Sleeping Giants: A Novel
“Rene Denfeld reminds us that storytelling remains one of the most powerful means we have of confronting our darkest human impulses, and sometimes overcoming them.”—Washington Post
From the bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Enchanted, a compelling and poignant psychological thriller of sibling bonds, monsters masquerading as caretakers, terrifying secrets, and the power of love to right even the most egregious wrongs.
Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.
For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself.
Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers about the decades-old cold case. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.
Told in Rene Denfeld’s inimitable style, Sleeping Giants is an enthralling and heartbreaking novel that burrows deep in the heart and will leave no reader untouched.
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Community Reviews
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What’s it about?
Dennis Owen is just a small boy when he is placed at the Brightwood home for boys on the Oregon coast. He is deemed to have significant problems, but he is trying to forge a connection with Ralph the custodian. Within a year a new director is put in place and Dennis begins to disconnect. When Dennis is washed out to sea at the age of nine no one questions it. Twenty years later his sister Amanda wants to understand what happened to her older brother. She goes to the coast and finds Brightwood long closed. With the help of others she begins to look into how Dennis died.
What did it make me think about?
The good and the bad in people.
Should I read it?
In my estimation Rene Denfeld is a gifted writer. I appreciated both the “The Enchanted” and “The Child Finder”. However her books are sometimes just hard to read. I gather that the author is a foster parent herself and very familiar with our juvenile system. This makes her stories even harder to read… I do appreciate that Ms. Denfeld sees the good in people as well as the bad. This story in particular has many characters that forge meaningful relationships with young people. If you can take some sad aspects of a story- then this novel is really worth reading. I will continue to take a deep breath and read what Rene Denfeld writes. The stories are exceptional- even if they are heartbreaking.
Quote-
“There was something he wasn’t saying. Amanda could feel it. But she didn’t press. Secrets were okay with her.”
What’s it about?
Dennis Owen is just a small boy when he is placed at the Brightwood home for boys on the Oregon coast. He is deemed to have significant problems, but he is trying to forge a connection with Ralph the custodian. Within a year a new director is put in place and Dennis begins to disconnect. When Dennis is washed out to sea at the age of nine no one questions it. Twenty years later his sister Amanda wants to understand what happened to her older brother. She goes to the coast and finds Brightwood long closed. With the help of others she begins to look into how Dennis died.
What did it make me think about?
The good and the bad in people.
Should I read it?
In my estimation Rene Denfeld is a gifted writer. I appreciated both the “The Enchanted” and “The Child Finder”. However her books are sometimes just hard to read. I gather that the author is a foster parent herself and very familiar with our juvenile system. This makes her stories even harder to read… I do appreciate that Ms. Denfeld sees the good in people as well as the bad. This story in particular has many characters that forge meaningful relationships with young people. If you can take some sad aspects of a story- then this novel is really worth reading. I will continue to take a deep breath and read what Rene Denfeld writes. The stories are exceptional- even if they are heartbreaking.
Quote-
“There was something he wasn’t saying. Amanda could feel it. But she didn’t press. Secrets were okay with her.”
