THE LONG BLACK VEIL Jennifer Finney Boylan
MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️▫️ PUBLISHER Crown Publishing PUBLISHED April 11, 2017
SUMMARY It was a hot August day in 1980, and six friends from college are together for a wedding. After a post-wedding visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the group decides to check out an abandoned prison that had opened in 1829 and closed in 1972. Shortly after entering the open gates of the mid-evil looking prison, the group discovered that the gate have been chained and they were locked in. The group split up in order to search for a way out. And then it happened. One of the girls in the group goes missing.
In 2015, thirty-five years later, a skull is found at the prison. An archaeology student had been digging in one of the rooms of cellblock five and found it. The missing girl from so long ago had finally been found. She had been murdered and stuffed in a tunnel. It hits the news. Casey, one of the six friends, and husband of the missing girl, was under investigation for the murder. Judith is the only person that can definitively testify to Casey’s whereabouts in the prison that night. But to testify, Judith will have to reveal a secret that could cause her to lose both her family and her friends.
REVIEW The use of the prison was an interesting choice for the initial setting. It was eerie and a little creepy. That scene made me wonder what kind of book I was getting myself into. After finishing the book and considering the cast of characters, the setting seemed to work.
LONG BLACK VEIL proved to be an interesting character study of the six friends that entered the prison that night. The book explored who they were then, and who they became thirty years later as a result of what had happened that night. I found myself wanting more details on the characters. Jennifer Finney Boylan made this book compelling by touching on several thought-provoking topics such as loyalty, love, identity, obesity, and special needs.
Much of the book was told from Judith’s point of view. She had painstakingly built a happy life for herself. She and her loving husband and son lived on an idyllic lake in Maine. Her struggles and her decision on whether or not to reveal her long held secret and help Casey was fascinating. I enjoyed reading about Judith’s life and her tribulations.
Overall, I liked the book. At times, I was a little confused with the narration. Thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
