WHAT WAS LOST

Connelly offers a debut novel about a woman who revisits the site of a life-changing trauma.

In 1971, Martha “Marti” Farrell was a 14-year-old living her hometown of Chatham, Vermont, when she fell under the spell of 27-year-old high-school art teacher Spencer Douglas, who would let students hang out at his house to smoke cannabis and listen to music. With some of the female students, however, Spencer behaved inappropriately, and his interactions with Marti involved statutory rape, which led to her getting pregnant. Marti’s teenage neighbor and friend Peter Colganoffered to help her cover up what happened by claiming that the baby was his, but Marti decided to have an abortion instead. The narrative jumps forward to the year 2000, and Marti is back in Vermont with her 14-year-old daughter, Tess. Marti hasn’t been back home in years, and she finds out new things about her old town, including what became of Peter and other people she knew. She also must contend with ongoing conflict with Tess, who had wanted to spend the summer back in Brooklyn, New York, where she and Marti now live. Meanwhile, she gathers the courage to confront Spencer face-to-face, as she continues to struggle with the damage that he caused. Over the course of the narrative, Connelly paints a realistic, distinct and disturbing picture of the abusive relationship between Spencer and Marti, and as Marti’s experiences difficulties in life, reader will feel the sting of what she goes through. The earlier scenes set in 2000, however, are less affecting, due in part to awkward exposition in dialogue, as when Marti sketches out her family situation to a stranger: “My parents passed away, and my sister lives in Burlington.” That said, the revelations are more subtle as the plot progresses to an ultimately satisfying conclusion.

A vivid examination of how troubles from the past affect an unfolding future.