Fierce Little Thing

February 1, 2021

Two decades after her residence as a troubled teen at a Maine commune led by the fiery and persuasive Abraham, Saskia and her four now-estranged friends there receive anonymous letters threatening to reveal something horrendous they did while trying to save the commune. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 10, 2021
After 12-year-old Saskia’s father goes to prison for her little brother’s murder and her mother decamps to Mexico in this haunting psychological thriller from bestseller Beverly-Whittemore (June), Saskia goes to live in a Manhattan loft with her friend Xavier. While Xavier’s mother is traveling, his father, an eccentric artist, decides that he and the kids should summer in Maine at a lakeside commune dubbed Home. Saskia quickly falls under the thrall of the commune’s charismatic leader and finds a sense of belonging she’d do anything to preserve. Twenty-five years later, reclusive Saskia is sequestered inside her Connecticut home when Xavier comes knocking: someone has been writing to Home’s former teen residents, threatening to tell the world about the crime they committed unless all five of them return. Saskia’s evocative, elegiac narration cycles rapidly between past and present, escalating pace and imparting suspense while developing the keenly rendered characters and their thorny histories. Not every revelation feels earned, but on balance, Beverly-Whittemore delivers a twisty, rewarding tale of friendship, secrets, and childhood trauma. Donna Tartt fans, take note. Agent: Anne Hawkins, John Hawkins & Assoc.

Starred review from August 13, 2021

The latest novel from Beverly-Whittemore (June; Bittersweet) begins with the death of William, the much younger brother of teenager Saskia, at their grandmother's Connecticut home. The story fast-forwards to the arrival of Saskia and her friend Xavier along with his father Philip at a commune in rural Maine simply called Home, led by a charismatic man named Abraham. There Saskia makes friendships that will become long-lasting bonds due to the experiences they have there. After another jump forward, it's been two decades since Home was foreclosed and the remaining commune members were scattered. Saskia and her friends are called back to the abandoned commune by scary letters which threaten to reveal a dark secret from that earlier period. The plot involves many twists involving childhood trauma, abuse from parents and other members of the commune, childhood secrets, and the bonds of friendship. The author builds tension from the first page, following the characters through alternative time periods, jumping from childhood to adulthood and back. However, it would have been helpful to declare the time period of each chapter at its outset. VERDICT This is a well-plotted novel with excellent character development. Recommended for fans of psychological suspense and thrillers and readers of Donna Tartt.--Vicki Gregory, Sch. of Information, Univ. of South Florida, Tampa

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2021
When Saskia joined Home, a secluded Maine commune, she thought she had finally found a family. But cults never quite turn out as one might hope. It all began when Saskia's 4-year-old little brother died. With her father in jail, her mother absconded, and her grandmother unwilling to care for her, Saskia's family disintegrates. Sent to live with family friends just after she turns 12, she initially thrives. Phillip, her new father figure, is an eccentric painter, and although his wife, Jane, is rarely around, Saskia soon bonds with their son, Xavier, who's her age. Then Jane decides not to come home, and Phillip takes them to Home, where the enigmatic leader, Abraham, holds court, urging everyone to "Unthing" themselves and give up all worldly attachments. There in the woods of Maine, Saskia finds new friends among the other kids. But she is also surrounded by adults trying to navigate marital and financial difficulties. In the background, the siege on Waco has Abraham on edge, and bad choices eventually erupt in a catastrophic event. Sixteen years later, Saskia and her friends from Home are living separate lives: Xavier and his husband are trying to adopt a child, Ben and Cornelia have built their own families, Issy is a single mom. Only Saskia lives alone and isolated in her late grandmother's Connecticut house. Mysterious letters have arrived in all their mailboxes, luring them back to Home, threatening to reveal a terrible secret. As the tightly structured chapters toggle between Saskia's past and present, Beverly-Whittemore deftly ratchets up the tension by slowly, almost imperceptibly revealing the psychological troubles haunting not only Saskia, but also Abraham. Avoiding the expected storyline of "cult leader sexually abuses young girl," Beverly-Whittemore crafts something else entirely as the sins of the past come home to roost. A compelling study of power, sociopathy, and the possibilities of survival.

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July 30, 2021
Saskia, a severely damaged teenager unable to cope with her brother's death and her parents' failings, is fostered out to family acquaintances with a somewhat unorthodox lifestyle in Manhattan. Her horizons are broadened even further when she is taken to a commune in Maine, called simply "Home," for the summer, where she falls under the spell of the group's charismatic leader and forms attachments to the members. Twenty years later she reluctantly returns there to settle some unfinished business. It's nasty business and not of the sort the reader will expect. The exquisite narrative is delivered by way of Saskia sharing her recollections with her departed brother. There is trauma, and clearly a psychopathic mind at work, but plenty of light still gets in through her wonder at the newly discovered natural world around her and the extraordinary friendships she forms, especially with a new, sort-of brother, Xavier. They share a "mutual woo-woo past." Saskia is strongly reminiscent of Donna Tartt's Harriet (The Little Friend, 2002) and Shirley Jackson's Mericat (We Have Always Lived in the Castle, 1962).

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