When eight-year-old Greer Donner falls off his horse in the Washington wilderness, he braces himself to face the long hike home alone. But screams pierce the darkness, and he stumbles upon a dead-end road where a man is beating a woman—nearly to death. In a moment of courage, he stops the assault, but he’s left to face the man, who turns his wrath into an ominous threat: if the boy ever reveals what he has seen, his family will pay the ultimate price. The secret Greer now carries begins his emotional unraveling.
In Seattle, Gillian Trett is a photographer with a troubled marriage and a childhood she’s trying to forget. Domestic tension mounts when her husband’s stepsister arrives. Desperate for a distraction, and a way to advance her career, Gillian throws herself into uncovering the history behind an old man’s Holocaust photo of boys in a forest. The mysterious children and the truth behind the scene haunt her—she can’t let go of the image, or of her own shadowed past. Then a horrifying revelation entangles Gillian’s path with young Greer’s. The boy and the woman, separated by a generation and a hundred miles, each confront the terrible power of harbored secrets—not only to eclipse the truth but also to illuminate the dark, unknown dimensions of their loved ones and themselves.
In Seattle, Gillian Trett is a photographer with a troubled marriage and a childhood she’s trying to forget. Domestic tension mounts when her husband’s stepsister arrives. Desperate for a distraction, and a way to advance her career, Gillian throws herself into uncovering the history behind an old man’s Holocaust photo of boys in a forest. The mysterious children and the truth behind the scene haunt her—she can’t let go of the image, or of her own shadowed past. Then a horrifying revelation entangles Gillian’s path with young Greer’s. The boy and the woman, separated by a generation and a hundred miles, each confront the terrible power of harbored secrets—not only to eclipse the truth but also to illuminate the dark, unknown dimensions of their loved ones and themselves.
Praise for The Measure of the Moon
“Childhood traumas reverberate throughout Preston’s (Orchids and Stone) gripping thriller set in Washington State.”
“Childhood traumas reverberate throughout Preston’s (Orchids and Stone) gripping thriller set in Washington State. One night in the woods, eight-year-old Greer Donner runs across a man beating a woman. When the man threatens to kill anyone Greer tells about the beating, the boy, who’s revealed his name and where he lives, is terrified. The members of Greer’s close, raucous family, which includes five adult brothers and sisters, are later worried when Greer’s behavior changes under the weight of this secret. Meanwhile, freelance photographer Gillian Trett, who suffered from growing up with alcoholic parents, plans to leave her unbelievably saintly husband. Yet a third plotline involves a WWII-era photo. As the stories converge, Preston milks each of them for every bit of drama and horror. Readers will sympathize more with the well-delineated members of the Donner family than with the less distinctive characters in the Gillian chapters.”
“A powerful follow-up to Orchids and Stone, Lisa Preston's The Measure of the Moon is a beautifully rendered story— in fact, two stories— which weave together the certainty of how our actions and choices affect one another with far-reaching consequences.”
“No good deed goes unpunished: that's the moral of the story in The Measure of the Moon by Lisa Preston. Young Greer Donner helps a desperate stranger, and that brave act sends his life and the lives of everyone around him spiraling out of control. Atmospheric and suspenseful, this noir thriller will keep you turning the pages well past your bedtime. I thoroughly enjoyed it!”
“The Measure of the Moon is the mesmerizing and deeply moving story about family and the secrets that spill out when one little boy happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. With spare and lovely writing, Lisa Preston asks whether we can ever truly overcome the ghosts of our past in order to reshape our future.”
“Part mystery, part domestic suspense, The Measure of the Moon is a compelling story of love, lies, and stunning revelations that will remain in the reader’s mind long after the last page is turned.”
“The Measure of the Moon is well-written with many spots that will tug at your heartstrings. You will fall in love with Greer – a child determined to protect his whole family. You will even enjoy the Donner family's method of naming their offspring. It's a wonderful read that you will not want to miss.”
“Lisa Preston has crafted a novel with ingenious connecting facets: how a lost child in the woods, a woman with a troubled past, and a forgotten photo meld. The mystery is sustained throughout this pleasingly unpredictable novel.”