I loved Susan Donovan Bernhard’s debut novel, Winter Loon, because of its rich characterization and flawless prose. When I learned she has a new book coming out, I was thrilled.
As in Winter Loon, in Westerly Bernhard writes of family secrets. She also uses a Hansel-and-Gretel trail of crumbs, including character nicknames like “Faye” and “Pixie” to pull in a sense of Irish fairy tales to reinforce a theme of changelings and another world beneath the real one. This is similar to her recurrent use of the winter loon, weather, nature, and Native American myths to reflect and contrast with her characters in Winter Loon.
In Westerly, two German sisters are taken from an orphanage in Germany during World War II and given to an Irish family to foster. A tragedy pulls the sisters apart and begins long-running secrets that the two hide for fifty years. Knowing the secret and what it might do to their families, the reader waits for that secret shoe to drop. Though plenty of shoes drop, when the secret is finally revealed, it’s not quite when or how the reader would have predicted. The secrets keep mothers from truly loving their children and thus affect generations beyond their own. One of the best things about Westerly is the positive image of the father and grandfather who are able to give their daughters and granddaughters love that their female role models can’t quite muster.
Overall, a truly lovely book, well worth reading.
Overall, a truly lovely book, well worth reading.
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Westerly (Little A, June 1, 2026) is available from:
Your local independent bookseller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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You can read my review of Winter Loon here.
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