A cache of letters from beyond the grave leads a bereaved sister on a journey from Australia to an idyllic French coastal town, and back in time to a golden summer where it all went wrong. The Way from Here is an addictive, atmospheric and evocative mystery that examines how we become who we are and whether we can truly know those we love.
Growing up, the Anderson sisters were close, even though they were different. Susie, the wild one, wanted an adventurous life while Mills followed a safer path.
When Susie dies suddenly from a fall when hanging a string of lights for her fortieth birthday party, Mills is grief-stricken, even though they had drifted apart. Then Mills receives a bundle of mysterious letters from her sister to be read in the case of her death. Each letter instructs her to visit a place special to Susie, both to spread her ashes but also to uncover some truths Susie has long kept hidden from her family. Truths that seem to date back to one golden summer in an idyllic French coastal town, where a dark and shocking event was the beginning of an unravelling thread. A thread that leads both to Mills’ present and her mother Margaret’s past.
What choices connect the past to the present? What family secrets will surface and change the future? In this twisty, evocative mystery, Jane Cockram flips the looking glass to reveal the lines of deception and love, truth and regret that run through families.
Australian author Jane Cockram’s 2019 novel The House of Brides was a hit at Better Reading, with the gothic style mystery earning her plenty of praise as a debut author. Now, the former journalist and publishing professional returns with her second novel, The Way from Here, and it’s sure to delight existing fans, as well as earn Cockram plenty of new readers.
The novel shockingly opens with the tragic death of Susie. The mystery is established from the very first pages, as Susie wrote a number of letters before she died, setting out a trail for her sister, Camilla “Mills”, to uncover. The plot is propulsive and intriguing, as pieces of the puzzle slowly come together. The storyline moves between Mills travelling to London and a stunning French coastal town, Ile de Clair, in the present, and Susie’s gap year adventures to those same places back in 1998. The overseas storylines certainly make for a nice touch of armchair travel. The dual narrative is perfectly paced, allowing the mystery to build, while also delving into the sister’s at-times strained relationship. The storyline is dramatic, yet believable, showing how many families have skeletons in their closets.
The Way from Here is an accomplished second novel from Cockram, proving that she’s a talent to be watched. The combination of family secrets, sisterly relationships and gorgeous European locations is sure to appeal to a wide range of readers.
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