I had to start writing this review before I even finished reading the whole book; it was so fast-paced and compulsive that it was impossible to mentally keep track of all my thoughts.
On A Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass is a psychological thriller about the intersected lives of three women living in a gated community in the northwest United States. While they appear to be living the American Dream, that could not be further from the truth. Meet Cora, Paige, and Georgia: Cora knows her husband is cheating on her; Paige is reeling from the sudden death of her adult son; and Georgia is the mysterious British woman with a new baby and a successful, charming husband who suffers from an anxiety disorder hindering her from going anywhere beyond her front porch.
This is one of those books that tricks you into believing you have the ending figured out before the characters do. The second Georgia was introduced, I immediately said out loud “I know exactly what’s going to happen” before I had even finished reading the sentence. However, this confidence was shattered as soon as I began the next chapter because I could have never predicted what was going to happen next to any of the characters.
There were a few things I found interesting about this book. The story alternates between being told from the point of view of each of the three women. However, while Cora and Georgia’s are written in the first person, Paige’s is written in the third. The reason this is intriguing is that Paige’s role in the book is not much different than Cora’s and Georgia’s; they all have their own demons that they’re fighting, as I’ve already mentioned. However, Paige is, in many ways, the centre of the Venn diagram of these women’s lives and the character who ties all their stories together. As we find out later on in the book (in a shocking way, might I add), her trauma is intertwined with Georgia’s and with Cora’s. So writing her perspective in the third person serves a purpose as dramatic irony because the readers are able to find out more than Cora and Paige do. The heightened suspense raises the stakes in the delicate friendship between these three; what will happen when all is revealed?
It also adds a mysterious personality trait to Paige’s character, because we don’t have the same access to her thoughts as we do to Cora and Georgia’s. In a way, it further drives the point home that Paige severely lacks trust in others. She doesn’t even trust us, as the reader, to be fully transparent with her feelings.
This book also has a very strong feminist standpoint. It demonstrates that despite the struggles women go through – the losses we face, the abuse so many of us often experience at the hands of men, the expectations placed on us to be the perfect wife and mother, the emotional turmoil that comes with merely existing in society – we carry immense courage within ourselves to rise up and be free from these struggles. As someone who is very familiar with the nature and impacts of domestic violence, Georgia’s was one of the most heartbreaking stories of DV I have ever read; she had no resources, barely any support, and a controlling husband who made her fear that she would not be believed. She was essentially trapped in this horrific life with no easy way out.
Remarkably, she went to extreme lengths to seek out a better life for herself and her baby girl, to break the cycle of abuse. In a story about the love of mothers and women’s strength, she was a shining example of both these things. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I never thought I could be proud of a fictional character this way. Her story was also a beautiful example of the way women come together to support one another. Both Cora and Paige, despite not knowing Georgia all that well, were immediately willing to help her in any way they could.
I will say that this was an uncomfortable read, despite the fact that I struggled to put it down. There were moments in this story that I literally slammed it down mid-page, and then reluctantly picked it up again fives minute later because I really needed to know how that scene ended.
It’s been weeks since I finished this book and I’m still thinking about it. I’m definitely putting this book on the top of a “You Need To Read This Before You Die” list.