Description
What you see isn’t always the truth.
Perhaps everyone’s childhood memories are the same: part truth, part fantasy. But this house and our mother and her stories turned our imagination into a melting pot, a forge. A cauldron. And, I’m beginning to realise I can trust nothing that came out of it.
No. 36 Westeryk Road: an imposing house on the outskirts of Edinburgh, childhood home to sisters Cat and El. A house of curving shadows, crumbling grandeur and blood crimson walls. But it’s what lies under the house that is extraordinary. As children, every night Cat and El went to Mirrorland: a vivid make-believe world they created under the stairs – a hidden den of imaginary pirate ships, clowns and witches. A place of escape.
Now in her 30s, Cat has turned her back on her past and lives in LA. But when she receives news that one sunny morning, El left harbour in her sailboat and never came back, she is forced to return to Westeryk Road – to re-enter a forgotten world of lies, lust and betrayal.
Because El has left her clues to what actually happened. To discover the truth, Cat must first uncover a secret that has been hidden for over 20 years and confront the reality of her childhood – a childhood that wasn’t nearly as idyllic as she remembers.
My Review
What can I say !!!! This book was tense, really tense and at times I was not sure that some of the characters were real or a figment of the protagonist’s imagination. It was a creepy read with a sense of foreboding and danger in the descriptive writing. The sense of setting, in the house was brilliant, I could place myself there with some of the doors never allowed to be opened. WHY ?? The chilling sense of the fantasy world the children created both had me in the realm of safety for them and at the same time terrified about what was going to happen next.
There were characters that appeared in the book, linked to El’s past but their involvement left me with more questions as I read on and and there are twists a plently, each one making you think – what really is going on and what has happened in the past.
There are some difficult themes discussed in this book but it is about family, love, sisterhood, safety but at the same time, betrayal, lies, deceit, power and control. I went in thinking this was a psychological thriller but it was so much more than that – magic, gothic, fantasy and I was questioning all the characters and their actions throughout the book. What was real and what wasn’t. I also listened to the author discussing her writing and ideas creating this masterpiece and this only added to my enjoyment of the whole reading experience.
If you like your thriller dark and gripping, where you are taken to the brink of being not sure what was real and what was not then this is for you. Thanks to @Randomtours for a copy of this in return for an honest review. Brilliant !!!!
Author
SSlovesbooks 