Everything from the focus on the grimly mundane, to the Florida/New York settings, to Lucy and Julian’s investigations, to the premise of the story to some of the later scenes could have easily come from the pages of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammmett.

One interesting thing about this novel is that it is actually a noir detective story in disguise. It is a style of narration that could only have come from 1990s America and it is such a joy to see a writer using this type of narration again so long after I read Brite’s “Lost Souls” all those years ago 🙂 The novel’s third-person narration is filled with fascinating details and beautifully artistic metaphors. Hoffman writes in a wonderfully flowing, atmospheric, warm and vivid style that is both formal and informal at the same time. And, this is about the highest compliment I can pay a writer. Brite’s “ Lost Souls” about eleven years ago. It is a joy to read 🙂 I haven’t seen writing this good since I read Poppy Z. The writing in this story is absolutely beautiful. This is a novel that I couldn’t put down during some parts because of the sheer quality of the writing and this is a novel that made me cry ( with both joy and poignant sorrow) several times towards the end.

Even though it contains many depressing moments – the writing, characters, atmosphere, plot complexity and level of depth in this novel are utterly spectacular. One of the first things that I will say about this novel is that it is a masterpiece. But, in addition to looking for Keith, Lucy also decides to investigate Karen’s past in order to work out who killed her and prevent Keith from falling under suspicion. The local police, especially their dog handler Julian ( a solitary man, tormented by guilt over a car crash that claimed his cousin’s life when he was younger), look into the case. It quickly becomes apparent that Keith has run away with the baby. Both Keith and Karen’s baby daughter are missing. She is Lucy’s neighbour, although they only talk to each other occasionally. So, she fled New York with the baby, a suitcase full of cash and a fake ID that she got made along the way. One of those women is a former New Yorker called Lucy Rosen, whose twelve-year old son Keith seems to be both the local school bully and a criminal-in-training.Īnother of those women is Karen, who used to be called Bethany until she realised that her husband was going to get custody of her daughter. This town is also a place where divorced women from across America sometimes find themselves living after they’ve left. A town where there is a heatwave every May and strange things happen.

“Turtle Moon” takes place in the Florida town of Verity. This is the 2002 Vintage (UK) paperback edition of “Turtle Moon” that I read.

Turtle moon by alice hoffman