Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone

Mirrorland. An imaginary place with surprisingly real dimensions. When Catriona and Ellice were kids, it was their secret world, the place they were safe and happy. And memory being the tricky imperfect thing that it is…to a great extent it remains that in their minds, or at least for one of them. The mirror twins, Cat and El, grew up to be undistinguishable in appearances and quite different in most other ways. So much so that familial ties weren’t enough to stay together and so for 12 years, since they were 19, the twins have been living separate lives on different continents, El stayed in gloomy Scotland, Cat went to sunny California. No contact, just memories and even those are wildly different from person to person. And then El disappears on her boat, presumed dead, a catalyst potent enough for Cat’s return, possibly even strong enough for return of some of those tucked away and misinterpreted by child’s mind memories. This entire time El has been married to the love of their (both twins) life and that marriage may not have been all that perfect, according to people who knew El. Plus isn’t it always the spouse in these sorts of stories? So there’s all sorts of suspense, mysterious notes and emails and a passionate love triangle reignited once again. Oh my, as George Takei would say. So there you have it, another of these ubiquitous female thrillers. What makes it different is the approach here, this is first and foremost a story of a profound psychological trauma and the way it echoes throughout someone’s life. Or at least, that’s what it was for me. Because if you choose to read it as a dark psychological drama with crime elements it may be more satisfying than just having another fairly predictable he said/she said thriller. The trauma here is very significant indeed, as the story progresses, the Mirrorland unravels secret after secret, each darker and more disturbing than the next. We’re talking extreme psychological and physical abuse, so be warned readers, this isn’t light in any way. This book being a debut, there are some things the author does nicer than others, the first person suspense is taut and terrific (and, smartly so, uninterrupted by alternating perspectives as so many genre entries do) and this also contributes to a more literary novel sort of thing going on. The Mirrorland is somewhat overwritten (yes, even despite its crucial significance to the story) and so is the do we trust him/do we not romance angle. The plot twist at the end is fairly obvious, though nice for those who invest the time in the story and emotions in its characters. The fact that two young children can go through such a great deal of abuse and emerge relatively functional seems to stretch credulity, but then again kids can be surprisingly resilient. So all in all a very decent entry into the ever expanding genre, darker than most, definitely well above average in quality. Not revolutionary in any way, but pretty good, especially for a debut. The book features a superlative opening quote from The Count of Monte Cristo about the power of imagination and the danger of superlative quotes from superior works is that the book sort of has that standard to live up to. Not a great set up for oneself, but the author’s ambition is to be admired. It is fascinating though from a purely psychological perspective how the mind works and adapts in extreme circumstances, the self defense mechanisms, the walls and armor build for specific purposes and their staying power. For those aspects alone this was a worthy read. But genre fans will also find plenty to enjoy within these pages.Pretty good with notable efforts at originality.. Thanks Netgalley