This novel follows three sisters, whose mother suicided when they were young. As adults they are each dealing with this trauma in their own way, and are uniquely affected by it. 

I liked the concept of this novel, exploring longterm grief and trauma and how ideas from childhood spill over into adulthood. However, overall I found these themes to be let down by the execution. The characters were all fairly one-dimensional, and I found a lot of their dialogue to be quite forced and stagey. I found this to be a big letdown in a novel tacking such interesting themes. This novel is being marketed as literary fiction, but I would definitely describe it as contemporary, not lit fic. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ARC. The Ocean in Winter is out on 6 July 2021.