Sleep: A Novel
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(as of Aug 04, 2025 03:12:29 UTC – Details)
ONE OF “THE BEST SUMMER READS OF 2025” – OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB
ONE OF REAL SIMPLE’S BEST BOOKS OF 2025
“Incredibly moving.” – Ann Patchett
“Propulsive and funny and heartbreaking.” —J. Courtney Sullivan
“An exceptionally moving novel. Jones takes her cues from writers like John Cheever, Richard Yates and Virginia Woolf.”—The New York Times
“Profoundly beautiful.”— NPR
From a dazzling new talent, the story of a newly divorced young mother forced to reckon with the secrets of her own childhood when she brings her daughters back to the big house where she was raised.
Every parent exists inside of two families simultaneously – the one she was born into, and the one she has made.
Ten-year-old Margaret hides beneath a blackberry bush in her family’s verdant backyard while her brother hunts for her in a game of flashlight tag. Hers is a childhood of sunlit swimming pools and Saturday morning pancakes and a devoted best friend, but her family life requires careful maintenance. Her mother can be as brittle and exacting as she is loving, and her father and brother assume familiar, if uncomfortable, models of masculinity. Then late one summer, everything changes. After a series of confusing transgressions, the simple pleasures of girlhood, slip away.
Twenty-five years later, Margaret hides under her parents’ bed, waiting for her young daughters to find her in a game of hide and seek. She’s newly divorced and navigating her life as a co-parent, while discovering the pleasures of a new lover. But some part of her is still under the blackberry bush, punched out of time. Called upon to be a mother to her daughters, and a daughter to her mother, she must reckon with the echoes and refractions between the past and the present, what it means to keep a child safe, and how much of our lives are our own, alone.
Warm and generous, unflinchingly human, and ultimately joyful and empowering, SLEEP is about the cycles of motherhood and childhood, the cost of secrets and the burden of love, and what’s on the other side of silence: the world, rich in possibility.
ASIN : B0DD3792Z4
Publisher : Riverhead Books
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : May 13, 2025
Language : English
File size : 2.8 MB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 256 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0593851999
Page Flip : Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #32,863 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #137 in Marriage & Divorce Fiction #364 in Women’s Literary Fiction #556 in Mothers & Children Fiction
Customer Reviews: 3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 371 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Heather (@Nature.books.and.coffee) –
Well written, sad family story.
This was a good family drama debut book. Honor Jones is definitely a talented writer. I enjoy emotional books about motherhood and dysfunctional families and the way she put this story together was really impressive. I split my time between the physical and audiobook. The audiobook was narrated by Rebecca Lowman and I truly enjoyed her performance. Really well done.At the beginning, Margaret is a child. We get glimpses of her with her friends and her family. Then something happens to Margaret (SA warning) and it causes her childhood trauma that changes who she is and follows her throughout her life.Then we are 20 years into the future, Margaret is a newly divorced mom and we see how her relationship with her daughter and kids has been affected by her past. How her suppressed trauma now causes her to feel overprotective of her kids.Some people may have issues with the topics of SA in this book, so that’s something to take note of. If you like messy family dynamics and thought provoking, and heartbreaking books, then give this one a try.
Christine Davis Mantai –
a special achievement
I enjoyed every minute walking with this woman. I havenât run across a complex character so well drawn in a long time. Novels can be good for many different reasons, but this one stands out to me for its characters, each person is an individual, whole and unique. That is a special achievement.
KT –
too familiar
Not sure what the point of this story was other than an all too familiar self analysis of modern life. Left me depressed and uninspired
J Lewis –
Strong debut novel
Sleep is a character driven book which centers on a dysfunctional family through flashbacks. Margaret has past traumas that she hasnât dealt with or acknowledged to the family. Whenever Margaret got close to revealing the truth, her mother, Elizabeth makes it very clear that she doesnât want to hear about the trauma much less discuss it. Margaret tries very hard to be the mother to her two girls that Elizabeth wasnât. The characters are fully developed and consistent. The lack of communication was maddening to me. Watching Margaret consistently make bad relationship decisions, with the exception of her best friend, was frustrating. Clearly the author did a great job describing these characters for me to react so strongly to the protagonist.
A. Ga –
A great read
I enjoyed reading it, couldn’t put it down. A very moving and truthful narrative of how complicated life is and how childhood and its experiences are never left behind and they keep popping up seemingly out of nowhere in adulthood. Can be triggering, but therapeutic at the same time. Thoroughly enjoyed the writing style as well.
Linda. Schwenke –
Very different
I heard the author being interviewed on MPR, and thought this would be a good book. It was different from what I imagined…jumping around in time, vague stories, and unclear ending.
Anne –
You will love this novel!
Beautifully written book, a relatable novel. A must read !
Roberta Z –
Sleep
Terrible book. It doesnât make sense.
Wendy Myers –
I started it yesterday and finished it before breakfast. Absolutely loved it and hope some friends will read it so I have people to discuss it with!