THE RELIABLE NARRATOR

In Sammon’s novel, an aging ghostwriter reunites with a dying friend whose story urges her to confront her own long-buried past.

Darby Small, a successful ghostwriter, lives with her elderly mother in a ramshackle house in the small town of Croton-on-Hudson, New York. Her quiet life is turned upside down when her recently estranged best friend, Phoebe Zaslove, contacts her with shattering news: She is losing her fight with cancer and would like Darby to help write her story before she dies. Darby flies to Phoebe’s home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the two spend their days reconnecting. As they talk, it becomes clear that Phoebe’s goal in putting her life on paper is to reconcile with her history and break the cycle of keeping silent in the face of trauma. Phoebe’s bravery when she finally reveals a horrific secret from her past compels Darby to consider her own secrets and the ways in which they have shaped her relationship with her mother and influenced her choice of career. As Phoebe’s cancer battle draws to its devastating conclusion, Darby must decide once and for all just how much silence she’s willing to carry. Sammon has crafted a quietly devastating tale of sexual abuse and assault that explores the generational trauma that mothers can unwittingly pass down to their daughters. Darby proves to be an incredibly sympathetic narrator, waxing almost poetic as she reflects on her life and expresses sentiments that will likely ring universal for readers: “There are the places of invisibility that we carefully craft for ourselves and the ones where we get wholly sucked in by another.” While some of the symbolism comes across as excessively heavy-handed (Darby’s last name is Small, and she feels small; she is a ghostwriter, and she feels like a ghost), the novel shines as a testament to the power of speaking one’s truth, no matter how long that may take.

A compassionate, moving story of friendship, love, and letting go of the past.