My Name Was Eden

The book opens with a dramatic scene, in which a fretful mother (and as we discover, given her personal history, she has more than enough cause to fret) is wondering why her teenage daughter has not yet arrived home from school.

Lucy has a complex and conflicted relationship with her teenage daughter Eden. Things are made worse between them because Eden is very close to her father James, and the two of them often gang up to Lucy's detriment.

Although she longs to be closer to her 14-year-old daughter, Lucy is unsure of how to achieve this, given that Eden is rarely willing to engage with her mother. Yet after an unexplained near-drowning incident, when Eden undergoes a total personality change, it is suddenly her mother whom she turns to rather than her father.

The problem is, she also insists that she is no longer Eden, but Eli. Except, as a result of Vanishing Twin Syndrome - where the fetus of one twin disappears from the womb, sometimes assumed to have been absorbed by the other (and yes, this is a real thing) - Eli was never actually born.

Lucy never got over the unexplained loss of the male baby she was carrying, and her insistence on referring to Eli as a real person has been very damaging to her relationship with James over the years. Still, even Lucy never dreamed that Eli would come to life by supplanting Eden in her own body. If that is what has happened here. Is it?

I was worried at one point that this was going to be a supernatural story, because I do not like those. But although there are many creepy elements in this book, and some decidedly sinister events take place, it does not really go into the paranormal realm. Or at least, it does not have to, in order to be understood/explained.

There are some twists which are very interesting, but there was also one unexplained element which was somewhat annoying. I came up with my own explanation for the whole "Eden as Eli" aspect of things, but it would have been useful for the author to have provided a clearer explanation of her thinking on this.

Knowing that the story was inspired by Eleanor Barker-White's personal experience with Vanishing Twin Syndrome provided an added layer of texture to the reading experience, and felt decidedly unsettling. Overall, this is a well-written, compelling and insightful story - and, for a variety of reasons, is worth reading.

This is a great, gripping thriller. It is fast-paced and exciting at times. I was really impressed with the writing style and will look for more books by this author.

A fantastic debut that I couldn’t put down until I’d finished. I look forward to more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This is a GREAT read! The perfect mix of domestic and creepy. I genuinely didn’t want it to end! Eden is Lucy’s teenage daughter who nearly drowns but is resuscitated and wakes up claiming to be the twin brother who died in her mother’s womb. A very gripping psychological thriller.