Nicole Baart

Sadie Sheridan and Felix Graham are both college professors — she teaches English, he studies planetary sciences — and newlyweds who met on campus and fell in love fast. Both came from broken homes and found in each other the stability and warmth they never had growing up. They're on sabbatical at Hemlock House, Felix's remote family homestead deep in Washington's North Cascades — a sprawling, slightly haunted-feeling property surrounded by dense Pacific Northwest forest. When Felix show more leaves for a work trip and simply doesn't come back, Sadie is stranded and increasingly terrified. Before she can even process what's happening, two strangers — young boys named Henry and Finn, clearly frightened and showing signs of abuse — show up on her doorstep as a powerful snowstorm closes in. With no way out and no contact with the outside world, Sadie is forced to shelter the boys while simultaneously unravelling the mystery of where Felix went and what he's been hiding about his past. Alternating timelines trace Sadie and Felix's relationship from its earliest moments alongside the tense present. Compared to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Ruth Ware, and Lucy Foley. Instant national bestseller.

[May contain spoilers]
Felix's family history is the dark heart of the novel — his father Benjamin Abbott is a controlling, abusive man who used isolation and fear to dominate everyone around him, and the secrets Felix buried about his childhood directly connect to the boys on Sadie's doorstep. The trauma is inherited and generational — Felix became part of the cycle despite himself by hiding the truth. Felix eventually surfaces in a caregiver role, which represents his attempt at redemption, but Sadie has to reckon with loving someone who kept devastating secrets. The ending moves toward forgiveness and resilience rather than clean resolution — the North Cascades landscape shifting from threatening to quietly hopeful as a backdrop for rebirth.
What I think: This is beautifully written atmospheric thriller territory — the North Cascades setting does the heavy lifting, the dual timeline structure pays off, and the children-in-danger thread gives it immediate emotional stakes you always respond to. Baart's prose is notably more literary than most domestic thrillers. The emotional depth of Sadie and Felix's relationship elevates it above pure genre. show less

Everything We Didn't Say by Nicole Baart is a highly recommended novel of suspense and a family drama.

Juniper (June) Baker is returning to Jericho, Iowa, the small town where she grew up. Currently she is a special collections and archives librarian for a college in Colorado. She has taken a leave of absence and is returning to help Cora, the librarian in Jericho, who has stage 4 breast cancer, but she has other more complicated reasons for returning. Fifteen years ago Cal and Beth Murphy, show more who lived on a neighboring farm, were murdered on the night of July 4th. Fourteen years ago she left her infant daughter, Willa, in the care of her mother and stepfather. Now Juniper is hoping to bring thirteen-year-old Willa home with her to Colorado. She also plans to finally look for the truth behind the murder of the Murphys. Her brother, Jonathan, was the prime suspect, but never charged. Juniper has a secret about that night that she has never shared and now may be the time to reveal what she knows.

The writing is excellent and the plot unfolds in alternating narratives set in the past and present. In the present day someone has taken a new interest in the Murphy case and is seemingly determined to get Jonathan charged for the murders. Juniper knows he is not guilty and wants to find out who is behind the push to charge him. The narrative set in the past occurs during the summer of the murders, right after Juniper graduated from high school, and follows events leading up to the crime. The difference between a teenager experiencing the events and an adult reexamining them is the crux of the plot. When present day events begin to point to someone taking action against Jonathan, Juniper feels like Willa's life may be in danger. While readers won't know Juniper's secret until the end of the book, the suspense is still palpable in Everything We Didn't Say due to the duel timelines.

Adult Juniper is a complex, relatable character. She is trying to figure out exactly what happened that summer night while knowing that Jonathan was not responsible for the murders. Teenage "June" is, well, a teenager who as a group are usually more self-centered and aren't normally known for always exhibiting good judgment or being observant about what is going on around them. As an adult it is easy to see what Juniper may have been missing as a teen so it is satisfying to follow her investigation into present day actions while knowing information about the past. When Jonathan is suddenly incapacitated and Juniper is unable to talk with him about the past, it makes current events even more fraught with peril at every turn.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/11/everything-we-didnt-say.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4321789943 show less

Author Nicole Baart spins a delicate and thought-provoking tale on the nature of friends, friendship and the profound loneliness which occurs when that friendship shatters. Experiences filtered through our own eyes, heart and soul are real enough to us but are they the truth? Everyone's personal experience is their personal truth. Ahh, but is it the shared and commonly accepted truth? How can one heal if the personal truth of an ugly situation remains a secret buried deeply in one's soul?
show more Baart's writing is sweet and painterly. You are transported from the quiet and vast farmland of Iowa to the streets of Minneapolis and back again. The story deals with some difficult topics in a gentler but no less serious fashion. The tenderness with which Baart writes speaks to one's soul.
I am grateful to Goodreads' First Reads, author Nicole Baart and publisher Simon and Schuster for having provided a free copy of this book. Their generosity did not, however, influence this review - the words of which are mine alone. show less

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart is a very highly recommended domestic thriller with several surprising twists in the plot.

When her thirteen-year-old daughter Eva begs her for an Instagram page, Charlie, mother to Eva, agrees to open a shared one as mother and daughter. The page is titled The Sutton Girls and a photo Charlie takes of Eva goes viral and the two actually begin to become influencers. After a year, the name of the account is changed to Eva Explores. The two share photos and show more descriptions of places they traveled, camped, and explored in their vintage Airstream trailer. Charlie is always very careful to never photograph their full faces.

When Eva is ready for her senior year of high school, she asks if the two can settle down so she can attend high school. They temporarily settled in Minnesota on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Eva has a job and is sending off applications to colleges. Charlie is hoping for one more summer on the road, but Eva isn't interested. The two do take their boat out on the lake one day just before Eva's graduation. When Charlie falls asleep on the boat, Eva disappears and Charlie is the main suspect. But hold on because that is just the first act of this novel. Things are about to get much more complicated and twisty.

The well-written narrative is told through the point of view of Charlie, Eva, Instagram posts, and Eva's college application essays. The presentation of these various plot elements work very well. The novel is almost divided into several sections. They are all interconnected, but each new revelation will be totally unexpected and shocking as it is explored in the novel.

One important point that can be written about is the two largest fears that are tapped into: a child's disappearance and the risks inherent in social media. Both Charlie and Eva are characters you will care about and long the best for in the end. The writing is pitch-perfect as it reveals new information and twists in the plot. Readers will not be able to guess the direction the plot is going to take.

A note must be made about the quality of the writing. Baart does an exceptional job presenting the story in the most caring, suspenseful, and intricate way possible. The Long Way Back goes above and beyond many mother and daughter novels. This will be a perfect choice for book clubs as there is so much that could be discussed.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books via Edelweiss.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2023/06/the-long-way-back.html show less