I was constantly blown away by how gorgeous and strange the narrative voice was on its own in this story, alongside the atmospheric, intricate setting and the masterful twists - all executed by a cast of characters that, with one exception, were flawed and often terrible, yet bizarrely endearing. Not only did I adore this book, but I feel comfortable saying Catriona Ward is a new favorite author for me and I’ll read anything she writes. It’s possible to feel the horror of something and to accept it all at the same time.

Thankfully, those fears were entirely pointless, because Sundial has immediately cemented itself as one of my favorite books of 2022 and I’m already itching to read more from this author. I think most readers know this specific sort of pain, and it’s what makes me a bit apprehensive whenever reading my second book from an author. When I read The Last House On Needless Street last year and it became one of my favorite reads of the year (perhaps my singular favorite, even), I worried that Catriona Ward could end up being one of those authors with whom I would have this shining, brilliant moment for one book, and then end up disappointed in the next. It is poison and madness flowering behind your eyes. It means to be confronted with a thought so vast, dark and monstrous that it will not fit into any known shapes in your mind. When people say something is “unthinkable,” what they usually mean is that they don’t want to think it. The mother and daughter embark on a dark, desert journey to the past in the hopes of redeeming their future. And Callie fears that only one of them will leave Sundial alive… Rob has begun to look at her strangely, and speaks of past secrets. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.Ĭallie is worried about her mother. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her too much of the family she left behind. But Rob fears for her oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. She almost got it, too: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs.

Sundial goodreads