A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcraft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.
But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity—that she, in fact, is Lydia—their world comes crashing down once again.
As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past—what really happened on that fateful day one of her daughters died?
Hardcover, 373 pages
Published January 29th 2015 by Harper Collins
ISBN 0007563035 (ISBN13: 9780007563036)
About the Author
My Thoughts
Our chairs are placed precisely two yards apart.Angus and Sarah were parents to twin girls, named the "Ice Twins" by their grandfather due to the fact that "they were born on the coldest, frostiest day of the year, with ice-blue eyes and snowy-blonde hair." While physically identical (even their own parents couldn't tell them apart), the girls had distinctive personality differences.
Kirstie was the firstborn, and she was the more buoyant twin, "the leader of mischief", and she loved fluffy and cuddly toys.
Lydia was the quieter second born and "more soulful twin" that loved reading and toy dragons, alligators and creepy reptilian monsters.
There was a tragic accident about a year before that left Lydia dead, her parents lost and despondent, and her sister twinless. Then one day surviving twin Kirstie announces that she is not Kirstie-- she is Lydia. Kirstie died that fateful day.
What is a mother to believe? Is her daughter just confused and perhaps suffering from some sort of PTSD? Could she really be her long-believed deceased twin?
Angus has just inherited an old lighthouse on a small island in Scotland, and the family is ready to make a new start of things. But Sarah continues to be plagued with doubts about who really died that day.
This novel was based on an interesting concept, and that was what grabbed me. However I was left feeling the concept wasn't that well executed and the story felt a little slow. I think that was just the nature of the story. It was suspenseful with a bit of paranormal thrown in, and simply wasn't an especially "exciting" story. And the longer it went on, the stranger it felt, the more "otherworldly" and odd. There were a couple of nice twists thrown in, but things felt a little jumbled. I had a hard time following along at times, some characters were thrown in briefly and then disappeared and felt incomplete (like the doctor).
I don't know. Great concept, but it fell a little short of the mark. I was left feeling a little "meh".
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Disclosure:
I received a copy of this book to review through Netgalley and the publisher, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel. The book that I received was an uncorrected proof, and quotes could differ from the final release.
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