Half of What You Hear

Bess was fired from her job in the White House, so she needs a fresh start. Her husband, Cole, is from an apparently idyllic small town called Greyhill, and they decide to take over an inn that has been his family's business for generations. Bess' twins, Livvie and Max, are 12 years old, so she is worried about how this change may affect them, especially since they are growing so fast and becoming more independent. Being new in a small town can be hard, as gossip and the weight of appearances are impossible to avoid. The book also adds a suspense note with the secrets of Susannah, an eccentric woman who left town fifty years before and is hated by the entire population of Greyhill. Since a professional opportunity comes up for Bess, she has to spend some time with Susannah. Their conversations help the reader to understand many of the secrets of these women and the past of this town, which develops the layers of the characters and their relationships. This family drama explores the challenges of new beginnings for a woman in her forties, but it also talks about friendship and identity.

What I liked: The book is easy to read. I particularly liked how Bess' teenage-years were portraited, so it is possible to understand why she behaved the way she did, where her fears came from, and why she found it important to raise her children in a certain way. The descriptions were very vivid, especially when the author was describing clothes. I also think it is interesting that some chapters were just dialogues between anonymous gossips who discuss what they have heard around, and this really sets a mood for the town.

What I did not like: Even when I enjoyed this book, I did not find it particularly memorable. The whole drama about Susannah returning to town, the gossip around why she left, her motivations, and her intentions were not as interesting for me as the author intended. Susannah es a well-constructed character, and her personality is strongly present in the dialogues, so her conversations with Bess were entertaining, but I did not care about them. I just thought there were other parts of the book that attracted my attention a lot more, like Livvie's experiences with bullying or the relationship between people from Greyhill and the "Others", as they call working-class people who leave nearby.