In Dark’s (
Think of England) latest, octogenarians Agnes and Polly are childhood friends who grew up together in 1930s Philadelphia and summered at Fellowship Point, a coastal Maine peninsula shared by their Quaker families for generations. Their adult lives took different paths—Polly’s was traditional, with a husband and children; while Agnes, who never married, found success writing beloved children’s books about an adventurous girl named Nan. Now Agnes, nearing the end of her life, is approached by ambitious editor Maud to write her memoirs; Agnes is loath to reveal her secrets, even as the two become friends. Agnes is also conceiving a plan to save Fellowship Point from development, but it requires buy-in from the surviving stakeholders, and she and Polly fight over Polly’s seeming unwillingness to convince her adult children to cooperate. Meanwhile, Maud pressures her to reveal more of herself in the memoir, and Agnes might not be able to preserve both the land and her secrets.
VERDICT Dark’s novel takes on serious topics, from patriarchy to capitalism, with a multifaceted main character and a story line that’s as surprising as it is satisfying. Sure to please fans of literary women’s fiction like the work of Elizabeth Strout.
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