Publication Date: September 24, 2024
A twisty, nostalgic, emotionally thrilling novel about a group of estranged college friends who experiment with a secret substance that allows them to re-live their memories—and the fallout when they uncover startling truths about a dark event from their past
“How could you leave the past undisturbed when it was hiding parts of you from yourself?”
It’s been twenty-five years since The Midnight Club last convened. A tight-knit group of college friends bonded by late nights at the campus literary magazine, they’re also bonded by something darker: the death of their brilliant friend Jennet junior year. But now, decades later, a mysterious invitation has pulled them back to the pine-shrouded Vermont town where it all began.
As the estranged friends gather for a weeklong campus reunion, they soon learn that their host has an ulterior motive: she wants them to uncover the truth about the night Jennet died, and she’s provided them with an extraordinary method—a secret substance that helps them not only remember but relive the past.
But each one of the friends has something to hide. And the more they question each other, the deeper they dive into their own memories, the more they understand that nothing they thought they knew about their college years, and that fateful night, is true.
The Midnight Club explores that innate desire to revisit our first loves, our biggest mistakes, and the gulf between who we are and who we hoped we’d be.
A group of estranged college friends reunite after 25 years, but the invitation comes with a catch. It offers an opportunity to travel back in time to discover what really happened the night one of their members died.
The Midnight Club weaves in a past/present storyline that assists in providing background information. Author Margot Harrison depicts the characters in the various stages of their present lives before showcasing past events.
The concept of a time travel drug adds complexity to the storyline and foreshadows its role in the reunion. The characters—Sonia, Byron, Paul, and Auraleigh—have deep secrets to maintain, but changing one thing in the past could impact the future.
Trying to relive the past delivers a challenging set of choices for the characters who seek to understand what really happened to Jennet.
The Midnight Club uses the time travel element to probe into the past for answers, allowing the characters to uncover the truth about a shared tragedy.
MARGOT HARRISON is the author of four young adult novels, including an Indies Introduce Pick, Junior Library Guild Selections, and Vermont Book Award Finalists. She grew up in New York and now lives in Vermont. The Midnight Club is her debut adult novel.
