Sarah Blake

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Powerful and provocative' Paula McLain 'Beautiful, engrossing, heart-breaking' Rachel Rhys 'Monumental in a way that few novels dare attempt' Washington Post The Miltons are a powerful old New York family - the kind of family that used to run the world. And in 1935, they still do. Kitty and Ogden Milton seem to have it all: an elegant apartment on the Upper East Side, two beautiful little boys, a love everyone envies. When a tragedy befalls them, Ogden comforts Kitty the only way he knows how - they go sailing, picnic on a small island off the coast of Maine, and buy it. For generations the Miltons of Crockett Island revel in a place that is entirely their own. But it's 1959, and the world is changing: Ogden's firm hire a Jewish man, Len Levy, who earns the admiration of not only his boss, but his boss's beautiful young daughter. When Len and his friend visit the island, the Milton's principles and prejudices are challenged like never before. At the dawn of the 21st century, the family money has run dry, and the island is up for sale. Returning for one last visit, Kitty's granddaughter uncovers disturbing evidence about her family's wealth - and realizes she is on the verge of finally understanding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her family all her life. 'Thought-provoking and propulsive...Welcome to old money, new heartbreak and big secrets' New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Bestseller

The Guest Book

I finished! I almost gave up but darn it I bought the book and I hate DNF'ing books that I have bought for brand new prices. But here I am, persevering for a clear conscious and sitting through a book club meeting tomorrow!

This was really bad. Sorry, it just wanted to do so much but I think it focused too much on the weird buildup that took over half of the book before introducing the plot, and what would have been nice to find out in the middle was in the last 100 pages and the ending was rushed as a result.

I think when an author wants to handle race, lineage, and WWII survivors or the guilt associated, I think they need to be careful to show us and not tell. There was too much dialogue to cover the majority of the issues, so it seemed more like rantings of the author directly to the reader rather than actually telling a story. I think the plot was swiss cheese and just didn't make much sense, and I think she grabbed for a higher literary level than maybe she is comfortable with how the phrasing and plotting was done. It just got muddy.

I hated the time jumps. The chapters aren't labeled and they don't consistently switch off perspectives and time periods. I would have appreciated knowing if the chapter is A or B. I had to take notes because I was so confused on who was who in the time periods, because it was such a huge cast. I honestly forgot who everyone was in the final stretch. The women just blend together and the men are similar.

I could go on about why I don't like this. I could write a novella honestly, but it would be riddled with spoilers. I'm just disappointed.

Helen Bright

Sophie Gatchell

Stavroula Kalantzis

edith w.

Michele Bruwer

Katelyn Broad

Lisa Sieverts 

Kris 

Vicki

APRIL LIPO

"A novel about past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations, The Guest Book examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America. It is a literary triumph. The Guest Book follows three generations of a powerful American family, a family that "used to run the world." And when the novel begins in 1935, they still do. Kitty and Ogden Milton appear to have everything--perfect children, good looks, a love everyone envies. But after a tragedy befalls them, Ogden tries to bring Kitty back to life by purchasing an island in Maine. That island, and its house, come to define and burnish the Milton family, year after year after year. And it is there that Kitty issues a refusal that will haunt her till the day she dies. In 1959 a young Jewish man, Len Levy, will get a job in Ogden's bank and earn the admiration of Ogden and one of his daughters, but the scorn of everyone else. Len's best friend, Reg Pauling, has always been the only black man in the room--at Harvard, at work, and finally at the Miltons' island in Maine. An island that, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, this last generation doesn't have the money to keep. When Kitty's granddaughter hears that she and her cousins might be forced to sell it, and when her husband brings back disturbing evidence about her grandfather's past, she realizes she is on the verge of finally understanding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her family all her life. An ambitious novel that weaves the American past with its present, Sarah Blake's The Guest Book looks at the racism and power that has been systemically embedded in the U.S. for generations" --

Ashley

The Guest Book The New York Times Bestseller

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