ALL WHO ARE LOST

Equal parts family drama and shadowy romance, a story about three sisters in love with the same man.

Forrest, in her debut novel, writes of love, loss and the danger of keeping secrets. Showcasing a large cast of characters, the novel centers on Laura Abbott, an international celebrity who performs under the name Cat Courtney. She’s the youngest of the Abbott sisters, musical daughters of a domineering, abusive man who murdered his own wife by throwing her into the sea years before the novel’s opening. As the story begins, readers learn that Laura is still very much obsessed with Richard Ashmore, an iconic figure from her past. Richard was her childhood crush, though he ultimately married her oldest sister, Diana. At the tail end of her traumatic childhood, Laura ran away from home, likely never to return. She made a new life for herself under her alias, married a wealthy man, moved to London and refused to accept any contact from her family. However, after her husband is killed in the attacks on 9/11, Laura yearns for the people she had sworn off years before. At long last, she returns to her childhood home in Virginia, digging up old ghosts and confronting her demons. As the complex plot unfolds, Forrest frequently peppers the present with varying layers of flashback. Laura tries to move forward and mend old wounds, revealing an increasing amount about the many secrets and mistakes of her past. As time shifts through this complicated story, readers must work hard to keep up and piece together the details of Laura and Richard’s harrowing history. The story contains unexpected darkness and foreboding that lurk in the hearts of her characters and in the themes of the story itself. A cliffhanger ending promises a sequel or two.

A dense, thorny romance full of multidimensional, morally ambiguous characters struggling to find peace despite sins of the past.