This hypnotic debut probes the disappearance of 17-year-old Jess . . . . Chancellor shifts nimbly between past and present and from character to character, cutting away the net of riddles that ensnares Sycamore’s residents.” — Oprah magazine, “O’s Top 20 Books to Read This Summer”
“A mystery, a coming-of-age story, and an ensemble drama are woven together in this tale of love, loss, grief…and human remains found deep in the desert.” — Glamour, “New Books by Women You’re Guaranteed to Love This Summer”
“This masterfully written suspense will draw you in immediately.” — Bustle, “The 15 Best Fiction Books of May” Bustle, “The 15 Best Fiction Books of May”
“With a few opening words in each chapter, we’re immersed in their worlds and the hefty burdens of their years-long emotional struggle. . . . Chancellor creates suspense and tension in quiet, insular moments—family members brooding at the dinner table, lustful gazes, the rolled eyes of hormonal teenagers.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“ Sycamore, Ariz., is a small town with loss and mystery at its heart. A visitor stumbles upon clues that dredge up the old memories and hurts.” — Philadelphia Inquirer, “Need a Beach Read? 16 Great Choices”
“The novel glimmers with its author’s keen understanding of lives at all ages and stages. . . . At once haunting and hopeful, Sycamore displays Chancellor’s talent across all of fiction’s realms and showcases her generosity of spirit. . . . Powerful and moving.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch
“[An] emotional and addicting debut. . . . [an] unforgettable page‐turner. Four and a half stars.” — RT Book Reviews
“Riveting. . . . This is a movingly written, multi-voiced novel examining how one tragic circumstance can sow doubt about fundamental things. . . . a transporting vision of community, connection, and forgiveness.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review, Pick of the Week) — Publishers Weekly
“Chancellor’s absorbing first novel begins quietly, quickly gains momentum, and ends explosively. . . . This gripping debut is a must for readers of literary fiction.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“A meaty, suspenseful debut.” — Booklist
“What’s more wonderful than a novel that keeps you up at night and haunts you through the day? That describes Bryn Chancellor’s Sycamore , about the discovery of a body that might belong to a vanished teenaged girl, a community pulling together and apart, and secrets.” — Caroline Leavitt
“Sycamore is an amazing showcase for Bryn Chancellor’s great talent. . . . This is a powerful debut novel, one without flaw, and it will slay you.” — Kevin Wilson, author of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth and The Family Fang
“Haunting and elegiac. . . . Chancellor’s multivocal narrative brims with intelligence and insight, and her subtle writing poignantly illuminates the ways in which we are sometimes bound, for better and for worse, by a collective sorrow.” — Claire Vaye Watkins, author of Gold Fame Citrus
“Bryn Chancellor explores the complexities of a small-town girlhood with insight and compassion. A page-turner and a heart-breaker, Sycamore marks the arrival of a shining new voice.” — Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow
“Bryn Chancellor’s Sycamore instantly reminded me of Tana French’s thrillers: a small, intertwined community, a long-ago crime, the tension and intrigue that won’t stop rippling....Chancellor writes gorgeously, and her story is riveting and real. I love it.” — Joy Castro, author of Hell or High Water and Island of Bones Joy Castro, author of Hell or High Water and Island of Bones
“Bryn Chancellor’s compelling debut novel, Sycamore, weaves a suspenseful web around a small town in the years following a disappearance. With astute emotional and psychological observations, Chancellor successfully shows the power of the unknown as various individuals explore the many what ifs and imaginings of what really happened.” — Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life
[An] emotional and addicting debut. . . . [an] unforgettable page‐turner. Four and a half stars.
A meaty, suspenseful debut.
This masterfully written suspense will draw you in immediately.
“The 15 Best Fiction Books of May” Bus Bustle
This hypnotic debut probes the disappearance of 17-year-old Jess . . . . Chancellor shifts nimbly between past and present and from character to character, cutting away the net of riddles that ensnares Sycamore’s residents.
Sycamore, Ariz., is a small town with loss and mystery at its heart. A visitor stumbles upon clues that dredge up the old memories and hurts.”
