I read this in about a week. Honestly, I’ve had trouble reading Catriona’s work before this one. I couldn’t get into Needless Street. It’s one of my wife’s favorite books, but I struggled and DNF’d it because of those struggles.

I try to find a connection to books while reading them—something from my past or, with this one, something from my childhood. My parents divorced when I was in third grade. They fought constantly over everything. I understood Wilder Harlow.

We start with Wilder in his youth. Something messed up happens one summer that changes everything for him and the friends he’s gained during the summers his family vacationed on the Maine coast. I don’t want to spoil this book, but I’m Warning You there may be some within this review.

The incident in question haunts Wilder throughout his life, eventually leading him to write a book about it.

He returns to the scene many years later, but this is where it got weird for me. The book took a turn into the abstract. It made me question what I’d read up to the ending. It almost felt like I was duped. The ending felt like a dream ending in books or movies. I loved the book up until the end. I wanted it to stick the ending. It came out of left field for me.

There is so much I want to say about this book. I want to talk with others about it. The ending was off for me. Maybe I missed something and need to read it again, but the ending with the book (you’ll understand when you read it) came across as forced and convoluted. I ended up not entirely sure what happened and what was a story within the story, but not in a good way.

My wife and I talked about Needless Street. She told me the ending, and maybe having known it, I should have been prepared for it to do what it did, but I didn’t care for it.

I want to discuss this book with whoever wishes.