Exquisitely layered....A cohesive and satisfying quilt of a story....Impressively, [Sullivan] herself comes off as a qualified medium, vividly channeling the various voices of her characters." -Randy Rosenthal, The Washington Post

"Sullivan's research shines in this, her sixth novel, as she writes commandingly about the region's complicated history, particularly when it comes to Indigenous people. This is...much more than a typical summer beach novel. It's sad, and hopeful, and an overall terrific read." -Suzanne Perez, KMUW Wichita

"Haunting....Archivist Jane Flanagan returns to her coastal Maine hometown to discover that the long-abandoned gothic house she was obsessed with as a teen has a new owner. Genevieve, a wealthy outsider, has given the once-dilapidated dwelling a misbegotten makeover that she believes has awakened something sinister. In this provocative ghost story that questions how we right our wrongs of the past, the two must team up to rid the mysterious 19th-century home of its spirits and overcome their own demons." -Shannon Carlin, Time

"A fascinating look at the idea of legacy." -Real Simple

"I recommend The Cliffs. It pulled me right in, and my seatbelt was buckled!" -Sarah Bowen Shea, Another Mother Runner

"The Cliffs is a stunning achievement, and J. Courtney Sullivan's best book yet. Sullivan weaves a narrative that's fascinating and thought-provoking. I literally could not put this book down." -Ann Napolitano, New York Times best-selling author of Hello Beautiful

"J. Courtney Sullivan is so skilled at multi-threaded narratives, and this is her most ambitious book yet. Weaving together the stories of women in Maine over centuries, this novel is about maternal loss and trauma, the idea of home, and most affecting, the stories that remain untold." -Emma Straub, New York Times best-selling author of This Time Tomorrow

"Sullivan...writes with her usual compassion, insight, and sensitivity, creating multidimensional characters about whom, even as they make regrettable mistakes, the reader unwaveringly cares. She also tells a broader story of America's complicated history, weaving in accounts of Indigenous and Shaker women, and poses powerful questions about how to right the wrongs of the past. Sullivan artfully and astutely engages with difficult topics in this absorbing, affecting novel." -Kirkus, starred review

"This highly anticipated novel from Sullivan was worth the wait....A beautifully written, expansive novel, sure to please fans of Daniel Mason's North Woods or the work of Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley." -Library Journal

"Sullivan thoughtfully explores both Jane's inner life and the history of the Maine coast, weaving stories of settlers, Shakers, and Indigenous inhabitants of the area with the contemporary plot. Jane is a complex character shaped by her past and trying to figure out her future, and her research leads to an overarching theme: whose story is remembered and told, and why?" -Booklist