Bitter Sun is a novel set in Larson, a small mid western town in America in the early 70’s. This is a story of the coming of age of 4 young teenage kids who discover a body during a long hot summer heatwave. With Vietnam headlining the news and the town facing economic ruin, Bitter Sun takes a long, hard look at family and friendship, love and fear, abuse and power.

The story is narrated by John Royal, a 14 year old boy who lives on a dilapidated farm with his alcoholic mother and younger sister Jenny. John is fiercely protective of his younger sister who is constantly physically and mentally abused by their mother whilst she openly favours John and treats him with love and affection.

John and Jenny have been friends with Rudy and Gloria since childhood and the four of them are inseparable. Whilst spending the afternoon in their secret den, they discover the murdered body of an unknown young girl which the town seems to want to hush up and ignore. John and his friends are traumatised by this discovery and decide to investigate the murder themselves.

This is NOT a light read, in fact it’s very distressing, with elements of child abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, bullying, mental health issues and violence. It took me several days to read this book, because of the subject matters.

There is no doubt Bitter Sun is an atmospheric, hauntingly beautiful character-led story which will affect the reader deeply. This book has been described as Stand By Me meets True Detective and I was immediately transported to the hot, sticky, oppressive heat in the town of Larson and following these 4 vulnerable youngsters navigate their way through a truly horrific event whilst dealing with their own personal family issues was heart-breaking.

The gory prologue sets the scene as a blood-covered man is picked up on a desolate road. The book proper starts when a group of children find a body in the lake.

The first chapter is slow and full of the depressing background and lives of the children, who live in a rural part of America. Of course, it changes at the end of the chapter when they find the body of a young woman. Unable to get the discovery out of their minds they decide to find out who killed her.

This is a story of friendship, family, trust and the bonds that bind them. The four children find an escape and sanctuary in their group and the secret 'fort' they made is their refuge. Each lives within a dysfunctional and often abusive family and the friends offer love and security the families do not. And how many of us didn't have that bolthole as a child? The concept has a very nostalgic feel.

As children, their attempts to find out who the dead woman is and who killed her are mocked by the authorities. None of the people who should be trustworthy appear to be, as secrets and threats abound. The coming-of-age experiences take place over three summers and mutate into something much nastier and the story progresses slowly into something very dark indeed. The equilibrium at the end is perhaps a little overstretched, but the story builds, tears and rips at the very core. Harrowing, disturbing and a darn good read. Recommended.

I discovered Wolf Road through Goldsboro Books and was blown away by the author's talent. Bitter Sun somehow managed to be even better thanks to the incredible writing style and gripping plot. The claustrophobia of a small town is captured flawlessly, evoking an atmosphere of fear and secrets. This is a violent and rather depressing book so won't be for everyone, but I thought it was exquisite.

I had high hopes for this book after loving The Wolf Road and I was not disappointed. The book is quite grim at times, right from the start and the author does not hold back any emotional punches. This is a coming of age story but one that is steeped in darkness. I was shocked when the kids were treated with such hostility after they find the dead body and it’s even suggested one of them might be the killer. John is one of the kids and narrates the story. I loved his voice. The kids want to find out who killed the woman and their determination to honour her is touching and heart-breaking. I was fascinated by the relationship between John, his sister and their neglectful, alcoholic mother. Their story is really the central piece of Bitter Sun. The book is beautifully written and made my heart bleed and my tears spill so bad.

Bitter Sun is set in the small Midwest American town of Larson during the early 70's
Told in the first person by 13 year old John Royal its about a hard upbringing in a tough community; the unrelenting heat, the Vietnam draft and families struggling to make a living.

Its a descriptive novel the small-town community and the drought ridden countryside is well written and easily visualised.

John, his sister Jenny and friends Rudy and Gloria, like most kids had a hideaway, a den or clearing somewhere where they could meet up and hang out. The story begins on a hot summers day when the four friends arrive to find it in disarray and a dead body in the nearby lake.

Frustrated by the perceived lack of action by the local sheriff the kids decide to solve the death of the murdered woman themselves, what they uncover is twisted dark and dirty.
I found myself totally wrapped up and quite emotionally invested in this heartbreaking tale of abuse and innocence lost. Harrowing and disturbing, there were times I wanted to stop reading but found myself unable to.

