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The Undercurrent

A Novel

ebook
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available

"A mystery of remarkable scope, bristling with intelligence, beauty, and humanity. It is, quite simply: stunning." —Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

"A stunning, achingly beautiful and gripping mystery. Full of page-turning suspense, intrigue, and secrets...I loved it." —Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark

"Delve into a thrilling novel where dark secrets and hidden agendas intertwine, keeping you on the edge of your seat with every twist and turn." –E! Online

An Apple Books Best Debut of 2024

An overwhelmed new mother becomes obsessed with the unsolved disappearance of a young girl from her small Texas hometown—and unearths her own family's dark secret.

It's 2011 and Deecie Jeffries's missing person's case in Austin, Texas, is still cold. New mom Bee, struggling with postpartum depression, is living in Portland, Maine, having left Austin–and those memories–far behind. Until Leo, her childhood crush and her estranged twin Gus's best friend, suddenly resurfaces, drawing Bee back into their shared past.

Bee's predictable life is upended, pushing her to return to her childhood home and piece together a neighborhood's shattered history. Bee becomes consumed with a need to uncover the truth about Deecie's disappearance and what happened to the families who lived across the field from one another—Gus, Leo, and their mothers: Mary, a homemaker, whose only escape is the local community theater, and Diana, a serious academic dedicated to her studies.

Told in multiple perspectives with two different timelines, The Undercurrent is a gripping portrait of motherhood, obsession, broken family bonds, and buried secrets.

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    • Booklist

      Starred review from September 1, 2024
      Sawyer's debut is a gripping and emotional domestic suspense novel that explores the complex trials and tribulations of motherhood from three female perspectives. What sacrifices are they willing to make to protect their children? Two different time lines alternating between 1987 and 2011 have Diana, Mary, and Bee each uncovering long-buried secrets. New mom Bee's life is upended when her childhood crush contacts her with news from her estranged twin brother Gus. This compels her to return home to Texas to search for answers to a young girl's unsolved disappearance. What tore apart her family 20 years ago? Bee's mother, Mary, was a perfect homemaker but secretly felt trapped and lonely in an unhealthy marriage. Consumed by the desire to act, she escaped by performing in the community theater. Her chaotic and disorganized neighbor, Diana, threw herself into academics to escape dealing with her new divorce. When these women finally connect, horrific discoveries force them to do the unthinkable to protect their children. The taut prose and complex narrative structure illustrate the three women's loyalties, sacrifices, longings, and ambitions, illustrating how they are forced to make difficult choices and embrace their womanhood.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 9, 2024
      A new mother fixates on a girl’s long-ago disappearance from her Austin, Tex., neighborhood in Sawyer’s arresting debut. Bee Rowan; her troubled twin, Gus; and her girlhood crush Leo Nastasi were once close, but she hasn’t spoken to either of them in years. In 2011, Leo tracks down Bee in Maine, where she lives with her husband and eight-week-old daughter, Attie, and lets her know Gus wants to talk. She returns with Attie to Austin, where, to Bee’s surprise, Gus is staying at their mother Mary’s house. There, she finds hidden in her childhood bedroom a letter to Leo from Deecie Jeffries, the girl who disappeared in 1987. The discovery prompts Bee and Leo to finally confront long-ago events that drove a wedge between them. In chapters set in 1987, a teenage Leo, though quiet and kind, sets fires and acts out at school, leading his mother to believe he might have had something to do with Deecie’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Mary worries her abusive husband might be responsible after finding a Polaroid print in their garage that hints at child pornography. Sawyer constructs a spellbinding mystery as she toggles between timelines and the viewpoints of three very different mothers. This one leaves a mark. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary.

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  • English

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