This book, another killer novel from Catriona Ward, is a deep look into mother/ daughter relationships, nature versus nurture, and the damage that secrets can do. In my opinion, Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street will go down as a classic, so I was excited to pick this one up.

I’m glad I did, though I’ll warn readers that the first third of this book is a tough read. It’s focused on an extremely abusive marriage and a very pained family. It was hard to read, and I’m mostly immune to horrors true or otherwise.

As the story progresses, with jumps in time and as told by multiple narrators, pieces begin to fall into place and the story fills in. Again, Ward shows extreme mastery of language, keeping me wondering and guessing throughout. Watch her, because her verbal sleight of hand is amazing. You won’t know the whole story until you’ve done the work to get there, and you’ll be led down more than one dead end path.

If you are bothered by very realistic physical and mental abuse, or by scientific animal testing, be aware that this book pushes those buttons. Hopefully you can get past that and read one of the more bizarre, yet heartfelt, mother / daughter novels I’ve ever read.