FINDING SUTTON'S CHOICE

Haas’ novel follows a woman as she confronts her difficult past and uncovers long-buried family secrets.

Twenty-eight-year-old writer Charlotte Sutton is drawn back to her hometown of Lakeside, Ohio, by a cryptic voicemail about her father, Chuck, a beloved local celebrity now slipping into the fog of Alzheimer’s. When she arrives, she finds her father’s newspaper and marina businesses faltering, her former classmates still simmering with old grudges, and, most shocking of all, a teenage half-brother named Adam. “Chuck could as easily have raised a baseball bat, slicing it through the air again and again to shatter her heart into pieces she’d never be able to glue back together,” she reflects as she considers the implications of a half-brother she has never known. Charlotte is, at first, determined to straighten out her father’s affairs and return to Pittsburgh as quickly as possible, but instead she stays to confront her memories, her father’s neglect, and her own bitterness. The narrative alternates between the past and present as Charlotte reconnects with estranged figures like her childhood sweetheart, Sammy, whom she abandoned. Meanwhile, the quick progression of Chuck’s illness means that Charlotte may have to stay longer than anticipated, but also that there isn’t much time to reckon with her parents’ betrayals, her responsibility regarding Adam, and the possibility of reshaping her life. Haas writes with skill and assurance, rendering the waterfront community in vivid detail and giving Charlotte’s inner conflicts emotional depth without slowing the story’s momentum. Her prose is grounded and filled with flashes of sardonic wit, like when Charlotte describes her hometown as “a step back in time—like being dropped onto an old-timey movie set.” Though some flashbacks to middle school feel tangential and unnecessary, the novel succeeds as a moving account of strained family bonds, illness, and second chances. Its themes may be familiar, but Haas’ strong character work and carefully drawn setting elevate the sweet and resonant material.

A tender family story with familiar beats, elevated by strong characters and engaging prose.