Alina Grabowski's debut novel, WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST, opens with 16-year-old Jane waking up after yet another soaking rain. She proceeds to ride her bike to work through streets still showing signs of the lasting damage done by past blizzards, storms and floods that seem likely to only get worse in this coastal Massachusetts town.

"WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST is tailor-made for book club discussions and debates, and Grabowski’s skillful characterizations and profound sense of place mark her as a writer to keep tabs on."

The streets also bear witness to those who have died. One intersection, called "Murder Merge," is the site of a makeshift shrine to those who have been killed there, many of whom are teenagers. This is the first sign of the violence and tragedy that seems to befall a disproportionate number of the teens in working-class Nashquitten. By the time Jane's chapter concludes, readers learn that yet another teenage life has been lost, this one belonging to Jane's classmate, Lucy, who died at a party under mysterious circumstances.

The subsequent nine chapters are divided into PRE- and POST- that death, though it's important to note that, despite sharing some elements of structure with a mystery or thriller, WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST is definitely neither. Instead, it's essentially a series of character studies that collectively add up to a portrait of Nashquitten through the interconnectedness of its residents.

Each chapter is narrated in the first person by a different woman or teenage girl. At first, it can be challenging to decipher how each character's story fits into the whole. But Grabowski's careful narrative rewards patience, as readers come to understand the various webs of relationships that connect (and sometimes entangle) these characters. In some novels, this kind of interconnectedness feels like a plot device; here, however, it seems to gesture thematically to the insularity of this town. Those whose stories are shared include a high school guidance counselor; a recent graduate who thought she had escaped her hometown but is brought back due to family circumstances; and the dead girl's mother, classmates and best friend.

Their narratives overlap at times, and readers will enjoy dissecting different versions of the same events. Are those distinctions a result of faulty memories, dishonesty or something more complicated? Who are these women telling their stories to or for? And what do they reveal about themselves and one another? What becomes increasingly clear is that Lucy's death only hints at the darkness and borderline hopelessness lurking in Nashquitten.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST is tailor-made for book club discussions and debates, and Grabowski’s skillful characterizations and profound sense of place mark her as a writer to keep tabs on.