Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Arrowood

Arrowood by Laura McHugh.  270 pages.

This story centers on a young woman's return to her childhood home, and how she deals with her family's secrets.  Arrowood is one of the grandest historical homes on the Mississippi River in southern Iowa.  However, this house, as beautiful as it is, has a mystery that has never been revealed: it's where Arden Arrowood's twin sisters vanished twenty years ago, never to be seen again.  After their disappearance, Arden's parents divorced and left the big house.  However, now that Arden is an adult, and trying to get her own life back on track, she returns to Arrowood, the house she has inherited after her father's death.  Returning to her home town, Arden is greeted by people with curiosity, but is also welcomed back by old friends and her first love, Ben Ferris.  As it turns out, Ben's family knows more about the secrets the house may hold.  With the help of an amateur investigator, Arden tracks down the man who was the main suspect in her sisters' kidnapping.  However, when she starts to uncover what appears to be truth, things aren't any clearer at all.

I feel like I cannot stop reading this author's books.  She creates unforgettable, realistic characters and settings that are characters unto themselves.  Combined with an evenly increasing pace, I find myself easily drawn into her stories.  I found this book to be a "matroyshka type" of story where things are revealed, only to open up and reveal something else.  Even by the very end of the story, it appears there is a truth that is being revealed, and you're left mostly sure, but not completely sure, just like the main character.

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