This was one of those strangely compelling reads that unsettled from the off.
Tess is haunted by memories of her sister. She was the only witness to her sister’s death, but has no recollection of it. Tess is convinced the death was no accident, but has been trying to put events behind her. Unfortunately, her fear of the woods surrounding her old family home prevents her from visiting and it is not until her father calls desperate for help that she feels she can put it off no longer.
Details are slow to come by. Tess is shown to be struggling with her mental health from the outset, and we’re never quite sure what she recalls accurately and what is deliberately being concealed.
When she is given the news that her stepmother is close to death Tess knows she should visit. But her fear of what she remembers is a huge barrier. What we do know is her family is not a cohesive unit. She has had a problematic relationship with her stepbrothers for years, and her reluctance to look into what happened definitely makes us wonder what she’s hiding.
At its heart this was a story of complex relationships. There are numerous secrets and it’s only as we unravel them all that we can establish exactly what happened all those years ago when two girls went into the woods and only one came out.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for my thoughts, and I look forward to seeing what is made of this when it come out in January 2020.