Five Oaks
A Novel
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Five Oaks
Buy Now for £22.99
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Narrated by:
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Courtney Patterson
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By:
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Julie Hensley
About this listen
In the Arkansas mountains, three generations of fiercely determined young women are poised for self-discovery in a decades-spanning novel about the bonds of family and secrets.
Spending summer away from home for the first time, fifteen-year-old Wren Pritchard and her younger sister, Sylvie, arrive at Five Oaks, their grandparents’ Arkansas lake house. As it was for their grandmother and mother before them, it’s a place for coming of age, first love, triumphs and failures, and keeping secrets.
This year, it’s Wren’s end-of-girlhood season. And Sylvie vows to keep all her secrets: Wren slipping away in the middle of the night, the boy on the dock, racing with him on the dark back roads, and slipping quietly into bed before dawn, carrying the scent of adventure. And still, as Wren’s behavior begins changing and the moonlit escapes become more daring, Sylvie holds her tongue. Even when it feels like Wren is speeding toward disaster. Then one night, Wren doesn’t come home.
The halcyon days in the Ouachita Mountains are not what they appear. When the truth comes to light—about mothers, daughters, and sisters—no one in the family will ever be the same.
©2025 by Julie Hensley. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Critic reviews
“A deftly crafted combination of a coming-of-age novel and a family/sisterhood story, Five Oaks by novelist Julie Hensley is an inherently fascinating and original from start to finish. Emotionally engaging, exceptionally memorable, and unreservedly recommended…”—Midwest Book Review
“Five Oaks is a gorgeous novel. Hensley’s lush imagery reveals her prowess as a poet, while the characters pull you close to them and hold on long after you’ve read the final page. This compelling novel beautifully illustrates how life is a series of beginnings and endings, and there is always a next chapter in our stories.”—Bobi Conn, author of In the Shadow of the Valley and Someplace Like Home
“Without our knowledge, our ancestors’ stories take up residence inside us. Julie Hensley has written a multigenerational novel that reminds us of the secrets families often harbor and the consequences they produce. Part mystery and part family saga, Five Oaks is a gripping and beautiful book.”—Lee Martin, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Bright Forever