A definite 5/5 from me, this is the first book I've read by this author- it won't be the last.

If you're wanting a novel which encapsulates the claustrophobia and paranoia of life in a small town then look no further than Bitter Sun. Beginning in the baking hot summer of 1971, Johnny, his sister Jenny and their two friends Gloria and Rudy chance across the body of a young woman. Unable to move past their gruesome discovery, they make a pledge to solve the murder and over the next few years their worlds get darker as more secrets are uncovered.

My advice would be to strap in before reading this book as it's nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster. Johnny and Jenny already live a chaotic lifestyle. Their father is long gone and their mother is a barely functioning alcoholic who makes no secret for her preference of Johnny over Jenny. Johnny's desperation to make everything alright is heartbreaking to read as often he ignores the horrible truth in front of him. The use of Johnny as the books narrator works particularly well given his single mindedness when in trying to fix his family. It makes the end third of the book all the more devastating as the inevitability of what will happen is obvious to everyone except Johnny. It's classic small town stuff, everyone expected to grown into a mould of their parents. It's also part coming of age story as the four children become teenagers and start to wish for a life outside of their small town. The spectre of Vietnam looms throughout the story as the town deals with the effect of the draft and its aftermath making this a layered book which works on so many levels.

Beth Lewis' Wolf Road was equally well written and she's proving to be an excellent writer with real depth and skill. This is a book to lose yourself in and I'm sure it will continue to pick up readers for a very long time to come. Excellent stuff from a fantastic writer.

I received a ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

When I saw 'Stand by Me meets True Detective' I had high hopes for this book and I was not disappointed.
Small town America is always portrayed in a certain way so it is easy to see the picture which the author paints. The awful secrets a town hides and how within a moment - your life is changed forever.

I don't give spoilers in any review I do, but if you like either Stand by me or True Detective then you must read this book. The author writes with ease. I'll definitely be checking other titles of theirs out!

"As long as the apple is shiny and red, it doesn't matter if it's rotten."

The Dry meets To Kill a Mockingbird in this novel. The small-town claustrophobia is ever-present in this murder mystery that also crosses genre into coming-of-age tale. The book feels like it is closing in on the reader, such is the overwhelming sense of the heat - making people desperate and everything decay.

Bitter Sun is set in the early 1970s, where we meet four teenagers who seem to be dealing with everything in their lives relatively well (family issues, alcoholism, lack of opportunity) until they discover the body of a woman near the lake where they are playing. It's difficult to discuss plot here too much without giving things away but what I can say is that Lewis's writing is superb. I was emotionally wrapped-up in this novel that sped along to its conclusion.

The description of the town and the people lift so easily off the page, you feel like you're there. It made me angry and sad at the rot that forms the core of this small town.

This is a book that I would highly recommend to those who like the literary version of a thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, Harper Fiction, the Borough Press and Beth Lewis for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bitter Sun. Beth Lewis

Set at the start of the 70’s in a small town town in the south east USA this book is set against a backdrop of young men forced to war by the draft, anti-war protests, returning soldiers, and all in a small town struggling to stay alive.

John Royal, his sister Jenny, and their friends Gloria and Rudy, are all young teenagers who form a close knit group. They each have family problems and find sanctuary with each other and in a den they built out in the sticks. Everything is going as good as it can for them until they find a body in the river close to the den. From that day on everything changes.

The police don’t seem to be in a hurry to identify the body let alone the killer.

Over the next few years the gang of four look into who the victim is and try to identify the murderer. Fighting small town politics and larger than life bullies and criminals they are unsure of who to trust. At times the bond between the four is stretched as different hypothesis cast allegations at different friends and families.

The story is compelling to the end.

I was looking for something a bit different to read on my holidays, something that would challenge me, something out of my usual comfort zone of reading.

I am so glad I found this book. It’s a hard read at times, every page is loaded with emotion and intrigue.

