It's the summer of 1959, and the well-trimmed lawns of Sunnylakes, California, wilt under the sun. At some point during the long, long afternoon, Joyce Haney, wife, mother, vanishes from her home, leaving behind two terrified children and a bloodstain on the kitchen floor.
While the Haney's neighbours get busy organising search parties, it is Ruby Wright, the family's 'help', who may hold the key to this unsettling mystery. Ruby knows more about the secrets behind Sunnylakes' starched curtains than anyone, and it isn't long before the detective in charge of the case wants her help. But what might it cost her to get involved? In these long hot summer afternoons, simmering with lies, mistrust and prejudice, it could only take one spark for this whole 'perfect' world to set alight . . .
A beguiling, deeply atmospheric debut novel from the cracked heart of the American Dream, The Long, Long Afternoon is at once a page-turning mystery and an intoxicating vision of the ways in which women everywhere are diminished, silenced and ultimately under-estimated.***
Yesterday, I kissed my husband for the last time. CHAPTER ONE
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(Manilla Press, 2 February 2021, ebook, 333 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I bought this on impulse when it was on sale for 99p because I'd read a lot of favourable reviews. I thought this was a terrific read, part historical fiction and part crime thriller. I love the setting. I haven't read a lot of book set in the 50's or 60's so this was a nice change of pace. I loved the way the author brought the era and setting to life, the world inhabited by the characters. This is an absorbing read and it was hard to stop reading because I got sucked into the story. I also liked the fact the author uses the book to tackle read-life issues of the era such as racism. This is an impressive debut.
