Book Review: Sycamore
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This is my book review of Sycamore by author Bryn Chancellor.
Bryn Chancellor explores the loss that has calcified an entire community with humanity and wisdom.
Book Summary:
Out for a hike one scorching afternoon in Sycamore, Arizona, a newcomer to town stumbles across what appear to be human remains embedded in a dry desert ravine.
People in town fear that it is Jess Winters, a teenage girl who disappeared 18 years earlier.
The discovery rekindles stories that were rumored about this troubled girl at the time she disappeared.
While the authorities are making an identification, the townspeople recall painful memories from that time.
This book is told from the various viewpoints of the town’s inhabitants. Those close to Jess and people who merely knew her in passing. All felt some kinship with the impetuous girl whose mother moved her to Sycamore after a divorce.
Painful memories come to the forefront and are re-examined. The townspeople’s recollections provide clarity on how to move forward with their stagnant lives.
The author skillfully weaves the story of a girl nearing adulthood with the town residents whose lives she affected.
A great read from the first page to the last.
About the Author:
An award-winning writer writes a mesmerizing page-turner in the spirit of Everything I Never Told You and Olive Kitteridge.
Bryn Chancellor’s debut novel, “Sycamore,” was an Indie Next pick, an Amazon Editor’s Best Book of 2017, and among Bustle’s Best Debuts of 2017.
Her story collection “When Are You Coming Home” won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in various publications.
She earned her M.F.A. in fiction from Vanderbilt University and is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A native of California raised in Arizona, she is married to artist Timothy Winkler.
Sounds like a good read, Brenda. Wonder if my library has it.
Just placed this on my To Read list; I love it when it is a good read from the first page to the last page. Thank you for the review. Hope you are having a great weekend.
That sounds like a good book, Brenda. I have put it on my “to read” list! Have a great Sunday- xo Diana