Eden Close by Anita Shreve

From the back cover: Andrew, after many years away, returns to his hometown to attend his mother's funeral. Planning to remain only a few days, he is drawn into the tragic legacy of his childhood friend and beautiful girl next door, Eden Close. An adopted child, Eden had learned to avoid the mother who did not want her and to please the father who did. She also aimed to please Andrew and his friends, first by being one of the boys and later by seducing them. Then one hot night, Andrew was awakened by gunshots and piercing screams from the next farm: Mr. Close had been killed and Eden blinded. Now, seventeen years later, Andrew begins to uncover the grisly story - to unravel the layers of thwarted love between the husband, wife, and tormented girl. And, as truth about Eden's past comes to light, so too does Andrew's strange and binding attachment to her reveal itself.

Now this was a good Anita Shreve book! You would think with a TBR pile that is more mountain than pile, that I would not dare to read "off list". But Anita Shreve calls out to me. I was not enamoured of Weight of Water, a little bit meh about The Last Time They Met, and Wedding in December was just OK. But I held onto the great pleasure I got from The Pilot's Wife and from Sea Glass and just knew she had a voice that I loved. Well, this is right back to what I like about her. There are stunning revelations - none of which I will reveal here - although I will say that I nailed one fairly early on - yeah me. I love the story switching back and forth from present day to Andrew's memory with the memories revealing details that then color the interactions Andrew has with the people he sees every day while he goes about the work after the funeral of settling his mother's estate. I tend to be a linear writer - if I tell a story it is from point A to point B and point C without deviation. I think Anita's Shreve's writing in that regard is artful. I'm so glad I deviated from my TBR list... this was a treat.

This book is my "E" for the A-Z Reading Challenge!Click on the logo to see my progress.