- This edition a hardback from my local library
- First published in Iceland by Verold Publishing 2023
- First published in UK by Orenda Books in 2025
- English translation by Victoria Cribb
- ISBN 978-1-916788-60-2
- 305 pages
Synopsis (publisher)
Struggling to separate her dreams from reality, a young woman investigates the disappearance of her sister ten years earlier … worried that she might be next. A breathtaking, twisty standalone thriller from the international bestselling author of the Forbidden Iceland series…
November, 1967, Iceland. Fourteen-year-old Marsí has a secret penpal – a boy who lives on the other side of the country – but she has been writing to him in her older sister’s name. Now she is excited to meet him for the first time.
But when the date arrives, Marsí is prevented from going, and during the night her sister Stína goes missing – her bloodstained anorak later found at the place where Marsí and her penpal had agreed to meet.
November, 1977. Stína’s disappearance remains unsolved. Then an unexpected letter arrives for Marsí. It’s from her penpal, and he’s still out there…
Desperate for news of her missing sister, but terrified that he might coming after her next, Marsí returns to her hometown and embarks on an investigation of her own.
But Marsí has always had trouble distinguishing her vivid dreams from reality, and as insomnia threatens her sanity, it seems she can’t even trust her own memories.
And her sister’s killer is still on the loose…
My Take
Other reviewers have called this book a "twisty thriller" which it certainly is. It has a characteristically complex Icelandic plot. Two time frames set against family trauma and the unsolved disappearance ten years before of Marsi's older sister. Marsi's mother struggles to cope with mental problems resulting from what happened to her during World War II. Unsettled family life has led to Stina, the older sister, a talented artist, resolving to leave home as soon as she can and when she disappears, no-one is sure that she hasn't gone voluntarily.
The plot is complex with a cast of players. And in the end, a surprising resolution.
My rating: 4.8
About the author: Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva moved to Trondheim, Norway to study my MSc in Globalisation when she was 25. After moving back home having completed her MSc, she knew it was time to start working on her novel. Eva has wanted to write books since she was 15 years old, having won a short story contest in Iceland. Eva worked as a stewardess to make ends meet while she wrote her first novel, The Creak on the Stairs. The book went on to win the CWA Debut Dagger, the Blackbird Award, was shortlisted (twice) for the Capital Crime Readers’ Awards, and became a number one bestseller in Iceland. The critically acclaimed Girls Who Lie (book two in the Forbidden Icelandseries) soon followed, with Night Shadows (book three) following suit. You Can’t See Me (book four) is out in 2023. Eva lives with her husband and three children in Reykjavík.
No comments:
Post a Comment