By: Justine Champine
Narrator: Jennifer Pickens
Random House Audio
ISBN: 9780593447208
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 05/28/2024
Format: Other
My Rating: 4.5 Stars (ARC)
An atmospheric suspense debut that delves into family secrets to ask the question: Who do you believe when you can’t even trust yourself?
“A delicious smoke curl of a novel . . . skilled at twisting the reader’s guesses in unimaginable ways.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult
When Jess was thirteen, her mother went for a walk and never returned. Jess and her older sister, Liz, never found out what happened. Instead, they did what they hoped their mother had done: survive. As soon as she was old enough, Jess fled their small town of Knife River, wandering from girlfriend to girlfriend like a ghost in her own life, aimless in her attempts to outrun grief and confusion. But one morning, fifteen years after their mother’s disappearance, she gets the call she’s been bracing for: Her mother’s remains have been found.
Jess returns to find Knife River—and her sister—frozen in time. The town is as claustrophobic and rundown as ever. Liz still lives in their childhood home and has become obsessed with unsolved missing persons cases. Jess plans to stay only until they get some answers, but their mother’s bones, exposed to the elements for so long, just leave them with more questions. As Jess gets caught up in the case and falls back into an entanglement with her high school girlfriend, her understanding of the past, of Liz, of their mother, and of herself become more complicated—and the list of theories more ominous.
Knife River is a tense, intimate, and heartrending portrayal of how deeply and imperfectly women love one another: in romantic relationships, in friendships, and especially as sisters.
My Review
Justine Champine's impressive debut, KNIFE RIVER , is a moving, darkly atmospheric literary fiction mystery suspense about two sisters, grief, trauma, family, and a mysterious whodunit.
About...
Set in Knife River, a rural small town, in 2010, Natalie Fairchild, a mother, goes missing and is never seen again when going out for a walk, leaving two daughters behind: Jess (13) and her older sister, Liz.
No leads nor a body was ever found due to a lack of local investigation. Neither sister had closure, and it even affected the trajectory of their lives. The girls stayed up all night waiting for the phone to ring, staring at maps of the trail system, waiting for answers that never came.
The town was tucked in the valley between two sprawling forests divided by the runoff of a towering waterfall. It has hundreds of trails, many of which originate just north of the Canadian border.
Jess, a lesbian, finally left the small town and has always wandered from one relationship to another, never getting too close. Liz, a bank teller, remained in the childhood home.
Then, fifteen years later, a shocking discovery is made-children uncover bones in the nearby forest. The sisters, Jess and Liz, are left to grapple with the chilling realization that these bones could be their long-lost mothers, setting the stage for a suspenseful turn of events.
Both sisters handle their grief in different complex ways. What happened to their mother? Who murdered her and why? Why has no one come forward? Is the murderer closer than they think, or was this possibly an accident that someone tried to cover up, but why? Will they ever know the real truth that haunts them about their mother?
My thoughts...
KNIFE RIVER is an atmospheric and claustrophobic setting with life in a small rural town full of struggles and an overwhelming sense of loss as two young girls try to move on with their lives. Gracefully written, heart-rendering, with vivid settings, a chilling tale of mysterious buried sins and secrets.
Hauntingly beautiful, unsettling, slow-burn suspense with lyrical writing. A feeling of hopelessness and grief richly layered and an exploration of haunted souls. Psychologically rich, a whodunit suspense thriller, as well as a character study of siblings, women, guilt, regret, love, loss, memory, trauma, secrets, family, and relationships.
I look forward to reading more from this new voice in fiction!
Recs...
KNIFE RIVER is for fans of Laura McHugh, Heather Gudenkauf, Kimi Cunningham Grant, Julie Heaberlin, Wendy Walker, Willow Rose, and Brooke Beyfuss.
Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Pub Date: May 28, 2024
Praise
“Compelling.”
—Paste
“Knife River is a delicious smoke curl of a novel: atmospheric, sharp, and skilled at twisting the reader’s guesses in unimaginable ways.”
—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Knife River is an intelligent literary mystery with a rich sense of place and a clever plot; but it is Champine’s keenly-observed depiction of the aftermath of tragedy and the corrosive impact of loss that sets this novel apart.”
—Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Knife River is a gorgeous, magnetic portrait of two sisters whose lives are shattered by the loss of their mother. Part mystery, part investigation into the nature of loss, this novel is both startlingly beautiful and unputdownable. Justine Champine has written a knockout debut.”
—Danielle Trussoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Puzzle Master
“Beautifully written, gripping and poignant, Knife River is a moving debut about love, women and buried secrets.”
—Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation
“With the wry, crackling humor of Sally Rooney and Ottessa Moshfegh, and a grip on the darkest, prickliest corners of human behavior, Knife River is completely singular in vision, skill, and oneiric, haunting atmosphere. Champine writes dykes, outsiders, and desire like no one else. Her work is transcendent.”
—T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls
“A twisting, engrossing, and beautiful mystery. Thrilling, yet also deeply moving, layered, and powerful.”
—Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End
“Knife River is a twisty, intoxicating book. The beating heart of it is raw and tender, full of guilt and heartache and hope. It's a genuine and unsettling look at how loss can divide a family, but it’s also a story about the long and difficult ways we finally make our way back home. Justine Champine is a very gifted writer and readers are going to be hooked on Knife River.”
—Kristen Arnett, author of With Teeth
About the Author
Justine Champine’s short fiction has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Epoch, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and is a founding member of No Tokens Journal. Knife River is her first novel.
