Blurb; It’s the summer of 1959, and the well-trimmed lawns of Sunnylakes wilt under the California sun.
At some point during the long, long afternoon Joyce Haney, a seemingly happy housewife and mother, vanishes from her home, leaving behind only two terrified young children and a bloodstain on the kitchen floor.
With the stifling heat of Tangerine and the gripping pace of Little Deaths, The Long, Long Afternoon is at once a page-turning mystery and an intoxicating vision of the ways in which women everywhere are diminished, silenced and, ultimately, underestimated.
My review; A random pick from my to be read (TBR) pile. But a brilliant read! Not what I expected at all. The story is told through the four main characters of this story and you have to bare in mind that the story is set in the 1950s. So warning – it does contain some racism and the N word.
When Joyce seems to just vanished one afternoon it’s a real mystery and there are plenty of different explanations as to why and where she has gone. Was she kidnapped? Affair? Ran away? Killed? Endless possibilities. But the story has plenty to keep the reader hooked with many secrets becoming revealed. Gripping. Exciting. Fast paced. An ending I never expected. Highly recommend. Really enjoyed it. A well deserved four stars.
Between The Pages Book Club 