Sycamore A Novel
Sycamore A Novel by Bryn Chancellor, published by HarperCollins on January 30, 2018, is a reprint edition comprising 352 pages. This novel unfolds in Sycamore, Arizona, where a newcomer discovers what appear to be human remains in a dry desert ravine. As the news spreads, the community grapples with the possibility that the remains belong to Jess Winters, a teenage girl who vanished eighteen years prior, prompting residents to revisit painful memories and secrets that have long haunted their town.
Readers will find a rich tapestry of interconnected lives as Chancellor skillfully weaves multiple perspectives, exploring themes of loss, memory, and the complexities of human relationships. The narrative delves into the psychological and emotional landscapes of the characters, particularly focusing on Jess Winters, whose disappearance has left an indelible mark on the community. Sycamore serves as both a coming-of-age story and a mystery, inviting readers to reflect on the elemental forces of desire, grief, and hope that shape the lives of its inhabitants.
Official synopsis Publisher
A Southwest Book of the Year (2017)
“In this masterful performance, Bryn Chancellor explores the loss around which an entire community has calcified with humanity and wisdom. Chancellor digs deep in these pages, unearthing broken hearts, secrets, betrayals, passion and—most impressively—grace. What a joy to find a book that is both propulsive and perfectly composed.”—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest
An award-winning writer makes her debut with this mesmerizing page-turner in the spirit of Everything I Never Told You and Olive Kitteridge.
Out for a hike one scorching afternoon in Sycamore, Arizona, a newcomer to town stumbles across what appear to be human remains embedded in the wall of a dry desert ravine. As news of the discovery makes its way around town, Sycamore’s longtime residents fear the bones may belong to Jess Winters, the teenage girl who disappeared suddenly some eighteen years earlier, an unsolved mystery that has soaked into the porous rock of the town and haunted it ever since. In the days it takes the authorities to make an identification, the residents rekindle stories, rumors, and recollections both painful and poignant as they revisit Jess’s troubled history. In resurrecting the past, the people of Sycamore will find clarity, unexpected possibility, and a way forward for their lives.
Skillfully interweaving multiple points of view, Bryn Chancellor knowingly maps the bloodlines of a community and the indelible characters at its heart—most notably Jess Winters, a thoughtful, promising adolescent poised on the threshold of adulthood. Evocative and atmospheric, Sycamore is a coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a moving exploration of the elemental forces that drive human nature—desire, loneliness, grief, love, forgiveness, and hope—as witnessed through the inhabitants of one small Arizona town.
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