Nochebuena de 1959, Altos de Adelaida, Australia. Al final de un día caluroso, en los alrededores de la mansión de la familia Turner, un repartidor realiza un descubrimiento espeluznante. Comienza una investigación policial y el pequeño pueblo de Tambilla se ve sacudido por uno de los casos de asesinato más desconcertantes y dolorosos de la historia de Australia del Sur.

Sesenta años más tarde y después de haber perdido su empleo en el periódico, Jess recibe una llamada inesperada por la que decide abandonar Londres y regresar a Sídney. Su abuela Nora, con quien se crio, ha sufrido una caída y está ingresada. El recuerdo de su querida abuela contrasta con la realidad al encontrar a una mujer frágil y desconcertada.

Sin nada que hacer en casa de Nora, Jess se dedica a curiosear y encuentra un libro que detalla la investigación policial de una tragedia ya olvidada: la de la familia Turner. Mientras lo hojea, descubre una asombrosa conexión entre su familia y aquel suceso. Desde entonces la búsqueda de la verdad será el único camino posible. ( )

A moving vivid tale about family, secrets, the stories we tell ourselves and the stories people will tell us about ourselves. All in the beautiful landscapes of Australia. Morton has written a magnificent book - I'll be thinking about it for some time. ( )

Almost gothic in feel, this novel of mystery and family secrets is the best I have read all year. ( )

While many readers have tagged this book as historical fiction (probably due to the dual storylines, from 1959-60 and 2018, both set mostly in Australia), I felt it was more of a mystery.

The 2018 story features almost-40 Jess Turner-Bridges, the granddaughter of Nora and daughter of Polly. Nora's had a fall and is in the hospital, and Jess returns to Sydney, Australia from her home in London to be with the grandmother who mostly raised her, as Polly (who lives in Brisbane) is somewhat estranged from both Nora and Jess.

Jess is trying to figure out what upset her grandmother enough to send her up into the attic, causing the fall. Jess finds a book about the 1959 Christmas Eve murder/suicide of Isabel Turner and three of her four children (the youngest, a six-week old baby, missing from the scene), and realizes that the Nora in the book, sister-in-law to Isabel, is her Nora. The book, by a now-dead (fictional) Daniel Miller, is "true crime" with fiction narrative techniques to dramatize it. He follows the official investigation, and does a lot of investigating and interviewing on his own. Whole chapters of Miller's "book" are yet another narrative thread in this one.

The story is told from multiple points of view (in both time periods), is rather long, and somewhat confusing, especially at the beginning. I figured out part of the mystery pretty quickly, but was still surprised by a few more plot points (the "hows" and the "whys") at the end. The desire to find those out kept me reading.

I will say that the Miller-"authored" parts in the book annoyed me. We have a writer in our town who embellishes his local history posts with invented dialogues and "additional literary items ... added to improve your understanding and enjoyment of this true-life adventure," as well as AI-generated illustrations. I think he's misleading readers, and that annoys me too. ( )

I was a little intimidated when I picked this up because it is fat! It's almost 550 pages!
I have read all of Kate Morton's books and some I've liked and some I haven't so I went into this cautiously optimistic. I wouldn't say this is my favorite of hers but I did really enjoy it. It held my interest but I wouldn't say that it was a constant page turner. It was more of a slower read with lots of details. There were times when I couldn't put it down but for the most part I was able to take my time a bit more. I don't want to really give away any of the plot because I didn't really know anything except the synopsis on the book cover and I think it was a far more haunting book that way then if I had known more of the premise before going into it. So if you're wanting more of an idea of the plot you won't get it here!!
It has stayed with me even though I finished it a week ago and I keep going back and thinking about different scenes.
As for content, there was some blasphemy and there is murder (which it says on the book so I'm not spoiling anything). But nothing too graphic. The lack of concerning content was a really pleasant surprise. I would recommend this book, it will keep you guessing right to the end.
This book was reviewed on the Literary Club Podcast Season 2 episode 20
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1984185 ( )