With a few opening words in each chapter, we’re immersed in their worlds and the hefty burdens of their years-long emotional struggle. . . . Chancellor creates suspense and tension in quiet, insular moments—family members brooding at the dinner table, lustful gazes, the rolled eyes of hormonal teenagers.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A mystery, a coming-of-age story, and an ensemble drama are woven together in this tale of love, loss, grief…and human remains found deep in the desert.
“New Books by Women You’re Guaranteed Glamour
The novel glimmers with its author’s keen understanding of lives at all ages and stages. . . . At once haunting and hopeful, Sycamore displays Chancellor’s talent across all of fiction’s realms and showcases her generosity of spirit. . . . Powerful and moving.
What’s more wonderful than a novel that keeps you up at night and haunts you through the day? That describes Bryn Chancellor’s Sycamore , about the discovery of a body that might belong to a vanished teenaged girl, a community pulling together and apart, and secrets.
Bryn Chancellor’s compelling debut novel, Sycamore, weaves a suspenseful web around a small town in the years following a disappearance. With astute emotional and psychological observations, Chancellor successfully shows the power of the unknown as various individuals explore the many what ifs and imaginings of what really happened.
Bryn Chancellor explores the complexities of a small-town girlhood with insight and compassion. A page-turner and a heart-breaker, Sycamore marks the arrival of a shining new voice.
Bryn Chancellor’s Sycamore instantly reminded me of Tana French’s thrillers: a small, intertwined community, a long-ago crime, the tension and intrigue that won’t stop rippling....Chancellor writes gorgeously, and her story is riveting and real. I love it.
Haunting and elegiac. . . . Chancellor’s multivocal narrative brims with intelligence and insight, and her subtle writing poignantly illuminates the ways in which we are sometimes bound, for better and for worse, by a collective sorrow.
Sycamore is an amazing showcase for Bryn Chancellor’s great talent. . . . This is a powerful debut novel, one without flaw, and it will slay you.
With a few opening words in each chapter, we’re immersed in their worlds and the hefty burdens of their years-long emotional struggle. . . . Chancellor creates suspense and tension in quiet, insular moments—family members brooding at the dinner table, lustful gazes, the rolled eyes of hormonal teenagers.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A meaty, suspenseful debut.
Intimate. . . . Half the book tells [Jess’s] story of how she ended up in that town, the other half tells the story of the town as bones are recently discovered. Do they belong to the girl who went missing? Who finds them? It moves very well to piece the mystery together at the end.
“I love taking that first journey with a new author, filled with hope that the book I’ve just picked up will be a stand-out. Bryn Chancellor’s Sycamore rises to that level, and then some. It is beautifully structured, compellingly plotted and its multi-character cast captures the yin and yang of human behavior. . . . Chancellor’s story has well-developed characters, a complex plot and all the tension you expect from a mystery.
Compelling. . . . Chancellor expertly takes us through Jess’ days as she makes her way in the vicious social circles of high school, makes and loses a first friend and then makes a longer-lived connection with a girl named Dani. . . . Chancellor takes readers beyond a standard whodunit and provides a more compelling take on what the experience does to the town.
In this masterful performance, Bryn Chancellor explores the loss around which an entire community has calcified with humanity and wisdom. Chancellor digs deep in these pages, unearthing broken hearts, secrets, betrayals, passion and—most impressively—grace. What a joy to find a book that is both propulsive and perfectly composed.
★ 04/15/2017
11/01/2017
Laura Brennan, newly arrived in the town of Sycamore, Arizona, is out for a run when she discovers what appear to be human bones embedded in an arroyo. Could they be the remains of 17-year-old Jess Winters, herself a new resident when she disappeared 18 years earlier? A talented cast of narrators pulls the listener into this small community as its residents uncover the connections between the past and the present. Slowly, inexorably, they peel back the layers to reveal the characters’ secrets—and how Jess’s disappearance has impacted all their lives. The steadily building tension keeps the listener riveted. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