I am a big Greg Isles fan and this story could so easily have been penned by him

So. There’s another author to be added to my must read list.
Thank you Beth Lewis, this is a stunning story

4.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2018/07/04/bitter-sun-by-beth-lewis/
Set during the heatwave of 1971 Bitter Sun is a coming of age story that takes a sharp look at the rotten core of a small midwestern town. Having read The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis I was excited to pick this one up and in terms of writing prowess the author delivers. This isn’t my go to type of read, lacking the elements of fantasy or sci fi that I tend to steer towards but there is a hint of magical realism towards the conclusion and the slow build of tension, the dizzy summer heat and the escalating sense of menace and small town claustrophobia feel so real that you can practically cut the atmosphere in the story with a knife. I can’t deny that I read elements of this with a lump in my throat from trying to hold back the emotion.

Narrated by John the story takes place over a three year period. John and his sister Jenny spend all their free time with their friends Rudy and Gloria at a secret den they’ve built away from the prying eyes of town. Their summer days sound almost idyllic until they discover a dead body in the lake they usually spend hours swimming in, a young woman with no form of identification, shot and unceremoniously dumped. As though the whole experience isn’t harrowing enough Jenny becomes obsessed over the victim and relentless in her determination that the four should investigate, a need that becomes more insistent when the authorities seem to have little motivation in uncovering the murderer or even finding the identify of the young woman in question. It’s as though Jenny herself has a desperate need – one that is powered by her own miserable home life and the very real threat that she herself seems to face.

Set against a backdrop of a rural town in decline the story doesn’t shy away from the nasty. Abuse, negligence bullying and depravity are the order of the day. John and Jenny’s mother is a bitter drunk who takes out her frustration with life on Jenny – to such an extent that she is oftentimes afraid to go home. Rudy’s home life is equally beleaguered with a violent father and brother who the majority of the town are afraid to even look in the general direction of and Gloria, whilst her rich parents and glamorous home seem to be the envy of many, spends a lot of time alone and is all but being raised by ‘the help’. Added to this is the fact that the town is in decline. The Vietnam war draft adds a layer of fear to the residents who already mostly live in abject poverty, struggling to find work and turning to seek solace in the bottom of a bottle. The opening chapters don’t paint a pretty picture to be honest and yet as the story unfolds you begin to realise that the corruption that infects the town runs much deeper.

It’s difficult to say too much more about Bitter Sun without giving away spoilers. This is a desperate and heartbreaking story. The prose is absolutely stunning and in fact holds you quite mesmerised in it’s spell until the conclusion. It’s not a cheery story and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. There are horrors taking place in this town and what really adds an extra layer of disbelief is the way that people in the town simply look the other way. The lies and deceit are deeply entrenched in fear. If nobody sees the problem then it doesn’t need to be addressed which gives licence to a whole bunch of vile characters to do whatever they want to feed their own desires. Draw the curtains and look away.

To be honest, it’s not new territory or ground breaking in many respects but it is so well written that the beauty of the prose keeps you hooked to the end. And, I can say that my fear for the main characters was so very real that I could almost taste it. I felt the horror that they felt as their worlds began to fall apart and their innocent illusions were ripped apart. Particularly John. He was so determined and yet so naive. He seemed to blindly run into situations and you just wanted to stop him – and yet, in spite of his actions, whatever eventually happened had a feeling of inevitability. I realise I’m probably sounding a little mysterious but it really is difficult to elaborate further.

The low down is this is a story of four young people and their rather bleak journey into adulthood. There are rude awakenings and heartache aplenty and it won’t be for everyone although there’s also a glimmer of hope. I try, as a rule, to shy away from comparisons but for me this author has a feel of DuMaurier or Tartt – a truly gifted writer with a way with words that compel you to read her stories even if, at first, they might not seem to be your usual bread and butter. A harsh tale, beautifully told.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

‘I killed her’

Bitter Sun is a novel that begins in a heatwave of 1971 and ends in summer 1973. It takes place in the rural town of Larson and the Vietnam war and its impact on small rural communities sets the backdrop for the novel.

The novel follows brother and sister John and Jenny and their childhood friends Gloria and Rudy. They discover the body of a female murder victim, which the town is quick to hush up! Too quick for John and Jenny’s liking and they set out to unmask the killer. John names the victim Mora, and Jenny is unusually drawn to her and her possibly background. Who is she?

