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The ascent : a novel  Cover Image Book Book

The ascent : a novel / Allison Buccola.

Buccola, Allison, (author.).

Summary:

"Twenty years ago, the members of a reclusive commune outside Philadelphia vanished without a trace. The mystery of their disappearance has never been solved. No sightings of the members were ever verified, and no bodies ever found. But the group did leave one thing behind: a twelve-year-old girl wandering alone on the side of the road in search of her lost family. In the years since that morning, Lee Burton has tried to put the pain of her past behind her. She has built a new identity for herself, with a doting husband and seven-month-old daughter. No one in her life now knows about her connection to "the cult that went missing," not even her husband. But new motherhood is proving a bigger challenge than she anticipated. She doesn't want to let her daughter, Lucy, out of her sight even for a moment. She can't return to work. She is not sleeping, and starting to have paranoid thoughts of Lucy being harmed. Then a stranger show up on her doorstep, who claims to be her long-lost sister. In her Lee sees the path to understanding the truth about her past, finally--if she could only trust that the woman is who she says she is. As she digs deeper into the truth about the woman's history the safe, stable life that Lee has constructed for herself threatens to shatter"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780593730003 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: 338 pages ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Random House, [2025]
Subject: Cults > Fiction.
Identity (Psychology) > Fiction.
Missing persons > Fiction.
New mothers > Fiction.
Genre: Thrillers (Fiction)
Psychological fiction.
Novels.

Available copies

  • 0 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Lakeshore Branch FIC Bucco 31681010420115 FICTION Checked out 08/02/2025

  • Baker & Taylor
    Twenty years after being the sole survivor of a vanished commune, Lee Burton’s carefully constructed life unravels when a stranger offers answers about her past, forcing her to confront buried secrets and the growing paranoia threatening her grasp on motherhood and identity.
  • Baker & Taylor
    "Twenty years ago, the members of a reclusive commune outside Philadelphia vanished without a trace. The mystery of their disappearance has never been solved. No sightings of the members were ever verified, and no bodies ever found. But the group did leave one thing behind: a twelve-year-old girl wandering alone on the side of the road in search of her lost family. In the years since that morning, Lee Burton has tried to put the pain of her past behind her. She has built a new identity for herself, with a doting husband and seven-month-old daughter. No one in her life now knows about her connection to "the cult that went missing," not even her husband. But new motherhood is proving a bigger challenge than she anticipated. She doesn't want to let her daughter, Lucy, out of her sight even for a moment. She can't return to work. She is not sleeping, and starting to have paranoid thoughts of Lucy being harmed. Then a stranger show up on her doorstep, who claims to be her long-lost sister. In her Lee sees thepath to understanding the truth about her past, finally--if she could only trust that the woman is who she says she is. As she digs deeper into the truth about the woman's history the safe, stable life that Lee has constructed for herself threatens to shatter"--
  • Random House, Inc.
    What would you do if the past showed up on your doorstep?

    A woman who grew up in a cult must decide if she can trust the stranger claiming to have answers to the dark mysteries of her childhood in “a standout thriller with something deeper on its mind: how the past doesn’t just haunt you, it reshapes you” (The Seattle Times).

    “I tore through this book and was genuinely shocked by its ending!”—Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines


    For decades, the whereabouts of The Fifteen has been an unsolved mystery. All the members of this reclusive commune outside Philadelphia vanished twenty years ago, except for one: a twelve-year-old girl found wandering alone on the side of the road.

    In the years since that morning, Lee Burton has tried to put the pain of her past behind her, building a new identity for herself with a doting husband and seven-month-old daughter, Lucy. But motherhood is proving a bigger challenge than she anticipated. She doesn’t want to let Lucy out of her sight even for a moment. She can’t return to work. She’s not sleeping, and she has started spiraling into paranoia.

    Then a stranger shows up on her doorstep, offering answers to all of Lee’s questions about her past—if Lee could only trust that this woman is who she says she is. Can Lee keep her safe, stable life? Or will new revelations about “the cult that went missing” shatter everything? In The Ascent, Allison Buccola has crafted a nerve-rattling thriller about motherhood, identity, and the truths we think we know about our families.

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