The Grove - by Brooks Whitney Phillips (Hardcover)

About the Book

Set in a struggling 1960s Florida town, two sisters, fifteen-year-old Pip and seventeen-year-old Sissy, share a close bond, but after the annual carnival leaves, Sissy grows distant and reveals a shocking secret, thrusting the sisters and their friend Silas into a life-changing, desperate situation.

Book Synopsis

In this tender coming-of-age novel set in the socioeconomic tinderbox of the 1960s, two sisters in a struggling and damaged family only have each other to rely on . . . until an ugly secret tears them apart and threatens the cause of justice in their small town.

Fifteen-year-old Pip and seventeen-year-old Sissy aren't just sisters, they're best friends. Every year, they wait eagerly for the traveling carnival to put its stakes down in their tiny Florida town. It's the only time when the girls can abandon their endless chores on the family's orange grove and give in to pure joy. And the only time Pip and Sissy can forget their many troubles . . . living on the brink of poverty, Mama's despair, and Daddy's perpetual anger.

With the arrival of the carnival, the girls' slow, small lives suddenly feels bigger and brighter. But this year, something is different. Once the carnival leaves, with the charming young sword-swallower with it, Sissy grows increasingly distant from Pip and is soon no more than a stranger in their house. Pip grows closer to her friend Silas as a result, but when Sissy's shocking secret is revealed, the three unwittingly find themselves in a desperate situation that will change them all forever. In the land of the sweetest fruits, Pip must find her way through the soured hopes and bitter regrets of her family to finally break free of the grove.

Set against the class and economic tensions of early 1960s America, this stark yet hopeful novel tells a compelling story about the inescapable bonds of sisterhood and the lies we tell ourselves to survive.

Review Quotes

★ "Luminous prose relays the protagonist's satisfying emotional growth over the course of Phillips's potent tale of love and loyalty." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The orange-grove setting and the desolate life of isolated, impoverished Florida farmers are well-delineated. Most characters . . . are drawn with nuance." --Kirkus Reviews

"Beautiful writing, subtle brushstrokes depicting lives of isolation and despair with pinpoint accuracy, and a love between two young people too pure for this world." --Booklist

"An aching, gorgeous story about figuring out your own dreams while in the shadow of a conventionally beautiful older sister. I loved The Grove, and the voices of Pip and Sissy will stay with me for a long time."
--Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author of The Evening Hero

"This is a beautiful novel! I am haunted by the heavy sweetness of the orange grove, and all it gives and takes away."
--Cynthia Salaysay, author of Private Lessons

"An exquisite story exploring choices and the lack of them for Pip and her hardscrabble family. A gifted writer, Pip lives in the shadow of her beautiful sister in a rural Florida town so vividly captured that you can smell its bitter limitations, as well as the sisters' sweet longings, birthed among the family's soured orange grove. This heartfelt story touches on classism, racism, the fallout of dreams deferred and the splendor of hope and forgiveness."
--Robin Farmer, author of Malcolm and Me

About the Author

Brooks Whitney Phillips is a freelance writer and author. She wrote a syndicated column and feature stories on music and the arts for the Chicago Tribune, is the author of eight middle grade books, and contributes design and travel stories to national magazines. She is the recipient of the Key West Literary Seminar's Marianne Russo Award for novel-in-progress, and is co-founder of the Rowland Writers Retreat, which hosts and funds ten annual residencies for women authors. She lives in Key West, Florida and Saugatuck, Michigan.

Follow her on Instagram @ BrooksWhitneyPhillips