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?
Although slightly predictable, The Ice Twins was
written in such a captivating style that it is worth reading if just for that.
There is such tension in the writing which increases slowly, chapter by
chapter, until the reader is completely spooked as well as engrossed in the
story. It is a novel that is hard to put down once you start.
The characters are all my favorite type: unreliable.
Nothing they say can really be taken as the truth, which makes for exciting
reading. None of them are very likeable, not even the children in the story,
but they are definitely fascinating to read about. The setting, too, is almost
another character. Because of this the novel has a distinctive Gothic feel to
it, with an isolated island which blocks all communication with the mainland
when the tide rises, and with mudflats that threaten the characters’ lives
again and again.
If you are looking for a way to spend a few hours
deliciously entertained and even frightened, then this novel is one I certainly
recommend.
Posts