‘It was the drink. It was the sickness. Not my momma, not really’

John and Jenny Royal have an alcoholic and abusive mother. She openly favours John and systemically physically and mentally abuses Jenny. The kids are bullied at school and rumoured as ‘freaks’. John tries to protect his sister the best he can, but it is 1971 and he is just a kid!
When the police don’t take the case seriously, he turns to Pastor Jacobs. But is the Pastor a friend or a predator himself?

‘We have to find out who she is and who hurt her.
Someone has to’ – Gloria

John and Jenny’s mother appears changed after the news of the murder. However, the change never lasts long, with alcoholics.
The kids have what they refer to as ‘pigeon Pa’s’ a series of men that come in and out of their mother’s life. But they aren’t the only kids in Larson to have abusive family members, unfortunately. . .

Rudy lives in poverty, he has a lonely and abusive homelife. There is a specific scene of Rudy being abandoned at Christmas which brought tears to my eyes. A further scene of violent child abuse left me sobbing and Rudy nursing a broken arm. Rudy becomes convinced his father has something to do with the murder and he is desperate to expose him.

The barren landscape is written brilliantly, you can easily imagine this bleak town impacted by war and poverty.
‘Dozens went. A handful came back’
It describes the returning Vietnam veterans as ghosts of their former selves. As stated this creates a fantastic backdrop for this similarly haunting and bleak story.

As months roll by with no leads, no ID and no new news. The kids grow impatient. Jenny vows that as soon as she is old enough, she’ll leave Larson. The bullying by her mother continues, growing more and more vicious.
With a local car accident resulting in the deaths of two local teens and the Easton mill going up in flames the people of Larson move on with their lives.
John, Jenny, Rudy and Gloria do not.

This novel is a ‘coming of age’ under the harshest of circumstances. A protective brother, a mother seeking validation from men and a scared little girl. 4.5*

4.5 stars

Small town America... where everyone knows everyone,and they all have secrets.
That's how this feels... feels tense and claustrophobic and prone to violence at any second.
It reminded me a lot of Chris Whitakers All the wicked girls,which is no bad thing,that was one of my favourite books last year.
The weather scorching hot,the priest,the small town....
I cringed at some of the scenes between Jenny and her mother,but smiled at the ones with the four kids...All of their actions given the circumstances felt real,something I find lacking in many books.
A real coming of age story.
I'm loving Beth Lewis's work.

Beth Lewis writes a superb emotionally heartbreaking coming of age story depicting a ravaging picture of a small midwestern American town. Larson is struggling economically, plagued by its political intrigue and corruption, amidst the background of the Vietnam draft with the return of damaged soldiers, hard hit by ruined harvests as the unrelenting heat takes it toll, suffering from rising unemployment and suicide, beset by rumours and rampant paranoia as violence simmers. It provides the perfect conditions in this farming community for the emergence of the powerful and ruthless dark underbelly of the town. It is 1971, the 13 year old John Royal and his sister, Jenny, and their well off best friends, Rudy and Gloria, find the murdered body of a young woman by the lake.

In a story narrated by John, the teenagers embark on a quest to find out what happened to the woman, unaware of the darkness they are entering and the dangerous waters that swirl around them. This a bleak tale of lies, secrets, deceptions, the most upsetting and dysfunctional of families incorporating alcoholism, abuse, brutality, violence and absent parents. The sheriff suspects John of being the killer or of the youngsters not coming clean about all that they know. As the town turns against John, a local pastor, Frank, steps in to help and protect him. John worries about his single mother's changing character for the worse, fuelled by drink, and her deteriorating, disturbing relationship with his sister, Jenny. As overheard conversations and more bring the truth closer to the surface, John is heavily weighed down by its burden in a town that colludes to keep its secrets. He is in a quandry, his uncertainty overwhelming, who does he tell, what is he to do and can anyone be trusted?

Beth Lewis is an expert at building up the palpable tension and the growing air of menace in the claustrophobic intense narrative. Her characters and their development is done with such skill that she draws us into their lives with ease. She writes a story that is hard to bear, hard to read about, but you just have to continue turning the pages to find out what happens next, it is indeed a Bitter Sun. This is a beautifully written and atmospheric novel that imprints itself on your psyche, mesmerising and never to be forgotten. Read this. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.