Jessie Sloane had been caring for her mother, Eden, and is now on her own for the first time in her life. She takes out a lease on an apartment in an old carriage house and applies to college. But when the college informs her that her social security number belongs to a deceased three-year-old girl, Jessie begins to doubt everything she's ever known.
For as long as Jessie can remember, it had only been just the two of them. When she asked about her father, Eden never disclosed who he was. The mystery of Jessie's life and who she is becomes further exacerbated by the grief surrounding the death of her mother as well as the lack of sleep—Jessie refuses to sleep because when she fell asleep at the hospital, her mother died, and she feels an incredible amount of guilt. As the days go by and the insomnia gets worse, Jessie's mind starts to play tricks on her and she can't decipher what is real and what is actually happening.
Twenty years earlier and two hundred and fifty miles away, Eden appears to be happily married and dreams of having a child with her husband, Aaron. The couple is struggling with infertility and Eden's desperation for a child becomes all-consuming. Eden makes an impulsive decision that years later has Jessie questioning her whole life—has it been a lie, or have her delusions finally gotten the best of her?
Told in alternating perspectives and timelines, the sharp plot is blunted by Jessie's delusions and Eden's obsessive behaviour. The reader is stuck inside both Jessie's twisted perceptions, not knowing what is real and what isn't, and Eden's emotional breakdown. As unreliable narrators, Jessie and Eden are the perfect vehicles to execute this psychological thriller.
Kubica is at the top of her game and she pens something totally fresh in When the Lights Go Out. I have reviewed her other books (Every Last Lie, Don't You Cry, The Good Girl) and would highly recommend this book; it was a fantastic read and I enjoyed the many twists in the plot.
MARY KUBICA is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature.
She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter.
Kubica is at the top of her game and she pens something totally fresh in When the Lights Go Out. I have reviewed her other books (Every Last Lie, Don't You Cry, The Good Girl) and would highly recommend this book; it was a fantastic read and I enjoyed the many twists in the plot.
MARY KUBICA is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature.
She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter.
No comments:
Post a Comment