Review by Booklist Review
It's Christmas 1959, and Isabel Turner is planning a picnic for her four children--Matilda, 15; John, 13; Evie, nine; and baby Thea--on the grounds of their estate, Halcyon, in southern Australia. Percy Summers happens upon the scene, but what he thought was a peaceful tableau was actually a nightmare. The four older Turners are all dead, and baby Thea is missing. In 2018, journalist Jess Turner-Bridges learns that her beloved grandmother, Nora, has taken a bad fall on the treacherous attic stairs, so she flies to Sydney. Nora is barely conscious in the hospital, talking nonsense like "don't let them take her away." Jess finds that Nora has been reading As If They Were Asleep, a true-crime book about the Turner case. And what was Nora doing in the attic after all these years? Morton's skill at the parallel-narrative style is on full display here as she alternates between the perspectives of various townsfolk in 1959, Jess in 2018, and excerpts from As If They Were Asleep. Readers will think they know the connection between the two story lines, but Morton keeps the secrets coming, leading up to a powerful, emotional conclusion. This is storytelling at its finest.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A new book from bestseller Morton is always a treat, and expect the true-crime angle to bring in even more readers.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Morton (The Clockmaker's Daughter) delivers an eerie epic involving a wealthy family's mysterious deaths in Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It's Christmas Eve 1959, and patriarch Thomas Turner is abroad on business, leaving behind his wife, Isabel, and their four children. One day, neighbor Percy Summers happens upon the family while riding his horse. At first, it appears they're resting on blankets after a swim, but upon closer inspection, he realizes they're dead and that baby Thea is missing from her basket. A painstaking investigation begins, and Percy is grilled by a detective who was brought in from out of town. Morton then cuts to 2018 as journalist Jess Turner leaves her London home to travel back to Adelaide after her grandmother, Nora, injures herself in a bad fall. At Nora's house, she finds an old book about the unresolved Turner deaths, which Jess never knew about, and discovers the family's connection to her own. Jess's gripping inquiry into what happened brings up staggering revelations. Along the way, there are beautiful descriptions of the region's landscape and canny insights into the neighborhood's tight-knit community. This is Morton's best yet. Agent: Lizzy Kremer, David Higham Assoc. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A woman discovers that everything she knows about her family is a lie. When journalist Jess Turner-Bridges receives a call that her grandmother Nora is in the hospital following a fall, she leaves her chosen home of London and returns to Darling House in Sydney, Australia. Nora, who raised Jess for much of her childhood, suffered her fall when climbing to the attic. Jess is perplexed by this--what could her elderly grandmother have needed so badly that she couldn't wait for her home aide to help her?--and when she arrives at the hospital, her confusion is heightened by Nora's panicked utterances: "The pages," she says. "Help me....He's going to take her from me." Jess is determined to seek out answers to help comfort her grandmother, which leads her to find Nora's copy of a book called As If They Were Asleep by Daniel Miller. This journalistic work details the story of the shocking deaths in 1959 of Nora's sister-in-law Isabel and three of Isabel's children and the disappearance and presumed death of Isabel's baby. Jess knew nothing about the deaths--presumed to be murder-suicide--and while she does feel betrayed that her grandmother kept this from her, she immediately vows to do whatever it takes to learn more about her family. Morton weaves together Jess' sleuthing with segments of Daniel Miller's book along with flashbacks from 1959 and moments told from Jess' estranged mother Polly's perspective. At times Morton's pacing could use some tightening. And while mystery readers will likely figure out a big twist long before it's revealed, Morton's layered writing--realized most successfully in the scenes from the past--leaves surprises for even the keenest of detectives. A slow-paced novel that rewards patient readers. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
