A debut novel a family saga that covers many families many characters.There is emotional moments tense moments each family it’s own story in it’s time.I really enjoyed the story the author writes very well looking forward to reading more by her.#netgalley#flatiron

I’ve heard both good and bad things about this book. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far as I found the book to be very convoluted. The way the writer tells a story is not something I enjoy however I do find I have very high standards. And for someone new to this genre and type of writing they may perhaps enjoy it

I always like to read debut books. Set In Maine, the book covers relationships of several families over different period of time. Each family faced different hardships. I had trouble seeing the different family trees displayed at the beginning of each chapter due to the format of my kindle. If I could have seen them, it would make me better understand the families. Regardless, I enjoyed the book and will recommend.

Unfortunately, I could not continue reading this book past the 30% mark. Typically, I expect for a piece of fiction to grasp my interest at least within the first few chapters. This read had me incredibly frustrated with the lack of character relations, constant interruption of storylines, and vague yet uninteresting quality. What I read was convoluted at best. I do understand and perhaps may have appreciated the author's attempt at innovation by writing this novel in such a way; however, with so many other books out there, I could not justify spending further time. I hope those able to complete the novel in its entirety found that the pieces came together in an intriguing way. Unfortunately, as a reader with high expectations to be gripped by a novel's beginning, I doubt I will ever find that out for myself.

There is nothing that I enjoy more than picking up a book that I know nothing about, by an author that is totally new to me, and being amazed.. That happened with “The Northern Reach”.

I am quite familiar with Maine, both the fancy part (during all seasons) and the “Down East” part. I know the nature and the people. It’s popular lately to read about hardscrabble lives in Appalachia - Scots/Irish struggling to survive with no work, opioids, despair. Maine doesn’t get written about much at all. But there is a rich multi-century history of French-Canadian struggle: often violent, always unfair. W.S. Winslow does a wonderful job of sharing this in all its glory and horror through her interlocking stories of multiple families intermingling through multiple generations.

Maine is hardcore - full of abuse, incest, racism, misogyny, alcoholism and violence. Life is harsh and unyielding. The caste system is fully in place. Most everyone is bankrupt in one way or another - financially or morally. Secrets are abundant - hidden, but never forgotten. There are scenes in “The Northern Reach” that some readers may find disturbing. But they are written, if anything, in an understated way.

I’m not sure of W.S. Winslow’s background or bio. Whatever it is, there is a richness, an observant eye, and clear life experience that will be worth watching in work to come.

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the DRC. Much appreciated.

This epic tale of several families and their intersections conceived of marriage and children full of love and loss, guilt and forgiveness. The story's timeline covers several generations with complex, heartbreaking stories that both bond and break the fragile people living them. Their struggle and redemption weighed heavily on my heart. This story could be any of our stories, maybe even is. What came before us and what lies after us is not within our control. Ours is to love, to forgive to survive all the heartbreak.

I read this book as a reviewer for NetGallery. I choose this book because I enjoy reading family sagas that span over several generations. "The Northern Reach" was an easy read that held my interest.. The family trees that appeared at the beginning of each chapter were quite helpful (as it was a little bit difficult to follow the characters at times).. W.S. Winslow did an amazing job of describing in detail the setting and characters of her story, making it easy for me to visualize the characters as they moved from one generation to the next. I will not spoil the ending, but it was totally different from what I had expected (in a positive way). I would recommend this book for an individual read or a book club choice, as there are a lot of questions/conversations that could evolve from this book.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC! This book is exactly as the blurb states "a novel about the power of place and family ties, the weight of the stories we choose to tell, and the burden of those we hide". The multi-generational span is something that works very well for me in novels but at times, this book didn't satisfy. Winslow did a great job of describing the full complexity and depth of familial relationships by exploring relevant topics. However, the large cast of characters was occasionally hard to follow and seemed confusing.

Well, this was disappointing.

The structure reminds me vaguely of Disappearing Earth and Turbulence because of the connected narratives - and I didn't have positive feelings towards either of those novels. I'm not sure if this is indicative of the genre not just being for me or what; it was just difficult to connect with the characters, all of whom felt distant and unsympathetic, set against a backdrop that wasn't exactly immersive. And since this isn't a book with a plot exactly, solely driven by the characters, and if you can't empathize with them, you're going to have a bad time. The style itself isn't too bad, if a little stiff and too "clean", but Winslow obviously has potential - the characters just need some serious work. Everyone feels somewhat false, a collection of unlikable caricatures. There's one uncomfortable moment where one man calls another a rapist, and the girl who has a crush on him is jealous of / mad at the victim...? There's other instances throughout of misogyny and racism, the KKK fully mentioned with little condemnation given, and while I understand the characters within the narrative aren't supposed to recognize these things as "problematic" (because of like, the time periods and location and culture, I guess, though that always feels a flimsy excuse to me), I do think the author could've worked harder to actively portray these things as bad. The one good thing is how short it is, though it manages to feel as if it's dragging at times regardless.

