BookBrowse Reviews The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

BookBrowse:

Long buried secrets unmoor an upper crust East Coast family in this sweeping historical novel about privilege, class and bigotry in the 1930s-50s.

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Sarah Blake's critically-acclaimed third novel The Guest Book was a hit with our First Impressions reviewers, with 18 out of 24 respondents rating the book four or five stars.

What it's About:
Three generations of intriguing women. An exclusive family-owned island off the coast of Maine. Lives of privilege versus lives without. A strict sense of matriarchal duty. Secrets. Regrets. All elements that draw me in for a good read. All elements in Sarah Blake's The Guest Book. I was hooked from page one (Gail K). Sarah Blake has written a beautiful and thoughtful book about the way money and power can color the way we see – and want to be seen in – the world. Ogden and Kitty Milton purchased an island off of the coast of Maine in the 1930s. 20 years later, their grandchildren are left to decide what to do with it. As they struggle matching reality to their childhood memories, they must grapple with the truths they come to know. (Patty S).

Many First Impressions reviewers were impressed with the author's style and her vivid characters:
Sarah Blake is an extraordinary writer. Her prose enables the reader to know the people in her novel and to see and feel the settings (Jean B). From the first paragraph on the first page I was hooked by how beautifully written this book is (M.K). The characters were human and deeply compelling (Esther L). An artfully written book with fresh and vibrant descriptions; some characters are imbued with such passionate joy and hope that I felt I was walking beside them (Sheryl M).

Readers found the author's themes of money, bigotry and elite society mores to be fascinating:
The author of The Guest Book demonstrates extremely well how money, greed and lack of trust can destroy a family in this three-generation saga (Ariel F). This is an engrossing story of love, class, race and our own individual blindness to all of these (Barbara L). The Guest Book examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America (Susan R). Blake captured the culture of our country during WWII and the racism towards Jews and Black people at that time in a compelling way. I would recommend this book to the younger generation as a window into what the world was like then (Joy N).

There were a few complaints about the novel's length and its large cast of characters:
This book is too long. It got bogged down in too much minutiae. There are several characters named after relatives and sometimes it was confusing trying to figure out the timeline and narrator. The book could benefit from a family tree graphic, possibly making one available on a website (Judi R). I found this family saga way too long. It needed to be edited. The middle part especially dragged. I agree with other readers that a family genealogy chart at the beginning would have been helpful (Dorothy L).

But for most, the book continued to resonate long after the last page had been read:
I finished The Guest Book and wanted to start reading it again (Esther L). Wow...just finished this wonderful book and I miss it already (Barbara L). I find that the longer it has been since I have finished it, the more I appreciate and think about it. The characters are interesting, unique and relatable. The stories of family and friends being together ring true. I loved reading about how this family evolved over time. Great book, wonderful setting and interesting characters. What more could you want? (Chris H).

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in May 2019, and has been updated for the May 2020 edition. Click here to go to this issue.