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Close Your Eyes
In Close Your Eyes, the author of the bestselling How to Be Lost spins another mesmerizing tale of buried family secrets.For most of her life, Lauren Mahdian has been certain of two that her mother is dead, and that her father is a murderer.Before the horrific tragedy, Lauren led a sheltered life in a wealthy corner of America, in a town outside Manhattan on the banks of Long Island Sound, a haven of luxurious homes, manicured lawns, and seemingly perfect families. Here Lauren and her older brother, Alex, thought they were safe.But one morning, six-year-old Lauren and eight-year-old Alex awoke after a night spent in their tree house to discover their mother’s body and their beloved father arrested for the murder.Years later, Lauren is surrounded by uncertainty. Her one constant is Alex, always her protector, still trying to understand the unraveling of his idyllic childhood. But Lauren feels even more alone when Alex reveals that he’s been in contact over the years with their imprisoned father—and that he believes he and his sister have yet to learn the full story of their mother’s death.Then Alex disappears. As Lauren is forced to peek under the floorboards of her carefully constructed memories, she comes to question the version of her history that she has clung to so fiercely. Lauren’s search for the truth about what happened on that fateful night so many years ago is a riveting tale that will keep readers feverishly turning pages.From the Hardcover edition.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
87 people are currently reading
5296 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Eyre Ward
16 books1,405 followersAmanda Eyre Ward’s new novel. LOVERS AND LIARS, will be published in May, 2024! It is the story of a librarian in love.
Here is a very long bio: Amanda was born in New York City in 1972. Her family mved to Rye, New York when she was four. Amanda attended Kent School in Kent, CT, where she wrote for the Kent News.
Amanda majored in English and American Studies at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She studied fiction writing with Jim Shepard and spent her junior fall in coastal Kenya. She worked part-time at the Williamstown Public Library. After graduation, Amanda taught at Athens College in Greece for a year, and then moved to Missoula, Montana.
Amanda studied fiction writing at the University of Montana with Bill Kittredge, Dierdre McNamer, Debra Earling, and Kevin Canty, receiving her MFA. After traveling to Egypt, she took a job at the University of Montana Mansfield Library, working in Inter Library Loan.
In 1998, Amanda moved to Austin, Texas where she began working on Sleep Toward Heaven. Amanda finished Sleep Toward Heaven, which was published in 2003. Sleep Toward Heaven won the Violet Crown Book Award and was optioned for film by Sandra Bullock and Fox Searchlight. To promote Sleep Toward Heaven, Amanda, her baby, and her mother Mary-Anne Westley traveled to London and Paris.
Amanda moved to Waterville, Maine, where she wrote in an attic filled with books. Amanda’s second novel, How to Be Lost, was published in 2004. How to Be Lost was selected as a Target Bookmarked pick, and has been published in fifteen countries.
After one year in Maine and two years on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Amanda and her family returned to Austin, Texas.
To research her third novel, Forgive Me, Amanda traveled with her sister, Liza Ward Bennigson, to Cape Town, South Africa. Forgive Me was published in 2007.
Amanda's short story collection, Love Stories in This Town, was published in April, 2009.
Her fourth novel, Close Your Eyes, published in July, 2011, received a four-star reiew in People Magazine, won the Elle Lettres Readers' Prize for September, and inspired the Dallas Morning News to write, "With CLOSE YOUR EYES, Austin novelist Amanda Eyre Ward puts another jewel in her crown as the reigning doyenne of 'dark secrets' literary fiction."
Close Your Eyes was named in Kirkus' Best Books of 2011, and won the Elle Magazine Fiction Book of the Year. It was released in paperback in August, 2012.
Amanda's fifth novel, The Same Sky, was published on January 20, 2015. It was named one of the most anticipated books for 2015 by BookPeople and Book of the Week by People Magazine. Dallas Morning News writes, "Ward has written a novel that brilliantly attaches us to broader perspectives. It is a needed respite from the angry politics surrounding border issues that, instead of dividing us, connects us to our humanity."
The Same Sky was chosen as a Target Bookmarked pick.
Amanda's new novel, The Nearness of You, was published on Valentine's Day, 2017.
Amanda's new novel, THE JETSETTERS, was chosen by Reese's Book Club and Hello Sunshine and became a New York Times bestseller. Her novel THE LIFEGUARDS was published in 2022.
Ask me anything and stay tuned for news about LOVERS AND LIARS and TV and film projects based on Amanda's work!
Here is a very long bio: Amanda was born in New York City in 1972. Her family mved to Rye, New York when she was four. Amanda attended Kent School in Kent, CT, where she wrote for the Kent News.
Amanda majored in English and American Studies at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She studied fiction writing with Jim Shepard and spent her junior fall in coastal Kenya. She worked part-time at the Williamstown Public Library. After graduation, Amanda taught at Athens College in Greece for a year, and then moved to Missoula, Montana.
Amanda studied fiction writing at the University of Montana with Bill Kittredge, Dierdre McNamer, Debra Earling, and Kevin Canty, receiving her MFA. After traveling to Egypt, she took a job at the University of Montana Mansfield Library, working in Inter Library Loan.
In 1998, Amanda moved to Austin, Texas where she began working on Sleep Toward Heaven. Amanda finished Sleep Toward Heaven, which was published in 2003. Sleep Toward Heaven won the Violet Crown Book Award and was optioned for film by Sandra Bullock and Fox Searchlight. To promote Sleep Toward Heaven, Amanda, her baby, and her mother Mary-Anne Westley traveled to London and Paris.
Amanda moved to Waterville, Maine, where she wrote in an attic filled with books. Amanda’s second novel, How to Be Lost, was published in 2004. How to Be Lost was selected as a Target Bookmarked pick, and has been published in fifteen countries.
After one year in Maine and two years on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Amanda and her family returned to Austin, Texas.
To research her third novel, Forgive Me, Amanda traveled with her sister, Liza Ward Bennigson, to Cape Town, South Africa. Forgive Me was published in 2007.
Amanda's short story collection, Love Stories in This Town, was published in April, 2009.
Her fourth novel, Close Your Eyes, published in July, 2011, received a four-star reiew in People Magazine, won the Elle Lettres Readers' Prize for September, and inspired the Dallas Morning News to write, "With CLOSE YOUR EYES, Austin novelist Amanda Eyre Ward puts another jewel in her crown as the reigning doyenne of 'dark secrets' literary fiction."
Close Your Eyes was named in Kirkus' Best Books of 2011, and won the Elle Magazine Fiction Book of the Year. It was released in paperback in August, 2012.
