Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Undercurrent

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available

"A mystery of remarkable scope, bristling with intelligence, beauty, and humanity. It is, quite simply: stunning." —Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

"A stunning, achingly beautiful and gripping mystery. Full of page-turning suspense, intrigue, and secrets...I loved it." —Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark

"Delve into a thrilling novel where dark secrets and hidden agendas intertwine, keeping you on the edge of your seat with every twist and turn." –E! Online

An Apple Books Best Debut of 2024

An overwhelmed new mother becomes obsessed with the unsolved disappearance of a young girl from her small Texas hometown—and unearths her own family's dark secret.

It's 2011 and Deecie Jeffries's missing person's case in Austin, Texas, is still cold. New mom Bee, struggling with postpartum depression, is living in Portland, Maine, having left Austin–and those memories–far behind. Until Leo, her childhood crush and her estranged twin Gus's best friend, suddenly resurfaces, drawing Bee back into their shared past.

Bee's predictable life is upended, pushing her to return to her childhood home and piece together a neighborhood's shattered history. Bee becomes consumed with a need to uncover the truth about Deecie's disappearance and what happened to the families who lived across the field from one another—Gus, Leo, and their mothers: Mary, a homemaker, whose only escape is the local community theater, and Diana, a serious academic dedicated to her studies.

Told in multiple perspectives with two different timelines, The Undercurrent is a gripping portrait of motherhood, obsession, broken family bonds, and buried secrets.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 9, 2024
      A new mother fixates on a girl’s long-ago disappearance from her Austin, Tex., neighborhood in Sawyer’s arresting debut. Bee Rowan; her troubled twin, Gus; and her girlhood crush Leo Nastasi were once close, but she hasn’t spoken to either of them in years. In 2011, Leo tracks down Bee in Maine, where she lives with her husband and eight-week-old daughter, Attie, and lets her know Gus wants to talk. She returns with Attie to Austin, where, to Bee’s surprise, Gus is staying at their mother Mary’s house. There, she finds hidden in her childhood bedroom a letter to Leo from Deecie Jeffries, the girl who disappeared in 1987. The discovery prompts Bee and Leo to finally confront long-ago events that drove a wedge between them. In chapters set in 1987, a teenage Leo, though quiet and kind, sets fires and acts out at school, leading his mother to believe he might have had something to do with Deecie’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Mary worries her abusive husband might be responsible after finding a Polaroid print in their garage that hints at child pornography. Sawyer constructs a spellbinding mystery as she toggles between timelines and the viewpoints of three very different mothers. This one leaves a mark. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      An unsolved disappearance, three mothers, and family trauma are at the heart of this story, which is complemented by Sara Sheckells's somber narration. The novel is told in two time periods more than 30 years apart from the perspectives of three women: new mother Bee; her own mother, Mary; and Diana, the mother of her childhood crush, Leo, who is best friends with her estranged twin brother, Gus. None of the women are particularly sympathetic characters, yet Sheckells manages this melancholic, intense drama with an emotionally connected, understated delivery. An exploration of motherhood--how it changes not only a woman's body but also the ways she sees herself--winds through the narrative. Sheckells's unhurried pace and sincere unvoiced performance hold all the story elements together. S.G. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading