Read this atmospheric mystery
about a semi-celebrity and the toxic culture of fame
What to Read This Week
White Fox by Sara Faring
What It’s About
Take the sunny and small-town atmosphere of a Mediterranean island and add the dark forests on the outskirts of town and a decade-long mystery about a woman who vanished, and you’ll have White Fox.
Manon and Thaïs were raised by their pharma-executive father and their world-famous actor mother, but when their mother disappeared without a trace, their father sends them away from their home to grow up and live the remainder of their childhood off the island. They’re lured back a decade later, nearly adults, and find their mother’s last work that had previously only been speculation: a mysterious screenplay filled with strange metaphors and eerie similarities to their real lives.
The sisters long ago drifted apart but try to set aside their differences and anger and work to piece together what may be the only remaining clue about their mother’s disappearance while the town who loved her and feels part of her life tries to do the same thing.
Notable Quote
“I guess grief is like that: the banshee patiently waiting in the many-halled house of your mind, so quiet in certain moments, until you turn a corner and see how it takes up rooms and rooms, cracking their floors and windows with its volume, its weight.”
Who Will Like It
This is a surreal fever dream of a mystery novel, so if you’re one that likes clear-cut clues and answers, this may not be for you. But if you’re looking for something ethereal, eerie, and you enjoyed the rich family portrait in We Were Liars, run to get a copy of this novel.
And know going in, it’s a mystery, not a thriller, so you’re in for a lovely and long plot, not a fast-paced twisty page-turner.
Next Up
I’m in my hometown for the holidays this week, so I’m reading less than usual, but I am working on finishing White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson—I also just wrote a local school board that had an angry parent try to have Jackson’s work banned in their school (for swear words), so I’m going to go ahead and say that Jackson is one of the best writers for young adults out there, writing contemporary YA stories for teens in teen speak about extremely important and neglected issues like youth incarceration and the extreme vulnerability of young girls of color. You can support her and buy her books, and if you’ve never read her before, I’m going to recommend starting with Allegedly.
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