Amanda's fifth novel, The Same Sky, was published on January 20, 2015. It was named one of the most anticipated books for 2015 by BookPeople and Book of the Week by People Magazine. Dallas Morning News writes, "Ward has written a novel that brilliantly attaches us to broader perspectives. It is a needed respite from the angry politics surrounding border issues that, instead of dividing us, connects us to our humanity."
The Same Sky was chosen as a Target Bookmarked pick.
Amanda's new novel, The Nearness of You, was published on Valentine's Day, 2017.
Amanda's new novel, THE JETSETTERS, was chosen by Reese's Book Club and Hello Sunshine and became a New York Times bestseller. Her novel THE LIFEGUARDS was published in 2022.
Ask me anything and stay tuned for news about LOVERS AND LIARS and TV and film projects based on Amanda's work!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 403 reviews
May 11, 2011
I thought this book was really stunning.
October 2, 2012
This was a decent idea destroyed by poor workmanship (and editing). (Warning: there are some spoilers here!)
Detail mistakes abound, and plot points slip in and out of importance. I couldn't get into the story because I was too distracted with all the problems. Where to start? The bookjacket says she was 6 when her mother died and the intro says that was 1986. First chapter is 2010 and she's 32... HUH? Basic math people.. Further along she states that she was 8 one year after the funeral... Not long after that she reads a police report stating she was 8 at the time of the murder. !!! HOW DO EDITORS MISS THIS STUFF???
The brother is an empty vessel - proven by his leaving the story (prompting her to pick up his sleuthing) and sort of coming back in at the end (but not really for the pinnacle moment). Much hay is made of her panic attacks and mental distress but Im not sure what the point of it is, except to prove that she's suffering long term effects of "that night".....
The Sylvia plotline had all kinds of problems.... We see LOTS of her childhood and NONE of the main characters.. why? The wierdest bit was her mother's funeral which occurred the same year as the murder but we aren't told if it was before or after (logic insists it be before, but there is no logic to this story). Her most important moments are COMPLETELY glossed over. She called the cops! That's HUGE and completely skipped. She drops a huge hint to the main character which goes unnoticed and unremarked...
And for the love of god, how can the editors have missed that the song that called Sylvia back to the beach house that fateful night in 1986 could not possibly have been Blues Traveler's "alone" which was released in 1996??!!
Bah. A decent idea, totally undone by poor execution.
Detail mistakes abound, and plot points slip in and out of importance. I couldn't get into the story because I was too distracted with all the problems. Where to start? The bookjacket says she was 6 when her mother died and the intro says that was 1986. First chapter is 2010 and she's 32... HUH? Basic math people.. Further along she states that she was 8 one year after the funeral... Not long after that she reads a police report stating she was 8 at the time of the murder. !!! HOW DO EDITORS MISS THIS STUFF???
The brother is an empty vessel - proven by his leaving the story (prompting her to pick up his sleuthing) and sort of coming back in at the end (but not really for the pinnacle moment). Much hay is made of her panic attacks and mental distress but Im not sure what the point of it is, except to prove that she's suffering long term effects of "that night".....
The Sylvia plotline had all kinds of problems.... We see LOTS of her childhood and NONE of the main characters.. why? The wierdest bit was her mother's funeral which occurred the same year as the murder but we aren't told if it was before or after (logic insists it be before, but there is no logic to this story). Her most important moments are COMPLETELY glossed over. She called the cops! That's HUGE and completely skipped. She drops a huge hint to the main character which goes unnoticed and unremarked...
And for the love of god, how can the editors have missed that the song that called Sylvia back to the beach house that fateful night in 1986 could not possibly have been Blues Traveler's "alone" which was released in 1996??!!
Bah. A decent idea, totally undone by poor execution.
September 3, 2023
I’ve had this book for ages, but just got around to reading it. What took me so long?
Told from the perspective of three women : Lauren, whose mother was killed when she was six, and whose brother Alex has disappeared in Iraq and who is having trouble committing to her boyfriend; Sylvia, a pregnant 42-year-old woman who is fleeing a boyfriend, to save her last chance at motherhood; and Mae, an older woman, and the mother of Sylvia‘s, best friend, Victoria, who lives with regrets about her daughters life.
All of these seemingly disparate characters are all interconnected in ways they could never imagine, and may never uncover. Lauren has never recovered from the loss of her mother, Sylvia has never recovered from her toxic relationship with Victoria and Mae has never fully dealt with her troubled daughter’s life, and what led to her self destruction.
Underlying everyone’s life Lauren, Alex, Sylvia, Mae, and Victoria is the question: what happened in the Mahdian home 24 years ago.
An absolute page turner and a definite recommend.
Told from the perspective of three women : Lauren, whose mother was killed when she was six, and whose brother Alex has disappeared in Iraq and who is having trouble committing to her boyfriend; Sylvia, a pregnant 42-year-old woman who is fleeing a boyfriend, to save her last chance at motherhood; and Mae, an older woman, and the mother of Sylvia‘s, best friend, Victoria, who lives with regrets about her daughters life.
All of these seemingly disparate characters are all interconnected in ways they could never imagine, and may never uncover. Lauren has never recovered from the loss of her mother, Sylvia has never recovered from her toxic relationship with Victoria and Mae has never fully dealt with her troubled daughter’s life, and what led to her self destruction.
Underlying everyone’s life Lauren, Alex, Sylvia, Mae, and Victoria is the question: what happened in the Mahdian home 24 years ago.
An absolute page turner and a definite recommend.
August 9, 2011
I had the pleasure of taking a master class with Amanda Eyre Ward, and so read her novels with the pleasure of some insight into the way in which she crafts them and a deep respect for the challenges that underlie giving birth to a novel. I found Close Your Eyes a solid read with moments of piercing insight, truth, and pain, and a compelling story that kept me turning pages long after I should have turned the light out and gone to bed. Without giving anything away, I agree with some of the other reviewers that a stronger editor's hand might have been beneficial in places, where the writing becomes a little too self-indulgent or the details a little too distracting, and that perhaps things tie up a little too neatly in the end. Sylvia was my favorite character and seemed more like a plot device in the end, given her absence in the epilogue. That said, this is a book about finding hope, humanity,and salvation, and on that sense, is true to itself and the ending earned; I especially loved the bats.
All in all, a very enjoyable read that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a good story, a bit of a murder mystery,and characters that linger after the book is closed. Bravo, Amanda!
All in all, a very enjoyable read that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a good story, a bit of a murder mystery,and characters that linger after the book is closed. Bravo, Amanda!
