Marrow Island

With the slightest quaver, narrator Emily Rankin effectively gives voice to the people of Marrow Island. Off the coast of Washington, the island was decimated 20 years earlier, when a major West Coast earthquake destroyed its oil refinery, creating a toxic wasteland. Lucie Bowen lost much on that day--her father, her home, and, when her mother took her away, her community, especially her soul mate, Katie. Rankin deftly portrays Lucie's pain, confusion, and feeling of disconnectedness as her thoughts continually drift from the present to the past. Now Lucie has returned, answering a summons from Katie, who is living in a primitive settlement led by a former nun. As spookily voiced by Rankin, Katie and her fellow settlers are pleasant enough, but just a little off. Lucie's reporter's instincts kick in, and soon she knows the secret of The Colony, but wishes she didn't. In this wistful and creepy story, you can't go home again. D.E.M. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

July 25, 2016
Reader Rankin beautifully renders the lyrical prose of this compelling and enigmatic novel. Twenty years have passed since a cataclysmic earthquake struck the northwest coast of Washington State, resulting in widespread devastation, including a terrible fire at an oil refinery on the isolated Marrow Island. Efforts to battle the blaze with flame retardants and other chemicals so polluted the soil and groundwater that the island was rendered toxic and uninhabitable. Lucie Bowen, an environmental journalist whose father died in the fire, returns to Marrow, where a small community of people have been working under the radar to make the land livable again. But the island harbors dark and deadly secrets. Rankin’s clear and thoughtful reading perfectly captures Lucie’s emotional turmoil as she tries to reconcile her past with the present and an uncertain future. She effortlessly navigates the story’s shifts in time, as well as the small, distinctly portrayed cast of characters. Her pacing and tone keep the story moving at a deceptively leisurely pace, building stealthily to a suspenseful and moving climax. A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover.