A Sudden Light: A Novel

Garth Stein

Sep 2014 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A boy trying to save his parents’ marriage uncovers family secrets in a coming-of-age ghost story by the author of The Art of Racing in the Rain.

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future . . .

A Sudden Light is a rich, atmospheric work that is at once a multigenerational family saga, a historical novel, a ghost story, and the story of a contemporary family’s struggle to connect with each other. A tribute to the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, it reflects Garth Stein’s outsized capacity for empathy and keen understanding of human motivation, and his rare ability to see the unseen: the universal threads that connect us all.

Ratings and reviews

I enjoyed the characters in the book, and the way the author portrayed their emotions. As a reader I could empathize with their motivations for their actions, even when their choices seem wrong. The different characters, all with their own agendas made this book. The many conflicts between love, honor, and obligation are compelling.

It's summer. You're 14. Spirits are visible. Adults are confusing. What a magical, terrible opportunity. This book requires a 2nd read. Zoomed through looking for the answers and missed the question.

Incredible story of a affluent family that suffered financial downfall & Trevors' parents went bankrupt to the point of going on a trial separation. The boy discovers a spirit who wants to explore the nature of this new finding. Great book.

About the author

Garth Stein is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels, A Sudden Light and The Art of Racing in the Rain, and two previous novels, How Evan BrokeHis Head and Other Secrets and Raven Stole the Moon. He is the cofounder of Seattle7Writers, a nonprofit collective of Northwest authors working to foster a passion for the written word. He lives in Seattle with his family. Visit him online at GarthStein.com.