August 17, 2011
Amanda Eyre Ward is one of my favorite authors and one of the very, very few for whom I’ll read any book they write. I didn’t love this as much as some of her others but it is still beautifully written, intriguing, and, as always, the multi-narrative structure is executed perfectly. Although I have to say it bugged me that the kids’ ages on the jacket cover are different than what is actually in the story. Not the author’s fault of course! But when you're talking kids 10 and 8 is a lot different than 8 and 6.
Even though the story is heavy and some of the plot points extreme (father in jail for murdering mother), there is much to relate to here. What struck me the most is the undercurrent of that moment when childhood suddenly loses its magic, when you realize the world isn’t exactly as sunny as you thought. As someone with a sunny little life and sunny little daughters, this really affected me. Or, rather, it scared me. One line in particular produced instant waterworks: “Pay attention, she wanted to tell [her younger self]…Let her jump to you! Hold her, love her, look up. This is the best it will be.”
I do think the book could’ve been longer, but mostly because I wanted to spend more time with these characters, and not even just the main ones. I also wanted more of Gerry, Mr. Cheapskate. What a great foil to Lauren! Overall a great way to spend some time and this book proves what I already knew…with Amanda Eyre Ward you can’t go wrong.
Even though the story is heavy and some of the plot points extreme (father in jail for murdering mother), there is much to relate to here. What struck me the most is the undercurrent of that moment when childhood suddenly loses its magic, when you realize the world isn’t exactly as sunny as you thought. As someone with a sunny little life and sunny little daughters, this really affected me. Or, rather, it scared me. One line in particular produced instant waterworks: “Pay attention, she wanted to tell [her younger self]…Let her jump to you! Hold her, love her, look up. This is the best it will be.”
I do think the book could’ve been longer, but mostly because I wanted to spend more time with these characters, and not even just the main ones. I also wanted more of Gerry, Mr. Cheapskate. What a great foil to Lauren! Overall a great way to spend some time and this book proves what I already knew…with Amanda Eyre Ward you can’t go wrong.
October 7, 2011
This is the first book I have read by this author. Overall it was fine - a very quick read. There were parts that captivated me and I enjoyed, especially the brother/sister relationship and Alex's story. I also liked how the author made Gerry an understanding, empathatic boyfriend....very refreshing!!!
I was shocked to start reading "Book 2" where it picks up with new characters, but that twist did leave me wanting to know how the characters related. I enjoyed the different facets of this storyline; however, I thought the resolution was not complete. What about Sylvia???? What happens to her? Does she ever forge a relationship with Lauren. Things also didn't make sense to me. The father was engaged to someone in Egypt, so couldn't or wouldn't be be with Pauline. Yet, he doesn't go through with arranged wedding to be with Lauren's mom?? A bit more depth into the relationship of the former "adults" would have been better. The murder scene didn't ring true either.....a flashback to help clarify it would have been helpful.
Definitely will read another book by this author.
I was shocked to start reading "Book 2" where it picks up with new characters, but that twist did leave me wanting to know how the characters related. I enjoyed the different facets of this storyline; however, I thought the resolution was not complete. What about Sylvia???? What happens to her? Does she ever forge a relationship with Lauren. Things also didn't make sense to me. The father was engaged to someone in Egypt, so couldn't or wouldn't be be with Pauline. Yet, he doesn't go through with arranged wedding to be with Lauren's mom?? A bit more depth into the relationship of the former "adults" would have been better. The murder scene didn't ring true either.....a flashback to help clarify it would have been helpful.
Definitely will read another book by this author.
August 24, 2011
Ugh. I did not like this at all.
It was so short, it could almost qualify as a short story. While I have no problems with short stories, I do have a problem when I pay for something that is considered a novel, and is not. But, I am not even considering this in my review. That was just a bit of an annoyance.
The writing was juvenile. The conversations were very unnatural. If the author would have read these aloud, she probably would have noticed.
The scenes with the therapist were terribly unrealistic. I've had my fare share of experience with therapists, and this did not ring true at all. I know everyone's experience will be different, but no, not even remotely buying it.
I don't know if it's because I live in Austin, but the way the author used the city was just done so heavy-handedly. I still liked hearing about my local haunts, but you can get more creative than that.
Audiobook version comment - very mediocre narrators. But, then again, it was a mediocre book.
I feel like I could just ramble on with stuff I don't like, so I'm just going to stop now.
It was so short, it could almost qualify as a short story. While I have no problems with short stories, I do have a problem when I pay for something that is considered a novel, and is not. But, I am not even considering this in my review. That was just a bit of an annoyance.
The writing was juvenile. The conversations were very unnatural. If the author would have read these aloud, she probably would have noticed.
The scenes with the therapist were terribly unrealistic. I've had my fare share of experience with therapists, and this did not ring true at all. I know everyone's experience will be different, but no, not even remotely buying it.
I don't know if it's because I live in Austin, but the way the author used the city was just done so heavy-handedly. I still liked hearing about my local haunts, but you can get more creative than that.
Audiobook version comment - very mediocre narrators. But, then again, it was a mediocre book.
I feel like I could just ramble on with stuff I don't like, so I'm just going to stop now.
January 16, 2012
Lauren is a woman with Issues. She's earned them, no doubt, but still. Her father was convicted of murdering her mother when Lauren was six, leaving Lauren and her older brother Alex to be raised by their grandparents. As an adult, Lauren has all but blocked out memories of these events, though she has never doubted her father's guilt until Alex declares his own doubts shortly before leaving for a Doctors Without Borders assignment to Iraq. Around this time, Lauren begins experiencing panic attacks, terrified that Alex won't come home to her and haunted by the confusing re-emergence of new and cluttered memories of the circumstances surrounding her mother's death. When Alex goes missing, Lauren decides she needs to continue with his investigation into what really happened and begins to uncover family secrets she never imagined.
The writing is almost offensively bad. There isn't much exposition to shed light on Lauren as a character, and the exposition given is clumsy and forced -- most of it is revealed by Lauren telling it to either Alex or a therapist. I was also bothered by the incongruous nature of the narrative voice. Lauren tells her story from a first-person perspective, and she does so with quite a bit of clarity. At the same time, I was being told that she is a woman suffering from debilitating panic attacks. It really bothered me that I didn't see her emotional instability genuinely coming through in her voice. As someone who has suffered severe, sometimes crippling panic attacks, what I was reading felt inauthentic -- as though the author had simply skimmed the WebMD entry for panic attacks and regurgitated the information with little thought to how it would genuinely shape the character. The scenes with Lauren's therapist were terribly pedestrian, as someone who has both sat through therapy sessions to deal with anxiety and has studied how to conduct such sessions with others. I know that everyone's experience is different, but this seriously felt like it was written by someone who has never known anyone who has so much as spoken to a therapist. And, for the most part, the sessions didn't shed any light on Lauren's psyche at all. They mostly served the purpose of being able to say, "Look: this character has Issues. She has to see a therapist for them."
