Sunburn: A Novel

I read this feeling pleasantly relieved that it seemed to have avoided the overplayed twist ending toward which the narrative seemed to be leading me down the garden path, only to find it present in the last few pages after all. It's better written than a lot of this kind of narrative with some important commentary on class and power (although the way it's presented could be read as potentially antisemitic), and - notwithstanding the twist - it retained some moral ambiguity which made it compelling and challenging.

Pretty entertaining read. It tells the interwoven stories of a bunch of folks, but mostly centering on Polly, a woman trying to escape her past, and Adam, who is trying to find someone. There's not much I can really tell you about with a ton of spoilers, but the story gets more intricate and more opaque as the it goes along. Really fascinating characters, with a tight story.

Small marks down for the fact the characters do sometimes seem too pat, acting like characters in a novel instead of real people. And the ending seemed a little too pat, especially for a book full of messy people and relationships.

But in the end, it was a great summer read. I need to try more from Ms. Lippman.