Beside Myself
Jan 2016 · Bloomsbury Publishing
4.5star
25 reviewsreport
eBook
336
Pages
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About this eBook
As gripping as Room, as powerful as Elizabeth is Missing, Beside Myself is the story of twin sisters, a childhood game with devastating consequences and the slippery nature of identity
Helen and Ellie are identical twins – like two peas in a pod, everyone says.
The girls know this isn't true, though: Helen is the leader and Ellie the follower.
Until they decide to swap places: just for fun, and just for one day.
But Ellie refuses to swap back...
And so begins a nightmare from which Helen cannot wake up. Her toys, her clothes, her friends, her glowing record at school, the favour of her mother and the future she had dreamed of are all gone to a sister who blossoms in the approval that used to belong to Helen. And as the years pass, she loses not only her memory of that day but also herself – until eventually only 'Smudge' is left.
Twenty-five years later, Smudge receives a call from out of the blue. It threatens to pull her back into her sister's dangerous orbit, but if this is her only chance to face the past, how can she resist?
Beside Myself is a compulsive and darkly brilliant psychological drama about family and identity – what makes us who we are and how very fragile it can be.
Helen and Ellie are identical twins – like two peas in a pod, everyone says.
The girls know this isn't true, though: Helen is the leader and Ellie the follower.
Until they decide to swap places: just for fun, and just for one day.
But Ellie refuses to swap back...
And so begins a nightmare from which Helen cannot wake up. Her toys, her clothes, her friends, her glowing record at school, the favour of her mother and the future she had dreamed of are all gone to a sister who blossoms in the approval that used to belong to Helen. And as the years pass, she loses not only her memory of that day but also herself – until eventually only 'Smudge' is left.
Twenty-five years later, Smudge receives a call from out of the blue. It threatens to pull her back into her sister's dangerous orbit, but if this is her only chance to face the past, how can she resist?
Beside Myself is a compulsive and darkly brilliant psychological drama about family and identity – what makes us who we are and how very fragile it can be.
Ratings and reviews
4.5
25 reviews
Lynsey B
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13 March 2016
I literally lost sleep over this book, I couldn't stop reading it. It's very moving, and parts of it resonated so deeply that was in tears. The author did a rare thing - she wrote about a character with a mental illness, without writing clunky, clichéd prose about how terrible MI is, and how awful it is to have a mental health condition. It was handled deftly, sincerely, and often with humour. I would definitely recommend it.
1 person found this review helpful
Bonnie Lawson-Brown
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13 March 2016
Fantastic story the plot doesn't sound 'feasible' at first, but you become engrossed in the characters. Swept away by the authors skillful descriptives very fast!
1 person found this review helpful
catherine alton
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9 April 2016
Intricate and moving book. Couldn't put it down. Great first book by author
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Ann Morgan is a freelance writer and editor based in London. Ann's writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Financial Times and the New Internationalist. She has sub-edited for publications including Tatler and Vanity Fair. Following the success of her project to read a book from every country in 2012, Ann continues to blog about international literature at ayearofreadingtheworld.com. Her first book,Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer, was published to great critical acclaim in 2015. Ann Morgan drew on her experiences as a Samaritans volunteer for her powerful portrayal of psychological stress in Beside Myself, which is her first novel.
annmorgan.me
@A_B_Morgan | #BesideMyself
annmorgan.me
@A_B_Morgan | #BesideMyself
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