YvonneMy featured book this week, comes courtesy of Philippa Cotton of Bloomsbury Press and the folks at Netgalley, who provided the complimentary download, on their behalf.
I love a good psychological thriller and this one sounds just so intriguing!
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BESIDE MYSELF
Beside Myself is a literary thriller about identical twins, Ellie and Helen, who swap places aged six. At first it is just a game, but then Ellie refuses to swap back. Forced into her new identity, Helen develops a host of behavioural problems, delinquency and chronic instability.
With their lives diverging sharply, one twin headed for stardom and the other locked in a spiral of addiction and mental illness, how will the deception ever be uncovered?
Exploring questions of identity, selfhood, and how other people’s expectations affect human behaviour, this novel is as gripping as it is psychologically complex.
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ANN MORGAN
Ann graduated from Cambridge University with a first-class degree in English literature and went on to do a master’s in creative writing at UEA. She has also trained in sub-editing at the London College of Communication and earned a postgraduate diploma with distinction from the London School of Journalism.
Following a few years of strange and rather varied jobs, these days, Ann is a freelance writer and editor, available for copywriting, journalism commissions, speaking engagements and sub-editing shifts.
Her non-fiction book “Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer”, inspired by her year-long journey through a book from every country, was published in 2015.
“Beside Myself” is her debut fiction book and is due for release in January 2016
When not writing, Ann can often be found performing with some of London’s top professional choirs. Singing has taken her to such far-flung destinations as the Red Sea, the Arctic Circle, India, and Texas, as well many places in between.
Catch up with Anne Morgan, writer and editor, on her website
Check out Ann’s reading adventures that inspired “Reading The World”, here
Follow Ann on Twitter
Like Ann’s page on Facebook
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…Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week. Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
Mailbox Monday now has a permanent home, where links may be added each week. So why not stop by, leave a link to your own Mailbox Monday post, oh! and don’t forget to leave a comment for our three new joint administrators, after all, we all like to receive them … ‘Mailbox Monday’
Leslie of ‘Under My Apple Tree’
Serena of ‘Savvy Verse & Wit’
Vicki of ‘I’d Rather Be At The Beach’
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
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I’ve always been fascinated by twins so the premise of that book sounds fascinating to me. I bet it’s a page turner!
Hi Kathy,
It is very uncanny how twins can often act as one and each knows what the other is thinking or feeling, although one is generally more dominant and forceful than the other.
It definitely sounds as though Ellie is not only the more dominant twin, but that she also possibly has a wicked malicious streak. I wonder if Helen is going to discover new found strengths to overcome Ellie’s domination?
This is going to be an intriguing read, I’m certain of that 🙂
Ooh! Identical twins, the development of behavioural problems and delinquency – you need say no more, this sounds like my kind of read.
Hi Tracy,
I always assumed that even though twins might be identical, their parents and family could always tell them apart.
Surely alarm bells would have started ringing when their personalities became so completely opposing?
So many questions, twists and turns. I’m sure this one is going to be a real page-turner and deifinitely one I think you might enjoy as well 🙂
I’m with Kathy and Tracy… this sounds totally fascinating! I always thought it would be great fun to be a twin, especially identical.
I made one impulse buy on my Kindle this week from an author whose books have entertained me in the past. “Pokergeist” by Michael Phillip Cash. Not my usual kind of book, but I saw it on another blog and the comments intrigued me enough to invest 99 cents. 😉
Hi Kelly,
Being an identical twin might have its upside, especially when it comes to playing tricks on unsuspecting friends and relatives. However, it isn’t a situation I would have been too impressed with as a child – a bit too much competition, when I always enjoyed being the best at everything and expected my younger brother to follow on in my shadow!
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“Pokergeist” definitely isn’t one I shall be adding to my list any time soon, Michael Phillip Cash just isn’t on the same wave length as me!
I was actually really surprised at just how good the ratings and reviews were for not only this, but all of his books, so I can see that it would have been recommended on quite a few blogs.
If you do enjoy “Pokergeist”, whilst I was browsing for more information about the author, I came across another of his books which comes even more highly recommended and sounds far more quirky … “Monsterland”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26835271-monsterland?from_search=true&search_version=service
I look forward to reading your thoughts and thanks for sharing 🙂
I’ve only read three of his books/novellas and my favorite was the one about the cicada invasion, mainly because I could relate! They’re not exactly “great literature”, but fun in their own way. I was drawn to Pokergeist because of the Las Vegas connection. If I enjoy it, I’ll keep Monsterland in mind. That’s for the heads up. 🙂
Should have read “Thanks”, not that’s. 😉
No matter how careful I am when typing a post or comment, I never fail to be amazed at the amount of mistakes I have made when I read it back. Sometimes I hit the ‘send’ button before I spot the error – Ooops! too late then 🙂
I guess I homed in on ‘Monsterland’ because of all the time we spent in Disney theme parks, although I certainly wouldn’t fancy a park full of zombies and the like!
Being a twin, but not identical, this really sounds good. I’m wondering though, you’d think Helen would have told her parents about the swap or told them she was Helen.
Hi Vicki,
I was harbouring pretty much the same thoughts as yourself, I have to admit.
I know that twins generally tend to look out for each other, however given the treatment Helen would have endured at Ellie’s hands, I can’t think why she wouldn’t have spoken out to their parents at least. Unless of course, Helen’s change in personality, was that instant and total, that the ‘real’ Helen just didn’t have the chance!
Having a twin sibling yourself, I should be interested to see what you think about the authenticity of the storyline and the characters, if you get the chance to read ‘Beside Myself’ 🙂
That sounds like an intense read! I’ll have to keep my eye out for this one. Enjoy!
Hi Lucy,
Intense and very disturbing, especially as the sisters exchange identities at the age of 6!
If you have a NetGalley account, it is still available for request there 🙂
Sounds just the kind of thing I would like. Thanks for sharing this, it sounds really intriguing.
Hi Barbara,
Reading this one would be a little like a ‘busman’s holiday’ for you surely 🙂
I would be worried that sub-concsiously, I would store away some of the plot details and later find myself writing them down as my own thoughts!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it 🙂
This one sounds great! I’m always intrigued by a psychological thriller, the darker the better.
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for choosing this as one of your two feature books for Mailbox Monday this week.
As there are so many new books featured each week, ‘Beside Myself’ must have really caught your eye, which is good to know.
You just can’t beat a good psychological thriller and I like that you managed to find a slightly different synopsis to the one I presented, which helped to complete the picture even more 🙂
Thanks for continuing to keep MM alive and well 🙂