The Vines

By: Shelley Nolden

Narrated by: Jess Nahikian

In the shadows of New York City lies forbidden North Brother Island, where the remains of a shuttered sanatorium hide the haunting memories of century-old quarantines and human experiments. The ruins conceal the scarred and beautiful Cora, imprisoned by contagions and the doctors who torment her.

When Finn, a young urban explorer, arrives on the island and glimpses this enigmatic woman through the foliage, intrigue turns to obsession as he seeks to uncover her past - and his own family's dark secrets. By unraveling these mysteries, will he be able to save Cora? Will Cora meet the same tragic ending as the thousands who've already perished on the island?

The Vines intertwines North Brother Island's horrific and elusive history with a captivating tale of love, betrayal, survival, and loss.

©2021 Shelley Nolden (P)2021 Shelley Nolden

A surprise and hard to put down

A richly told story about a mysterious woman and an abandoned island. A real page turner. I enjoyed both the narration and the subject matter. The characters really grab you and I was inspired after reading this to research the real island behind the story. Highly recommend!

Slowly the vine twists

the book starts out pretty slowly and jumping back and forth through time can get confusing at times..it took several chapters to get into this story but I'm glad I stuck with it. I'm a little disappointed/happy there will be another book. (I don't like to wait)

Unforgettable story

I generally don’t continue to read a particular book if I’m not drawn in at the beginning, but I was all in by chapter 2. This book really needed to be read as we all collectively lived through a pandemic of biblical magnitude and that makes this book unforgettable ! Can’t wait for the sequel !

Great book

I was hooked from the beginning. I love the storytelling. I loved Cora. I didn’t realize this was historical fiction.

Amazing story!

This story was so timely and full of twists and turns. This is a book for this time! I can’t wait to research North Brother Island and it’s history! And I can’t wait for the sequel!
I loved the Authors’ note at the end! Shelly Nolden explained everything about her life experiences and how that impacted the story line.
My only critique of the audio book was the narrator’s tones attempting to sound like various male characters. But honestly, I don’t think anyone else could do better.