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From the critically acclaimed author of All That's Bright and Gone comes an atmospheric thriller that unearths a cache of age-old secrets--and a hidden danger--in the Florida Keys. Magda Trudell is the present-day caretaker of Whimbrel Estate, the Key West home of the famous poet Isobel Reyes. Isobel's suicide at the residence in 1918 has nearly overshadowed her creative legacy--but Magda, a botanist and avid historian, is determined to protect it. Over the past decade, Magda has lovingly restored the house to the exact condition Isobel would have known. And even though a fierce October hurricane is headed straight for the Keys, she isn't about to abandon her life's work to evacuate. As the mighty storm makes landfall, the dangers mount. First, a fire and flood threaten to destroy the house. Then the storm claims most of Magda's supplies. When part of the house collapses, she unearths an old steamer trunk in the rubble that contains a woman's remains. Is there more to Isobel's story than Magda knows? The unexpected appearance of a teenage girl and her father seeking shelter from the storm poses unnerving new questions. Are they really who they seem? And could they have a connection to the house's shadowy past? As the storm rages, Magda desperately tries to solve the real mystery of Isobel's death--and keep the living in one piece.
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This book can really be separated into two parts (ratings). Before the hurricane hit and the appearance of the teenage girl and her father (2 stars). And everything that came after. (4 stars). The first part I found was slow, dull and flat. Magda didn't seem to be mentally all there, and it is never explained if she was sick? Or what? Considering the reaction her ex had at seeing her.