DEBUT Narayanan’s first novel, set in a tony suburb along the Hudson River in New York, taps into the collective question of what we really know about our neighbors. When Audrey Hughes hears the relentless cries of baby Nicole next door, she goes to investigate. Making her way through the adjacent townhouse, Audrey stumbles upon Sleepy Point’s most notorious single mother, Sarah Connelly, lifeless and bloody on the floor. Quickly calling 911, Audrey requests an ambulance for Sarah, then remembers Nicole. Rushing upstairs with the emergency operator still on the phone, Audrey locates the baby in the master bedroom and reveals to the operator that she is unable to evaluate Nicole due to being blind. The police question Audrey, first as a witness and then as a suspect, never fully trusting her after learning that she and Sarah fought on the day of the murder. The more truths that are revealed during the investigation, the more secrets there seem to be.
VERDICT Through shifting timelines and alternating points of view, Narayanan takes readers on a perplexing yet compelling journey. The destination is worth it in the end.
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