In the middle of Lauren's story we are introduced to a new set of characters, including Sylvia and Victoria. The second I met them, I knew where this story was headed and I wanted to give up the entire thing. This book could have told a poignant story, but it ultimately felt like a phoned-in effort that had been rushed through with no attempts to make it feel authentic.
The writing is almost offensively bad. There isn't much exposition to shed light on Lauren as a character, and the exposition given is clumsy and forced -- most of it is revealed by Lauren telling it to either Alex or a therapist. I was also bothered by the incongruous nature of the narrative voice. Lauren tells her story from a first-person perspective, and she does so with quite a bit of clarity. At the same time, I was being told that she is a woman suffering from debilitating panic attacks. It really bothered me that I didn't see her emotional instability genuinely coming through in her voice. As someone who has suffered severe, sometimes crippling panic attacks, what I was reading felt inauthentic -- as though the author had simply skimmed the WebMD entry for panic attacks and regurgitated the information with little thought to how it would genuinely shape the character. The scenes with Lauren's therapist were terribly pedestrian, as someone who has both sat through therapy sessions to deal with anxiety and has studied how to conduct such sessions with others. I know that everyone's experience is different, but this seriously felt like it was written by someone who has never known anyone who has so much as spoken to a therapist. And, for the most part, the sessions didn't shed any light on Lauren's psyche at all. They mostly served the purpose of being able to say, "Look: this character has Issues. She has to see a therapist for them."
In the middle of Lauren's story we are introduced to a new set of characters, including Sylvia and Victoria. The second I met them, I knew where this story was headed and I wanted to give up the entire thing. This book could have told a poignant story, but it ultimately felt like a phoned-in effort that had been rushed through with no attempts to make it feel authentic.
August 17, 2011
Lauren Mahdian and her brother, Alex have grown up haunted by the murder of their mother. Their father was convicted of the crime and has spent over 20 years in prison. Lauren is convinced of his guilt; Alex of his innocence. Lauren allows this truth to run her life, most significantly her relationship with her long-time boyfriend, Gerry. She's refused his numerous marriage proposals, seeing first-hand what "love" can do. When Alex surprises Lauren with the news that he is headed to Baghdad, Iraq with Doctors Without Borders, Lauren is crushed. Alex is her only family and her center. He tries to convince her of their father's innocence before he departs, but she wants none of it. She prefers to numb her pain with alcohol and Tylenol PM.
When Lauren receives devastating news, she subsequently uncovers some files regarding her mother's death. Ready to learn and truth once and for all, she embarks on a journey to uncover her family secrets, whatever they may be.
This is a multiple viewpoint novel. It is divided into separate "books" with Lauren, Sylvia, and Mae narrating. Who are Sylvia and Mae, you ask? They mysteriously appear in book two. I wasn't quite sure what was going on when Sylvia's narration started. Her story seemed entirely separate and disconnected from Lauren's. I was intrigued by her story, though, and I couldn't wait to see how it connected to Lauren's (because obviously it did in some way!). Sylvia tells us that she is pregnant and is secretly leaving her abusive boyfriend. She is heading to New York City in hopes of staying with an old friend, Victoria or Victoria's mother, Mae. Through flashbacks we glimpse the friendship between Sylvia and Victoria and how it has shaped the women they are in the present.
Ward has written a page-turner that will keep you glued to the text wondering what will happen next; how these two seemingly separate stories are connected. This is a mysterious story with lots of twists and turns and raw characters who leap off the page.
My only negative thought about this book is that I would have loved a bit more closure at the end of the novel. I kind of felt like Sylvia was left hanging and I wanted more of her story. I did think the last lines of the novel were beautiful and brought a tear to my eye.
Post taken from my blog.
When Lauren receives devastating news, she subsequently uncovers some files regarding her mother's death. Ready to learn and truth once and for all, she embarks on a journey to uncover her family secrets, whatever they may be.
This is a multiple viewpoint novel. It is divided into separate "books" with Lauren, Sylvia, and Mae narrating. Who are Sylvia and Mae, you ask? They mysteriously appear in book two. I wasn't quite sure what was going on when Sylvia's narration started. Her story seemed entirely separate and disconnected from Lauren's. I was intrigued by her story, though, and I couldn't wait to see how it connected to Lauren's (because obviously it did in some way!). Sylvia tells us that she is pregnant and is secretly leaving her abusive boyfriend. She is heading to New York City in hopes of staying with an old friend, Victoria or Victoria's mother, Mae. Through flashbacks we glimpse the friendship between Sylvia and Victoria and how it has shaped the women they are in the present.
Ward has written a page-turner that will keep you glued to the text wondering what will happen next; how these two seemingly separate stories are connected. This is a mysterious story with lots of twists and turns and raw characters who leap off the page.
My only negative thought about this book is that I would have loved a bit more closure at the end of the novel. I kind of felt like Sylvia was left hanging and I wanted more of her story. I did think the last lines of the novel were beautiful and brought a tear to my eye.
Post taken from my blog.
August 27, 2011
Close Your Eyes by Amanda Eyre Ward
If you love complex characters, vivid imagery, and dark, haunting secrets, Close Your Eyes will not disappoint. The book is Austin, Texas-based author Amanda Eyre Ward’s fifth. I’ve been a fan since her first novel, Sleep Toward Heaven, was released in 2003.
On her website, Ward shares that the idea behind Close Your Eyes began to form in 1989 after terror struck near her sleepy, idyllic hometown: a husband and wife had been stabbed to death in their own bedroom one New Year’s Eve. The crime went unsolved for nearly five years until a local teenage boy confessed to the killings. During his trial, he cited no concrete memories of the incident, blaming his actions on an alcoholic stupor.
In the author’s own words, “I thought about the murder from time to time, trying to understand how a stranger had broken the spell of Rye, smashed through the safety we had all thought money could buy … I wanted not only to understand what happened … but also to create a world where this wrong was righted, and a broken town was sewn back together.”
Close Your Eyes begins with a neighborhood celebration ruined by senseless tragedy. Six-year old Lauren and eight-year old Alex Mahdian wake up to discover their mother has been murdered; the brother and sister soon find out their father is the prime suspect.
When the children’s father is convicted of the murder, Lauren and Alex move in with their grandparents. Years later, Alex goes to Harvard and becomes a physician, while Lauren pursues a career as a real estate agent. When Alex volunteers for a Doctors without Borders assignment in Iraq, Lauren’s tenuous coping mechanisms splinter apart. While attempting to ignore her incarcerated father’s existence, she avoids commitment to her long-time boyfriend, and spirals into greater depths of anxiety, anger, and grief over her family’s tragedy.
