By Bryn Chancellor
HarperCollins Canada
Sycamore is an instant classic. It's a whodunnit/coming-of-age/rural Americana novel that breaks your heart and keeps you turning pages.
The story opens with the discovery of human bones in a dry desert ravine in rural Arizona in a town called Sycamore.
Everyone realizes immediately that the bones must belong to Jess Winters, a 17-year-old girl who disappeared 18 years before.
The story bounces back and forth between the time surrounding Winters' disappearance and the present day as her long-suffering mother waits for confirmation that the bones belong to her daughter.
Readers are taken on a journey that includes themes like teenage friendship, forbidden love, broken families and more.
This is a first novel for Bryn Chancellor, who is a teacher at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She previously wrote a story collection called When Are You Coming Home.
Throughout Sycamore, the characters are relatable and accurate -- the relationships ring true in both their joy and their despair. Readers will keep hoping for a different ending for Winters, even as they can see the tragedy about to unfold.
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