The Faraway Inn
by Sarah Beth Durst
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted March 17, 2026
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I read this book in an advance review copy, but it was not one I requested, but instead got through a giveaway from Booktrovert, a program started by Net Galley recently. It will publish in two weeks, March 31. I have been aware of Sarah Beth Durst for a while, seeing her name on social media, perhaps reviews on Locus or other sites, but I don't think I have read her before. Her first book was published in 2007; The Faraway Inn is her thirty-first, with another due in July. One reason I may not have read her before is her books appear to be mainly Young Adult or Middle Grade. That is as worthy a spot in publishing as any other, just not one I seek out that often. I did enjoy this, and can see its appeal to others. For now I think it is a standalone, but I can see the possibility of it getting a sequel, which I would probably read. I will give an overview, hopefully not revealing too much of the plot.
It ticks off several different genres and sub-genres. It is YA, since the main protagonist is sixteen or seventeen. Most of the story takes place in the summer between Calisa's junior and senior years of high school. She lives with her moms in Brooklyn, but as the story begins she is in Vermont, having just taken an Uber ride from the train station. She is to work at The Faraway Inn, a B&B owned by her Great-Aunt Zee, whom she barely remembers. She had been to the Inn when she was four or five, but had little memory of it, and there had been tension between Auntie Zee and Mom-Kate ever since, which her moms didn't want to talk about. Calisa had just broken up with her boyfriend, so the suggestion of getting away from Brooklyn to have some time to think about what would come next was welcome. Then she sees the inn, which appears to be abandoned, possibly haunted. It was then I thought, ah, a ghost story. Not quite. The book cover image might be from later, after she and others fix it up for a grand re-opening, but she first sees it with peeling paint, vines and weeds overrunning the garden, roof shingles missing, and a window or two boarded up. She cautiously goes up the steps to the front porch, but before she reaches the door she falls through rotting boards. She would have gone all the way through to the ground if not for having her backpack over her shoulder, which caused her to be wedged into the narrow hole. It was then she met Jack, one of the groundskeepers, but before he could return with tools to help, she manages to work her way down, crawling out from under the porch on one side.
One other sub-genre this might fit is one I don't know that much about, other than the category name. Others might not agree this is a romantasy, but it seems to apply. It takes a while for a romance to begin between Calisa and Jack, mainly because he is over-worked, and concerned about his father, the main groundskeeper, who went off to get supplies and hasn't returned. He has been gone a lot longer than Calisa assumed. Then she meets Auntie Zee, who is not welcoming, in fact she initially tells Calisa to leave right away, she is not needed, nor wanted. Calisa manages to wrangle a three-day grace, and before those days have passed Zee has relented, saying she can stay the rest of the summer. The reasons for that deal with the particular nature of the inn, and the way Calisa adapts to things she had not anticipated, which brings us to another sub-genre for the story. It is a portal fantasy, or I should say portals. Calisa accidentally discovers portals in various closets, boldly going into a couple of them on a whim. One is where the Night Market is, which she later learns is where Zee gets a lot of her supplies. Then she and Jack panic when Zee goes for supplies, saying she will be back before dinner time, but days pass instead. Jack is afraid the same thing has happened to Zee as happened to his father, who has been gone for three years.
Auntie Zee had established a few rules, the first being not to open any doors without permission. Also, don't ask questions of the guests, or bother them in any way, just be prepared to respond to their requests. But Calisa is both smart and intuitive, which leads to conversations with a few guests, in which she does ask questions that they don't seem to mind, and that leads her to helping them with a few of their problems. She and Jack clean as much as they can, including the gardens, and there is a greenhouse too. Along the way she learns how to deal with a stubborn cat who mainly just hisses at her, as well as a flying lizard which must have come through one of the doors, a lawn statue that moves on its own, and a sarcastic mirror that spells out answers (or evasions) to questions. That's the bare bones of the story, with the resolution relying on Calisa's ability to learn how to open portals on her own, finding Jack's father, and Auntie Zee too, even though she had not left the inn at all. No hints about that. It is a short book, an easy read. Some of my favorite SF books can be deeper, with questions, maybe a few answers, on subjects ranging from politics to psychology, even spirituality. Others are just enjoyable stories, with nothing deeper than fitting in, cooperating with others, learning your place in the world. I think Calisa has found her place, and a way to manage it without giving up school, or frequent visits with her moms. After all, if you know how to open portals, the world is your oyster.
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