Ward introduces two new characters, Sylvia and Victoria, in Part 2. Though it isn’t apparent at first, the girls are linked to Lauren and Alex’s lives in unimaginable ways. With deft expertise, Ward weaves the four lives together throughout the rest of the story, sewing together bits of connection with every chapter of this complicated, heart wrenching novel of loss and redemption.
For more on Amanda Eyre Ward, visit her website: www.amandaward.com.
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Random House (July 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345494482
If you love complex characters, vivid imagery, and dark, haunting secrets, Close Your Eyes will not disappoint. The book is Austin, Texas-based author Amanda Eyre Ward’s fifth. I’ve been a fan since her first novel, Sleep Toward Heaven, was released in 2003.
On her website, Ward shares that the idea behind Close Your Eyes began to form in 1989 after terror struck near her sleepy, idyllic hometown: a husband and wife had been stabbed to death in their own bedroom one New Year’s Eve. The crime went unsolved for nearly five years until a local teenage boy confessed to the killings. During his trial, he cited no concrete memories of the incident, blaming his actions on an alcoholic stupor.
In the author’s own words, “I thought about the murder from time to time, trying to understand how a stranger had broken the spell of Rye, smashed through the safety we had all thought money could buy … I wanted not only to understand what happened … but also to create a world where this wrong was righted, and a broken town was sewn back together.”
Close Your Eyes begins with a neighborhood celebration ruined by senseless tragedy. Six-year old Lauren and eight-year old Alex Mahdian wake up to discover their mother has been murdered; the brother and sister soon find out their father is the prime suspect.
When the children’s father is convicted of the murder, Lauren and Alex move in with their grandparents. Years later, Alex goes to Harvard and becomes a physician, while Lauren pursues a career as a real estate agent. When Alex volunteers for a Doctors without Borders assignment in Iraq, Lauren’s tenuous coping mechanisms splinter apart. While attempting to ignore her incarcerated father’s existence, she avoids commitment to her long-time boyfriend, and spirals into greater depths of anxiety, anger, and grief over her family’s tragedy.
Ward introduces two new characters, Sylvia and Victoria, in Part 2. Though it isn’t apparent at first, the girls are linked to Lauren and Alex’s lives in unimaginable ways. With deft expertise, Ward weaves the four lives together throughout the rest of the story, sewing together bits of connection with every chapter of this complicated, heart wrenching novel of loss and redemption.
For more on Amanda Eyre Ward, visit her website: www.amandaward.com.
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Random House (July 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345494482
October 25, 2011
I thought the story was fairly predictable, the writing was inelegant, and sometimes just wrong. At one point the author made up a word when there was another form of the word that was exactly the concept she was seeking. I wish I had made a note of it at the time, but it bothered me quite a bit. She wrote about places and characters (and the dog) without having introduced them, so I was left wondering if I had missed something. In addition, the narrator of the first part, Lauren, struggles with anxiety, and when she visits the police officer involved with the case, the interview from when she was a child notes similar symptoms of the anxiety, but the author never explores these, or makes any connection between them. The father comes from a wealthy family, and yet, without mention of being disowned, Lauren's mother is working to support their family while the father is a poet. I think that the author meant to convey that the father was one to follow his passions, vocationally as well as in love, but this wasn't effectively done, either. There were too many things like this - connections that could have been made, but weren't, jumps that the reader was expected to make without the required links from the author. It made for a disconcerting and disappointing book.
January 1, 2016
I hate to quit in the middle of books, but after a certain point, I couldn’t take it anymore. I honestly felt really misled because the back of the book was extremely different from what it actually was. The premise seemed so interesting and I loved the opening scene that laid out the moments leading up to the murder. However, things fell apart after the time jump to the present. Instead of Lauren searching for the truth about if her father was truly guilty, all that happened were pages and pages of Lauren doing absolutely nothing, Like, no joke, a third of the book was spent with her showing clients houses and going to therapy sessions where there was literally no progress. I wanted to read less about her husband making podcasts in their shed and a bit more of the murder mystery that I was promised. I almost would have rather had Alex be the main character because he seemed to be the only one making an effort to figure out what happened that night. It also probably doesn’t help that I couldn’t stand Lauren. I wanted to understand where she was coming from, but I just found her to be super whiney and immature, especially when it came to her relationship with her brother. I spent much of her point-of-view wanting her to grow up and start acting her age.
The narrator change really threw me off and I was wondering what on earth this had to do with the death of Lauren’s mother. I’m sure it all came together at the end, but as I was reading it, it just felt really irrelevant. I had no clue who Sylvia was and I didn’t really care to read through all these long ramblings about her childhood up until the age of 40. It was just really boring. I also thought that the writing style got noticeably cheesier. At times, I felt like the author was trying a bit too hard to seem thought provoking and deep. There was one flashback scene where Sylvia recounted how her friend Victoria had on an expensive perfume that smelled of flowers and cheese, which I thought was pretty damned weird. I didn’t get what that was about at all and it was just odd.
I was going to power through this because I’d made it fairly far in. However, after a while, it became painful to get through. The story was just so dull and I didn’t care for any of the characters. The biggest killer was that great synopsis that seemed to have been written for another book and not the horribly disappointing one it was slapped on. Ultimately, there are so many other books that I’m dying to read, so why should I waste my time on one I’m obviously not enjoying. I might read other people’s reviews for spoilers to the ending, but other than that, I’m perfectly fine with not reading a single page more.
The narrator change really threw me off and I was wondering what on earth this had to do with the death of Lauren’s mother. I’m sure it all came together at the end, but as I was reading it, it just felt really irrelevant. I had no clue who Sylvia was and I didn’t really care to read through all these long ramblings about her childhood up until the age of 40. It was just really boring. I also thought that the writing style got noticeably cheesier. At times, I felt like the author was trying a bit too hard to seem thought provoking and deep. There was one flashback scene where Sylvia recounted how her friend Victoria had on an expensive perfume that smelled of flowers and cheese, which I thought was pretty damned weird. I didn’t get what that was about at all and it was just odd.
I was going to power through this because I’d made it fairly far in. However, after a while, it became painful to get through. The story was just so dull and I didn’t care for any of the characters. The biggest killer was that great synopsis that seemed to have been written for another book and not the horribly disappointing one it was slapped on. Ultimately, there are so many other books that I’m dying to read, so why should I waste my time on one I’m obviously not enjoying. I might read other people’s reviews for spoilers to the ending, but other than that, I’m perfectly fine with not reading a single page more.
