Book Summary and Reviews of Gull Island by Anna Porter

Gull Island by Anna Porter

Gull Island

A Novel

by Anna Porter

  • Published:
  • Sep 2023, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A haunting psychological suspense novel about a young woman who visits her remote family cottage seeking answers to a murky past—for fans of Catherine McKenzie and Amber Cowie.

When her estranged father goes missing, Jude is persuaded by her mother to find his will. She travels to the family cottage on remote Gull Island, glad to be away from the city and to have the chance to sort through old memories, but is unsettled by what she finds there.

While contending with the neglected cottage and encroaching wild animals, Jude looks not only for her father's will, but also for photographs of herself as a baby, desperate for proof that she was loved as a child. However, loneliness and terrifying dreams soon wear on her, bringing back frightening memories. Thoughts of her distant mother and intimidating father, her jealous sister, and her mother's mysterious friend infest Jude's increasingly clouded mind.

Then a fierce storm sweeps away her boat and severs her from the outside world. Forced to reckon with long-buried truths and filled with the terrible sense that the cottage may be haunted by more than the past, Jude begins to fear for her sanity—and her life.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"A deep dive into a darkly troubled family that is overflowing with razor-sharp characterizations." —Linwood Barclay, New York Times bestselling author of The Lie Maker and Take Your Breath Away

"Full of atmosphere and things that go bump in the night, Gull Island is sure to leave you guessing about what is real and what is imagined until the very last page." —Catherine McKenzie, USA Today bestselling author of Have You Seen Her and I'll Never Tell

This information about Gull Island was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Anna Porter

Anna Porter is the award-winning author of ten books, both fiction and nonfiction, most recently Deceptions and In Other Words: How I Fell in Love with Canada One Book at a Time. She has written five mystery novels, including The Appraisal, which was shortlisted for the Staunch Book Prize, and Mortal Sins. Kasztner's Train won the 2007 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and Ghosts of Europe won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. She cofounded Key Porter Books, an influential publishing house she ran for more than twenty years. In addition, she writes book reviews, opinion pieces, and stuff. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received the Order of Ontario. Visit her at AnnaPorter.ca or connect with her on Twitter @AnnaPorter_Anna.

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