The Sunken Town: A Novel

In The Sunken Town, Lindsay, a thirty-year-old California native who never gave much thought to being adopted, unexpectedly inherits her birth mother Claire's farmhouse in Maine, propelling her on a journey across the country and across the years into a lake of secrets that will ultimately reveal just how far Claire was willing to go to protect her and her identity.

Told from both Lindsay’s and Claire’s points of view, The Sunken Town explores adoption, the nature of family dynamics, mother-daughter relationships, the impact of family secrets, the weight of motherhood and the lasting consequences of the choices people make.

"Karen Nelson’s The Sunken Town is both a spell-binding thriller and a profound meditation on the role of nature and nurture in human destiny.  Bravo!"—Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath trilogy

About the Author

Karen Nelson is the author of the novels The Last Summer at Feather River and The Sunken Town, and she is the co-founder of the nonprofit Writing By Writers where she hosts writing workshops taught by nationally-known, award-winning authors. Her travel writing has appeared in Coast Magazine, Premium, The Orange County Register, and various other publications nationwide. She holds a degree in creative writing from Colby College and teaches writing at the local high school. When not organizing writing workshops, she can be found hiking with her dog, reading, traveling, experimenting in the kitchen, and hosting dinner parties. She lives in the Silicon Valley.