September 25, 2013
I have to admit to really struggling to the finish with this book. It started off with an interesting premise – it is 1986 and Lauren Mahdian and her elder brother Alex are sleeping in a tree house in the garden on the night their mother Jordan is murdered. Their Egyptian father, Izaan, is found guilty of the murder and sent to prison; the two children go to live with their maternal grandparents Merilee and Morton, whose behaviour did seem quite harsh and unfeeling and it’s probably no surprise that as an adult Lauren has issues to deal with. As soon as the funeral was over the grandmother told the children to stop grieving and move on.
The story then skips forward to 2010 when Lauren is 32 and living with her boyfriend Gerry. All her life Lauren has relied on her brother Alex for support in the absence of her parents. Alex has been training to be a doctor and is called to Iraq to take part in a medical assistance programme. When Lauren then gets a phone call regarding her beloved Alex, she goes into meltdown.
Over the years Lauren has buried her memories of the night when her mother was killed. Before he left for Iraq, Alex told her he had been in contact with their father, who he believes was innocent of the crime. Lauren has never contacted her father since his imprisonment and has always believed him to be guilty. However with Alex gone, she feels the need to revisit her memories and tries to find the truth about the events of that night.
I really didn’t engage with Lauren’s character at all. I found her constant panic attacks and propensity to run way whenever anything arose that she didn’t want to cope with irritating. Her long suffering boyfriend Gerry, needs a medal for his patience with her. Her sessions with her therapist were excruciating and to me lacked credibility.
Part way through the story two more characters Sylvia and Victoria are introduced which in some way have a link with Lauren. I found this part of the story and the way they were introduced very disruptive and at first I couldn’t see the relevance of their story.
All in all, I really didn’t enjoy this book and was very glad when I came to the end. All the way through, I kept hoping that the investment of my reading time would be rewarded but sadly it wasn't. Most of the characters were unappealing and it was a just a very average story with very little mystery and an ending that I felt was partly unresolved.
The story then skips forward to 2010 when Lauren is 32 and living with her boyfriend Gerry. All her life Lauren has relied on her brother Alex for support in the absence of her parents. Alex has been training to be a doctor and is called to Iraq to take part in a medical assistance programme. When Lauren then gets a phone call regarding her beloved Alex, she goes into meltdown.
Over the years Lauren has buried her memories of the night when her mother was killed. Before he left for Iraq, Alex told her he had been in contact with their father, who he believes was innocent of the crime. Lauren has never contacted her father since his imprisonment and has always believed him to be guilty. However with Alex gone, she feels the need to revisit her memories and tries to find the truth about the events of that night.
I really didn’t engage with Lauren’s character at all. I found her constant panic attacks and propensity to run way whenever anything arose that she didn’t want to cope with irritating. Her long suffering boyfriend Gerry, needs a medal for his patience with her. Her sessions with her therapist were excruciating and to me lacked credibility.
Part way through the story two more characters Sylvia and Victoria are introduced which in some way have a link with Lauren. I found this part of the story and the way they were introduced very disruptive and at first I couldn’t see the relevance of their story.
All in all, I really didn’t enjoy this book and was very glad when I came to the end. All the way through, I kept hoping that the investment of my reading time would be rewarded but sadly it wasn't. Most of the characters were unappealing and it was a just a very average story with very little mystery and an ending that I felt was partly unresolved.
November 19, 2011
Back in 1986, when Lauren was only six and her brother Alex was eight, their mother was murdered as the children slept outdoors in their tree house. Their father was arrested and subsequently convicted of the murder. The children were sent to live with their grandparents, but for the most part grew up in boarding schools.
Twenty-plus years later Lauren and Alex are grown, Alex is a doctor, and is in Iraq working with Doctors Without Boarders. Lauren is in real estate and lives with her boyfriend, believing marriage is not for her. Lauren and Alex have different views on whether their father could have really murdered their mother. Lauren, has never contacted her father, believing he was guilty. When Alex goes missing in Iraq, Lauren decides to spend time trying to find out what really happened on the night her mother was murdered. Her investigation leads her to a person who can provide the information about what really happened on that awful night when she and her brother were so very young.
I like the way this novel started out and it was really holding my interest, even though the two female readers were a poor choice, in my opinion for this particular story. Their voices, tone and expressions made them sound much younger than what was appropriate for this particular story. The second problem I had with this novel was that, very abruptly a character by name of Sylvia takes over. Sylvia is looking for her friend Victoria when she was a young girl. I listened and listened, and even ejected the cd to see it by chance the wrong cd was in the player.....nope, still the same book, but the story is not making much sense. I decided to keep listening anyways to see where this was all going, and eventually the events of the past come to light. Unfortunately, by the time it begins to make sense, I sort of lost my enthusiasm for the story. I have enjoyed this author in the past so I felt a little let down by this one. (2.5/5 stars)
Twenty-plus years later Lauren and Alex are grown, Alex is a doctor, and is in Iraq working with Doctors Without Boarders. Lauren is in real estate and lives with her boyfriend, believing marriage is not for her. Lauren and Alex have different views on whether their father could have really murdered their mother. Lauren, has never contacted her father, believing he was guilty. When Alex goes missing in Iraq, Lauren decides to spend time trying to find out what really happened on the night her mother was murdered. Her investigation leads her to a person who can provide the information about what really happened on that awful night when she and her brother were so very young.
I like the way this novel started out and it was really holding my interest, even though the two female readers were a poor choice, in my opinion for this particular story. Their voices, tone and expressions made them sound much younger than what was appropriate for this particular story. The second problem I had with this novel was that, very abruptly a character by name of Sylvia takes over. Sylvia is looking for her friend Victoria when she was a young girl. I listened and listened, and even ejected the cd to see it by chance the wrong cd was in the player.....nope, still the same book, but the story is not making much sense. I decided to keep listening anyways to see where this was all going, and eventually the events of the past come to light. Unfortunately, by the time it begins to make sense, I sort of lost my enthusiasm for the story. I have enjoyed this author in the past so I felt a little let down by this one. (2.5/5 stars)
March 9, 2011
Close Your Eyes is Amanda Eyre Ward’s fourth novel, following the critically acclaimed Forgive Me and How to be Lost. It weaves the stories of two women, Lauren and Sylvia, both struggling to cope in the modern USA.
Lauren takes the centre stage in what begins as the commentary of a family deconstructing. A well-written, believable but ultimately pitiable character, she clings to a nostalgic version of a childhood destroyed by the murder of her mother, and subsequent incarceration of her father.
(Excerpt from full review of Close Your Eyes at For Books' Sake)
Lauren takes the centre stage in what begins as the commentary of a family deconstructing. A well-written, believable but ultimately pitiable character, she clings to a nostalgic version of a childhood destroyed by the murder of her mother, and subsequent incarceration of her father.
