Gretchen by Shannon Kirk Book Review
Gretchen by Shannon Kirk
A mother running from her past, her daughter unsure what or who they’re running from. Together they land at an eerie property where long-kept secrets dare to be exposed.
LIFE ON THE RUN
Eleven different states over the past 13 years, means Lucy is a teenager who knows no single place as home. Mother has kept them on the run for as long as she can remember, forcing them to move at a moment’s notice, take on aliases, and pick up cash stashed in random cities.
Mother is hiding something. The terror of being separated from Lucy is palpable, and maybe that’s why she rarely allows them to be seen in public together. She hints of Lucy’s menacing and powerful father, but won’t reveal his name. What happened in the past that keeps her from staying still?
Shannon Kirk draws us into Lucy’s vantage point of a teenager shrouded in mystery. Lucy is longing for friends and a place to call home. She also paints the portrait of a mother plagued with fear, who so desperately wants to keep her daughter close. As the story unfolds, the desire to belong means juggling the lifestyle they’ve always known with the curiosity of what might be.
TOO LATE TO TURN BACK
Rumors have long swirled through town about strange happenings on Jerry Sabin’s property. His daughter, Gretchen, may look like the girl next door, but she’s anything but ordinary. With a traumatic past, a collection of Grey’s Anatomy book, and a penchant for jigsaw puzzles, she practically has loner stamped on her forehead.
Gretchen and Lucy are both starved for friendship, but struggle to understand one another. Tangled within this thriller is complex dance competition and secrecy that threaten to destroy the lives of both girls.
THE VERDICT
I am Really Into This book. Skillfully, Kirk develops characters we think we understand while somersaulting through family secrets and teenage angst. Like watching a scary movie, you’ll be pleading these characters not walk through that door, and yet you’ll have to read the next page.
The lowdown on Gretchen by Shannon Kirk from Goodreads
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About the Author: Shannon Kirk
Shannon Kirk is a practicing attorney and former law professor in Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband, a physicist and ultra-marathoner, and son, a cat-loving, basketball-player.
Prior to moving to Massachusetts, Shannon was a trial attorney in Chicago for ten years. Born in Easton, Pennsylvania, Shannon spent her very early years moving around the country: Texas, Indiana, Massachusetts, Upstate New York, and finally settled to grow up mostly in Raymond, New Hampshire. Her home was an eccentric and loud, although loving, household with ten million pets of dubious origin. Both her parents encouraged pursuits in the arts, often dragging her and her three brothers to flea markets and antique shows, while giving lessons on the genius of Bob Dylan and Santana. Shannon’s three brothers are artists: one, a rap/blues musician, another a sculptor, and another a physical therapist with a woodshop. Shannon attended Trinity High School and moved on to West Virginia Wesleyan and St. John’s for college. She graduated from Suffolk Law School in 1998.
When not writing or practicing law, Shannon enjoys creating sea-glass sculptures, painting, and hanging with her family and two cats, Marvin and Stewie, who sometimes appear in her books.
