A Sea of Unspoken Things

Young (The Unmaking of June Farrow) examines how the past bleeds into the present in her inviting and moody latest. James Golden, a 30-something artist in San Francisco, left her claustrophobic hometown in the redwood forests of northern California for art school following the death of a high school classmate. Now her troubled twin brother, Johnny, a photographer who has been working on a conservation project documenting owls in the area, has been found shot to death. After James returns to her hometown seeking answers about his death, she gets caught up in a relationship with her high school sweetheart, who for many years was Johnny’s best friend, and catches up with other high school acquaintances. The longer she stays in town, the more she feels a strong psychic connection with her dead brother and wonders just what his spirit is trying to communicate to her. Though the mystery unfolds in fits and starts, Young anchors the story in a strong sense of place, describing how James feels she and Johnny were “forged from the shadows of this forest as creatures that were meant to survive only here.” It’s a potent tale. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Word One Literary. (Jan.)