The Shadow Between Us

Tess has spent twenty years trying to forget what happened during her first semester at boarding school. Now a creative writing professor herself, she finds herself pulled back into the past when a student's story bears striking similarities to her own dark memories. The narrative moves between Tess's present-day life at an upstate New York college and her experiences as a scholarship student at an elite boarding school in 1995. As she investigates the connections between past and present, Tess must confront questions about memory, trauma, and the blurred lines between fiction and reality. The relationships between teachers and students, writers and their subjects, and truth versus imagination form the backdrop for this literary thriller. Dangerous secrets emerge as Tess pieces together what really occurred during that fateful autumn semester. Through its exploration of memory and guilt, The Shadow Between Us examines how the stories we tell about our past shape who we become. The novel raises questions about the ethics of using others' experiences in art and the price of keeping - or revealing - long-buried truths.

Many readers found the pacing gripping and highlighted the winter atmosphere and academic setting as immersive. The psychological suspense builds tension through unreliable narrators and complex relationships. Positive reviews point to: - Effective portrayal of grief and isolation - Strong character development - Twisting revelations that land well - Nuanced exploration of marriage dynamics Common criticisms include: - Predictable plot turns in later chapters - Some character decisions lack believability - Occasional slow sections - Ending feels rushed to some readers Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (2,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.1/5 (500+ ratings) BookBrowse: 4/5 (120+ ratings) "The winter scenes and academic politics create a pressure cooker environment" - Goodreads reviewer "Started strong but the final act unraveled" - Amazon reviewer "Characters' psychological states feel authentic and well-drawn" - BookBrowse reviewer

The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan A woman grapples with inherited mental illness while uncovering dark secrets about her mother's past through paintings and ghostly encounters.

The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman A Latin teacher returns to her former boarding school and confronts the truth behind deaths that occurred during her student years.

In the Woods by Tana French A detective investigates a child murder case that mirrors his own traumatic childhood experience in the same woods.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware A tarot card reader receives a mysterious inheritance and becomes entangled in a family's hidden history at a remote estate.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James A journalist investigates the restoration of a haunted boarding school where her sister died, uncovering connections between past and present murders.

🌟 Carol Goodman has won the Mary Higgins Clark Award and the Hammett Prize for her mystery writing. 🖋️ The book explores themes of motherhood and postpartum depression, drawing on real psychological research about maternal mental health. 🏛️ The story takes place in the Hudson Valley of New York, where the author herself lives and has set many of her other novels. 📚 This novel incorporates elements of Gothic literature, including an isolated setting, psychological suspense, and supernatural undertones. 🎓 The academic setting in the book reflects Goodman's own background as a former college writing instructor at The New School in New York City.