(Excerpt from full review of Close Your Eyes at For Books' Sake)
September 6, 2011
This is really more of a novella than a book, which means at least you flip through it quickly!
It is completely obvious from the get go and the ending is too easy and clean. I am not sure that the writing or the story really offer much to readers.
Plus I really found Lauren-- one of the key characters to be poorly composed and whiny.
One element the author does well with is capturing a sense of place. I grew up in suburban CT, which is much like Holt. I loved the old time references to an 80's east coast childhood. But that's about all I have say.
It is completely obvious from the get go and the ending is too easy and clean. I am not sure that the writing or the story really offer much to readers.
Plus I really found Lauren-- one of the key characters to be poorly composed and whiny.
One element the author does well with is capturing a sense of place. I grew up in suburban CT, which is much like Holt. I loved the old time references to an 80's east coast childhood. But that's about all I have say.
December 9, 2011
Murder, mystery, and what the heck is going on? When I got half way thru this book, it introduced new characters that I am thinking did I miss something. It is brought all together and ends somewhat well. I was disspointed that Sylvia just dissappeared from it all when she needed family the most. I do have to say I think the book was cleverly written. Usage of the Fword which I don't think s needed.
October 1, 2015
This is a story of love, loss, choices, and the pursuit to not feel alone. There are many characters whose purpose won't be figured out until close to the end. This is also a mystery of whodunit and why. When I felt I had figured it out, I was given a big surprise. The writing is flows smoothly and is full of emotions. You will not always agree with the characters' choices, but that makes you feel they're real people with common problems.
August 7, 2011
I really enjoyed Close Your Eyes. When I put the book down, I could not wait to get back to it. There were comments about editing, but I was unphased. Not since Sleep Toward Heaven have I felt the tension in Ward's prose relating to family, faith, and truth. There was so much more I wanted to know about the characters and what happens to them after that last page!
February 19, 2016
I love this author and loved this book. I have read couple of her other books and she has become one of my favorites.
This story, as her others, pulled me into the life's of the main characters of Lauren and Sylvia. The author always gets into the head of her characters and their emotions.
I highly recommend her books if you want a short and intense read.
This story, as her others, pulled me into the life's of the main characters of Lauren and Sylvia. The author always gets into the head of her characters and their emotions.
I highly recommend her books if you want a short and intense read.
February 24, 2013
A nice read with a happy ending. Family secrets start to unfold, when a sister was thought to have lost her brother volunteering in Iraq. The nightmares she has thus suffered become resolved when the truth is revealed that her father indeed is not a killer and was wrongly convicted.
October 19, 2011
Her mother murdered, her father found guilty of the crime, Lauren holds on to the memory or that horrific night, her only anchor is her brother Alex. But while Lauren is sure of her father's guilt, Alex is intent upon proving his innocence. Well written.
July 30, 2011
I absolutely loved this novel. It's one part literary whodunit and one part poetic and moving contemplation of family, with a nice dose of hope thrown in at the end. Just really lovely!
August 2, 2011
I was really excited to read this because I won it in a book give away... but it felt like the writing could have used some more editing. I skimmed over lots of it just so I could get to the end.
October 1, 2011
The years after a crime create havoc in the lives affected, but in the end there is a chance for healing and real living. Nice story line and an interesting turn of events.
January 11, 2012
The first book I've really liked since Bristol palin's memoir broke me. I think my ability to read has been restored.
September 5, 2012
It was a good book and a fast read. Some parts were predictable but overall a good book.
September 10, 2016
read this in the pool when i wasnt sneezing (allergies bad today). fast read. at first i didnt like book but after awhile it made sense.
January 9, 2019
I checked this out of library as an “easy read” for a recent 10 hour plane trip. I had low expectations and they were met! Not quite met in spades, but definitely met.
It started out with an interesting murder, but went downhill from there. The writing was decent, but some of the characters and situations weren’t quite developed enough, e.g., Pauline, the Tiffany sales person, was pretty thin, as was Izaan (too lazy to look back at book to confirm if this is actually his name), the father of Lauren and Alex. Gerry the boyfriend’s love of Lauren didn’t make a ton of sense to me.
Probably the most annoying part of the book was Izaan. He is presented one way when he is Lauren and Alex’s father, but in his younger iteration he is totally different. Granted I might have missed something, but my memory is that no explanation was given about his changed money circumstances, his marrying of a non-Egyptian and his becoming a poet.
Not bad enough to be a 1 star, but I can’t quite classify as a good airplane book. The plot wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention for 10 hours with a plane full of (for who knows what reason) about 15 crying babies and toddlers.
It started out with an interesting murder, but went downhill from there. The writing was decent, but some of the characters and situations weren’t quite developed enough, e.g., Pauline, the Tiffany sales person, was pretty thin, as was Izaan (too lazy to look back at book to confirm if this is actually his name), the father of Lauren and Alex. Gerry the boyfriend’s love of Lauren didn’t make a ton of sense to me.
Probably the most annoying part of the book was Izaan. He is presented one way when he is Lauren and Alex’s father, but in his younger iteration he is totally different. Granted I might have missed something, but my memory is that no explanation was given about his changed money circumstances, his marrying of a non-Egyptian and his becoming a poet.
Not bad enough to be a 1 star, but I can’t quite classify as a good airplane book. The plot wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention for 10 hours with a plane full of (for who knows what reason) about 15 crying babies and toddlers.
October 12, 2011
Lauren has always been convinced that her father murdered her mother when she was 6 and her older brother Alex was 8. After a dinner party where she’d seen her father acting jealous of a present a friend had bought their mother, Alex and Lauren spent the night in their treehouse. When they went inside in the morning, their mother was dead, beaten with a glass bottle.
Their father was arrested and sent to jail and Lauren and Alex were sent to live with their distant grandparents and educated in boarding schools. Alex put himself through Harvard and became a doctor and although Lauren obtained a degree she soon after trained as a real estate agent. She lives with her partner who lost his job with Dell and now works as an online blogger Mr Cheapskate telling people how to save money and where to find bargains. The only bone of contention in their otherwise happy relationship is Lauren’s reluctance to ever marry, given the demonstration she saw of her parents marriage which ended in such tragedy.
When Alex, tells her he’s joining Doctors Without Borders and is being posted to Iraq, Lauren is devastated. She’s also angry when Alex tries to talk to her about their father, telling her that he’s been in contact with the police department that handled the investigation and with their father and that he thinks their father is innocent. When Alex disappears in Iraq, presumably the victim of a bombing, Lauren decides that she will continue his investigation even though she herself has always believed in the guilt of her father and she has never had contact with him since, destroying all the letters he ever sent her unread. Her mission takes her back to her hometown in remote New York where she visits the police officer who was in charge of the case and stumbles across a third party who holds the key to what really happened that night long ago.
