ROAD LONGER THAN MEMORY

Shortly before her 10-year high school reunion in June 1986, Sara Barlow moves back home to Arlington, Virginia, to apply for a teaching job at that same high school. A flood of memories washes over her, from her brief romance with Devlin Barrie to the still-unsolved murder of classmate Nina Farley. While riding in Devlin’s Camaro back in 1976, the two witnessed the assault of a young woman but failed to call the police. After Nina’s parents reported her missing the next morning, Sara assumed the victim they saw was Nina. A further sadness is the death of Sara’s younger sister, Suzanne, in a car accident at around the same time—another impetus to move home and live with her widowed mother, Marian. Three men figure prominently in the story: Sara reunites with the charming Devlin, whose wife’s pregnancy does nothing to dampen their mutual flirtation. Another high school beau, Henry Truett, is now a teacher at the school as well. Popular but sketchy basketball coach Mark Raleigh emerges as the primary target of Sara’s suspicions. While mainly a tale of romantic suspense, McCabe’s crisply written story is most successful in charting Sara’s uncomfortable return home, as she confronts challenges in the classroom, awkward interactions with judgmental faculty members who used to be her teachers, and the task of rebuilding her relationship with her mother.