After finding success as a podcaster, Bodie Kane decides it’s time for things to get personal. She regularly examines historical crimes but has repressed the one major bit of criminal activity that she had a front row seat to. Her boarding school roommate, Thalia, was murdered while they were students and the small town was quick to convict the young, black coach she occasionally hung out with. Everyone just wanted it to go away, but perhaps there were other suspects who deserved a closer look. When Bodie returns to campus to teach a course, she can’t stop the flood of memories. It turns out she may have the answers people didn’t realize they needed.
This book begs us to open up a can of worms. Just becuase someone didn’t do one particular thing…should we consider them innocent? What Makkai does so well is trickle off tangentially to remind us how the past impacts the present (and vice versa). How do Bodie’s high school experiences impact her reaction when her soon-to-be-ex-husband (who she’s still on very good terms with) is accused in a #MeToo moment? And how do her feelings about this still-good-guy-soon-to-be-ex-husband color her research into the case she’s reopened at the Granby school? And what’s more important: one very specific truth…or a general truth that serves the greater good? Morals vs. ethics is big here, and in asking her questions, Bodie has us all questioning ourselves.
4.5 out of 5 stars. (Because it was generally good AND because boarding school novels are one of my all-time favorite themes.)
Pair with: Smuttynose Ice Dam(n) Cold IPA
Peaches to Apples 