We start off with Lauren’s narrative as we are introduced to her, her longtime boyfriend Gerry and her brother Alex and the background story is set up with the description of what happened on that night Lauren was six and Alex eight. It lays Lauren’s insecurities and issues bare for the reader and notes how she copes with alcohol and Tylenol PM (sometimes taking up to 5 tablets to sleep). Then abruptly the book switches narratives to someone named Sylvia and although the connection between her and Lauren is eventually disclosed (and this also happens later on with a third narrator named Mae), the change is still abrupt and jarring and kind of made me feel like I’d suddenly started reading an entirely different book in the middle of this one.
While the basic plot was interesting and kept me engaged the thing that frustrated me with this book was that for a couple of things, everything came together perfectly in the end, tied up in a neat little bow with no questions left over and with the best possible outcome for everybody. Then there were other parts of the plot, which had been laboriously introduced, where nothing was resolved at all and the reader was left wondering exactly what was going to happen to that particular character, would their relationship with other characters ever be discovered and explored, etc. It was quite frustrating because it seemed that so much effort was taken to resolve parts of the story and then others were just left hanging. And at 272 pages, it’s not like there wasn’t time to add in a couple of other scenes that would’ve really made a difference to the overall structure and completion of the book.
Bit of a mild **SPOILER** here.
I also felt like the resolution of the murder of Alex and Lauren’s mother was well, a bit lame. When so much time is invested in people believing that the believed-culprit didn’t do it, I expect a pretty awesome alternative, not something that feels like it was thrown together at the last minute by a character that barely registered a blip on the radar of the story. It was even made more horrible by the fact that at least one other person knew what had happened and one probably suspected but kept quiet and let an overindulged person get away scott free for 20 years. The scenes where Lauren sees a psychologist also seem incredibly unrealistic. I don’t have much experience with therapy but the sessions were weird – vague and short with no real attempt to find out why Lauren was there or what had affected her in her lifetime that led her to seek therapy. She states quite baldly “my father killed my mother” but then this is just kind of allowed slide and the therapist asks a few other questions that just seem really irrelevant before Lauren either ends the session or is told that the session is at end, despite it seemingly only taking about ten minutes. I’m not even sure what the point of including them in the book was. They didn’t serve to highlight Lauren’s mental state any more than the drinking or the pills.
End **SPOILER**
I think this was a book that just fell a little flat all around for me in the execution from the second part of the novel on. I really enjoyed the first part, which set the scene but as soon as the narrative switched, I lost focus and found that hard to regain. I didn’t -not enjoy- the second narrative but it was too short (as was the third) and they could’ve almost been books in themselves. It just felt rushed and a little choppy. Not what it could’ve been.
Their father was arrested and sent to jail and Lauren and Alex were sent to live with their distant grandparents and educated in boarding schools. Alex put himself through Harvard and became a doctor and although Lauren obtained a degree she soon after trained as a real estate agent. She lives with her partner who lost his job with Dell and now works as an online blogger Mr Cheapskate telling people how to save money and where to find bargains. The only bone of contention in their otherwise happy relationship is Lauren’s reluctance to ever marry, given the demonstration she saw of her parents marriage which ended in such tragedy.
When Alex, tells her he’s joining Doctors Without Borders and is being posted to Iraq, Lauren is devastated. She’s also angry when Alex tries to talk to her about their father, telling her that he’s been in contact with the police department that handled the investigation and with their father and that he thinks their father is innocent. When Alex disappears in Iraq, presumably the victim of a bombing, Lauren decides that she will continue his investigation even though she herself has always believed in the guilt of her father and she has never had contact with him since, destroying all the letters he ever sent her unread. Her mission takes her back to her hometown in remote New York where she visits the police officer who was in charge of the case and stumbles across a third party who holds the key to what really happened that night long ago.
We start off with Lauren’s narrative as we are introduced to her, her longtime boyfriend Gerry and her brother Alex and the background story is set up with the description of what happened on that night Lauren was six and Alex eight. It lays Lauren’s insecurities and issues bare for the reader and notes how she copes with alcohol and Tylenol PM (sometimes taking up to 5 tablets to sleep). Then abruptly the book switches narratives to someone named Sylvia and although the connection between her and Lauren is eventually disclosed (and this also happens later on with a third narrator named Mae), the change is still abrupt and jarring and kind of made me feel like I’d suddenly started reading an entirely different book in the middle of this one.
While the basic plot was interesting and kept me engaged the thing that frustrated me with this book was that for a couple of things, everything came together perfectly in the end, tied up in a neat little bow with no questions left over and with the best possible outcome for everybody. Then there were other parts of the plot, which had been laboriously introduced, where nothing was resolved at all and the reader was left wondering exactly what was going to happen to that particular character, would their relationship with other characters ever be discovered and explored, etc. It was quite frustrating because it seemed that so much effort was taken to resolve parts of the story and then others were just left hanging. And at 272 pages, it’s not like there wasn’t time to add in a couple of other scenes that would’ve really made a difference to the overall structure and completion of the book.
Bit of a mild **SPOILER** here.
I also felt like the resolution of the murder of Alex and Lauren’s mother was well, a bit lame. When so much time is invested in people believing that the believed-culprit didn’t do it, I expect a pretty awesome alternative, not something that feels like it was thrown together at the last minute by a character that barely registered a blip on the radar of the story. It was even made more horrible by the fact that at least one other person knew what had happened and one probably suspected but kept quiet and let an overindulged person get away scott free for 20 years. The scenes where Lauren sees a psychologist also seem incredibly unrealistic. I don’t have much experience with therapy but the sessions were weird – vague and short with no real attempt to find out why Lauren was there or what had affected her in her lifetime that led her to seek therapy. She states quite baldly “my father killed my mother” but then this is just kind of allowed slide and the therapist asks a few other questions that just seem really irrelevant before Lauren either ends the session or is told that the session is at end, despite it seemingly only taking about ten minutes. I’m not even sure what the point of including them in the book was. They didn’t serve to highlight Lauren’s mental state any more than the drinking or the pills.
End **SPOILER**
I think this was a book that just fell a little flat all around for me in the execution from the second part of the novel on. I really enjoyed the first part, which set the scene but as soon as the narrative switched, I lost focus and found that hard to regain. I didn’t -not enjoy- the second narrative but it was too short (as was the third) and they could’ve almost been books in themselves. It just felt rushed and a little choppy. Not what it could’ve been.
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