This could be a passable debut work, it just needs a lot of work.

I had great hopes for this book as I enjoy sweeping family sagas and small town characters. On some points this book delivered but I found it to be very disjointed - it was hard to connect the characters together at times. I felt like it was a series of short stories that the author tried to connect together - sometimes it was successful and sometimes it was not. I did enjoy the language and descriptions and character development.

Through Net Galley, I read an advance copy of The Northern Reach by W. S. Winslow. This touching, thought provoking novel follows multiple generations of four families that all reside in Wellbridge, a seaside village located on the coast of Central Maine. Using a series of vignettes that jump from family to family, generation to generation, we get to know the Baines, Martins, Edgecombs and Moodys, families that live in close proximity but separated by money, religion, education and social status. Given the scope of the books, it spans from 1904 to 1917, we get to know the characters in short snippets at important moments within their respective lives. While many of the characters are memorable, the standouts for this writer are a French expat/transplant and overlooked, underestimated women who initially is in the background but ultimately becomes the emotional center for many of the characters depicted in the book.

I’ll admit, The Northern Reach is not the type/genre of book that I typically read or review but I am so glad that I was afforded the opportunity to read it. I absolutely loved this book. Ms. Winslow shows a deft touch while exploring a variety of sensitive topics that affect the various families including domestic violence, poverty, religion and mental illness.

In one vignette, the author explores how the adult children react and deal with the recent death of their mother. The interactions between the siblings that range from anger to laughter, sadness to fondness. feel honest and completely true to life. While I enjoyed the entire book, this vignette will stick with me for a long time.

Not out until March of 2021, The Northern Reach is an absolute must read. W.S. Winslow is a major talent and a writer to watch.

An e-book copy of The Norther Reach was the only compensation received in exchange for this review. My thanks to Net Galley and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read this book and provide feedback.

I’m the first one to review this book. Let’s try to do it justice. Northern Reach takes you all the way to Maine. A bleak forbidding state. A state literature has over the years, from King to Connolly, has made into a sort of place where nightmares dwell. Outside of lovely coastlines, seems like one of those places where if you’re there, you should just scoot right over to Canada and at least live in a proper first world country, but anyway…Unlike King or Connolly or a slew of other writers of horrific, the Maine of the author’s representation here is all natural, nothing super about it. Just an unwelcoming harsh land and climate that produce a sort of weathered leathered individuals best suited to survival in it. The book follows several generations of the same (sometimes interconnected) families, the main one being the Baines. There are genealogies provided for each chapter, but you can get the idea just by reading the book. No one really reproduces in excess, considerately enough, so it’s easy to track the characters. The story takes the readers from the early 1900s all the way to almost present day. Each chapter follows a different branch of the family tree, some follow different families. It’s definitely a classic epitome of character driven fiction, though their representations craft a grand picture of the life in the state itself. Basically, the characters are the trees and Maine is the forest, but both are on display plainly enough. So the people in this book are varied enough and change throughout the years, but the state remains much the same, the brief summers and endless winters, the bruteness of it all. It’s almost like they should put a measuring stick at the entry saying you have to be this tough to survive. Not all do, some die, some leave. And some are drawn back. Strange place…Maine. Must be something to it, seems like there’s a certain sort of self reliant mentality prevalent to it, combined with small town insularity, Puritans would have been proud. So anyway…that’s essentially a book, a quiet meditation of Maine and Mainers, stretched out over generations. Fine writing, really, this is proper literature, certainly. Not the most exciting of reading experiences, this isn’t an event driven sort of narrative, but for character writing its excellent. And it reads quickly enough. Which is good, because it’s much too bleak for a long drawn out slog. This is definitely the sort of thing you have to be in the mood for, but the quality is there. Thanks Netgalley.

The Northern Reach first grabbed my attention because of the cover, followed by the synopsis. Teasing a story about the complexity of family, the culture of a place and how both people and experiences shape who we are. Set in Wellbridge, Maine right on the coast, main character Edith is grieving the loss of her son. In a town that is dependent upon what they can scrape together during summer tourism, the Baines family is at the center of it all. They are descendants of the town founders, along with the Moody family, the Martin Family and the Edgecombs. As the story unfolds, it reveals the long history of the town and the founding families and how they all intersect overtime and the secrets that are hidden within those.

I have to say, there were aspects of this story that I loved, but there were also areas that fell flat or seemed incomplete. W.S. Winslow being from the coast of main shined through, as the details about the surroundings and the area were extremely well written and made the reader feel as though you were there. When it came to character development through, with such a large cast of characters throughout the story and the various founding families, there were times it was hard to keep everyone straight. While the family trees throughout that showed how families intersected were helpful, there were times I thought it detracted from the overall story, as I spent more time trying to remember who was who and how they were related.

Overall, the thought behind the story is there and really enjoyable. There are times I think the amount of characters got away from the author and that led to some of the plot lines falling flat or feeling incomplete.

Lots of potential but just didn’t deliver. The storyline was in no way compelling and there were too many holes in the plot for it to be believable.