Back of the book :
I AM KIRSTIE. I AM LYDIA.
I LIVED. I DIED.
OR DID I ?
After one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to a remote Scottish Island, hoping to mend their shattered lives. But when their surviving child, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity – that she, in fact, is Lydia – their world comes crashing back down.
They know one of their daughters died.
But can they be sure which one ?
What I think :
Sarah and Angus had identical twin girls, Lydia and Kirstie. when Lydia dies in a tragic accident, eighteen months before only seven year old Kirstie is left. Both Angus and Sarah take it very badly, Sarah has a breakdown and Angus turns to drink and loses his job as an architect. So when Angus’s Grandmother’s inheritance of a remote, rundown cottage in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland comes up they decide to leave London behind for a ‘fresh Start’.
Before they move to Scotland, Sarah is putting Kirstie to bed one night when Kirstie calmly says to her Mother ‘why do you keep calling me Kirstie, Mummy ? Kirstie is dead. It was Kirstie that died. I’m Lydia’
What really happened on that awful night of the accident that Lydia/Kirstie died ? which child really died, did her parents make an horrible mistake … ?
I must admit I put off reading this book because it’s had mixed reviews, but after a blogger friend of mine had said she’d read it I thought I’d give it a go. If I’m honest I’m not sure if I liked it or not, it takes a while to get into and it is quite confusing in places. I’m not really sure if a parent wouldn’t really know which child is which, dead or alive, identical or not, I mean come on if a parent doesn’t know their children who will ?
The remaining child is quite a little madam and quite strange, All she seems to do is throw tantrums at every opportunity and then the next minute slope of to her bedroom to ‘read’. And why wait for over a year for her to say that she’s not who they think she is ? Sarah and Angus’ relationship seems to be falling apart at the seams, so I couldn’t really understand why they felt the need to move a damaged 7 year old child hundreds of miles away from family and friends just to get a fresh start.
This book has many twists and turns and like I said earlier, it is quite confusing in places. Its told from both Sarah and Angus’ perspectives, I did like the little photos at the start of some of the chapters though, it gave you a proper insight of what it was really like on that lonely island. It’s quite spooky in places and it did make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at one point.
When you find out what is really going on with Kirstie/Lydia it is, I think, quite predictable. I did guess quite early on what happened. I also think the ‘Twist’ at the end is quite tame after all of the build up, I also think that the author could have given it a slightly different ending more fitting for this slightly ‘supernatural’ novel .
I give this book 7/10.
Published on 03/09/15 by Harper Collins.
I purchased my copy from Tesco £3:75.
Candys BookCase 