In a quiet cul-de-sac next to a closed mental hospital, an old woman just disappears one morning. Her husband and the neighbors in the other 5 houses on the street have their own opinions on what may have happened. So does the police inspector when she arrives to start investigating.

While this could have been the start of a crime novel, Ellen Meeropol uses it as a way to tell a story about a place and about a collection of people who somehow ended up in the same street - each with their own fears, nightmares and stories (including the troubled detective). The street was once used for the doctors and nurses of the nearby hospital and a lot of the people on the street had been connected to it. Others had brought their own trauma from elsewhere.

One thing that derails the tale a bit is that the author tried to make her characters as diverse as possible (including the reasons and details of their trauma). While this is often a plus, the chance of it happening in such a small neighborhood is not very big and it requires a bit of a suspension of disbelief not to get derailed by it. It feels a bit Hollywood-ish - get everyone you need together and don't look too closely at why and how they ended up at the same place. The author does make an attempt at explaining how everyone ended up there but as at least half of these backgrounds were not really needed or used, it felt a bit as diversity for the sake of diversity and some of the characters felt like checklist items (with as much depth as one can get on a checklist as well). Add to that the very weird set of chapters which sound like a chorus in a play and which really does not add anything to the story.

With that being said and ignoring that particular part, the novel actually somewhat works as an examination of mental health management - both in the past and today. It is a tale of old secrets and old crimes, some of them horrific and some of them almost acceptable which makes them even more horrific when you stop to think about them. It tries too hard in some places and there is just this much of a coincidence that I am ready to accept but I did not hate it at the end - mainly because the author did not leave dangling threads I suspect - this kind of novels tend to end abruptly and this one did not.

Northampton State Hospital existed and treated patients between 1858 and 1993. The characters in this novel may be invented but most of the experiences in the hospital were at least partially based on reality. Mental health had always been the red-headed step child of medicine - even today. While the author uses the setting to tell a story about secrets and lies, it also tells the very real story of mental health management in the past and the horrors most of the most vulnerable people in the country had to live through. And when we say the past, it does not really mean as far back as we all think it does (or hope it does). ( )

One of my favorite aspects of reading is the things I learn. Ellen Meeropol's books are not just interesting stories, but provide the reader with the chance to explore elements of social history and issues. It's one of my favorite aspects of her writing, and is a feature of this book. My family's personal arc overlaps with some of the Azalea Court characters, so I knew of some of the events in the earlier lives of Iris, Harriet, and Asher, but through Meeropol's writing I was able to see more, from a slightly different trajectory.

An elderly woman goes missing. The story unwinds through viewpoints of multiple characters, past and present times, to unravel hidden truths. Relationships can be glorious, but also messy, and Meeropol takes the reader through those of her characters, warts and all*. It is also an elegant tribute to the power of friendship, and the strength we can find in each other.

*apologies to Oliver Cromwell ( )