Mattauck, Long Island is an affluent community that has a terrible secret. Women have been disappearing for years, the police don't care and that doesn't sit well with three middle-aged women who become unlikely friends. Sit down, m'dears and let Kirsten Miller tell you a delightful story that will light the feminist fire within you.
Miller introduces her readers to a trio of women who use their unique skills to track down a serial killer of women. The supernatural element was unexpected yet enjoyable and done in a way (for me anyway) that stayed in the realm of 'huh, sure that could happen, why not?' These three women become fast friends as they hunt down a killer, give peace to the victims and their families and enact sweet revenge.
Nessa James is a widowed nurse who has inherited a special gift - she can hear the voices of the dead. Jo Levinson is entering menopause with all its hormonal-hot flash glory while balancing marriage, motherhood, a small business and a powerful inner rage. Harriet Osborne is in her late 40's and doesn't give a rat's patoot what anyone thinks of her. She spent her 20's and 30's following the rules the boys club set out in her corporate job, so she left that world and created a new life surrounded by the wonder and power that botanicals have to offer. {Harriet will go down as one of my favourite sassy main characters evah! I love that she takes no shit from anyone - but while she's described as in her late 40's (like moi), I pictured her more like Cloris Leachman in her late 60's. Sassy & smart-assy. An utter delight.}
This fantasy mystery is a story about womanhood, female empowerment, friendship and strength that dives unapologetically and powerfully into many of the societal rules and restrictions put upon women that have and continue to put women at a disadvantage. The Change is written with humour, heart and delightfully naughty words and is a powerful story that surprised me in the very best way. I hope book clubs pick this book - especially those with a mix of genders and generations - because The Change is book club discussion fodder at its finest.
My Rating: 5 stars
Author: Kirsten Miller
Genre: Suspense, Women's Issues, Contemporary Fiction
Type and Source: Hardcover from public library
Publisher: William Morrow
First Published: May 3, 2022
Book Description from GoodReads: In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment…
After Nessa James’s husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she’s left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn’t take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead—a gift she’s inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.
On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn’t left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett’s life is far from over—in fact, she’s undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.
Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw—until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.
Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl’s murder leads to more bodies, and to the town’s most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don’t apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands.
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