To The Edge of Shadows by Joanne Graham
Sarah awakes from a coma to find her world destroyed, a long lost aunt her only remaining family, and life as she knows it irrevocably changed forever. Moving to a new town and a new school, making new friends is the least of her challenges as she struggles to regain her physical and mental health following the accident.
| To The Edge of Shadows by Joanne Graham | |
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| Category: General Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Page
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| Summary: Two girls, one with a past she can't remember, one with a past she can't forget. This is an intricate book with some very interesting characters. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 256 | Date: October 2014 |
| Publisher: Legend Press | |
| ISBN: 978-1910162842 | |
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Years pass, and a now teenage Sarah still lives with her aunt. Unlike her peers she has struggled to find an identity in the world, still yearning for the childhood memories she lost, the past she will never recall. When Ellie comes into her life, the contrast, however, is stark. She has had a hard upbringing and remembers only too well her own childhood and the pain that came with it. To her, Sarah appears the lucky one, not haunted by traumas of years gone by. But Sarah’s life is not all it seems, she has a history albeit one she cannot remember, and Ellie may hold the key to learning more about her past. Would she really rather know what she’s forgotten, good and bad, or is ignorance bliss? As it happens, that’s not a choice Sarah gets to make, with traumatic consequences.
This is a supremely intricate book in which nothing is as it seems, truths are false, and people are not who they appear to be. The writing style is quite literary and convoluted making an ability to pay attention to the intricacies of the story an important part of the reading experience. If you like books about complicated, often damaged characters, this provides a most intriguing read with elements of confusion and mystery mimicking the experiences of the characters.
This book is from Sarah’s point of view, and from Ellie’s, so it’s hard to know exactly what Leah thinks of the situation. It can’t be easy for her, suddenly being responsible for a child, especially when you’re not a parent already, and I did worry she might feel she wasn’t doing a very good job, even though many things were outside her control. I think that’s what I liked about this book – it wasn’t full of perfect (or perfectly damaged) characters. It was odd, unique, quite uncertain at times, muddled in places and very particular.
I’ve not read a story like it for a long time, and I’d like to thank the publishers for supplying this book. If you like psychological thrillers that really keep you guessing on what’s going on, you’ll get a kick out of this one. The ending was both surprising and satisfying.
Remember Me This Way by Sabine Durrant is another excellent read that keeps you guessing about who's who and what's what.
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You can read more book reviews or buy To The Edge of Shadows by Joanne Graham at Amazon.com.
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