Half of What You Hear: A Novel

Bess Warner and her family have just moved to the small town of Greyhill, Virginia. It’s beautiful and quaint, and its residents have strong ideas about what’s “right” for their neighborhoods. As her kids try to settle in, Bess tries to put her own recent past behind her, which is not easy thanks to the local gossip mill, and to help her husband run the family business. Then a unique opportunity drops into her lap: write a story on the local eccentric, Susannah Lane, a woman with a whole history all her own. But the project takes on a life of its own as Bess learns more and more about her new community. How much of what Susannah says can be trusted? What secrets is Greyhill really hiding?

Honestly, it’s super hard to summarize Half of What You Hear in a meaningful way. Despite its relatively short length, there is so much depth to this novel that readers will get sucked in, hungry for more. Author Kristyn Kusek Lewis does an excellent job spinning this story, doling out just the right amount of information in just the right places to keep things flowing without being overwhelming. And she knows how to write a kicker of an ending, too!