Close Your Eyes
A Novel
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
For most of her life, Lauren Mahdian has been certain of two things: that her mother is dead, and that her father is a murderer. Before the horrific tragedy, Lauren led a sheltered life on the banks of Long Island Sound, a haven of luxurious homes and seemingly perfect families. But one morning, eight-year-old Lauren and her older brother awoke to discover their mother’s body and their beloved father arrested for the murder.
Years later, Lauren is surrounded by uncertainty. Startling revelations force her to peek under the floorboards of her carefully constructed memories, put aside the version of history that she has clung to so fiercely, and search for the truth of what really happened that fateful night long ago.
BONUS: This edition includes a Close Your Eyes discussion guide.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A nearly transparent whodunit provides a less than ideal structure for an otherwise incisive story of loss and redemption. Lauren Mahdian has no interest in uncovering the details of her mother's murder 24 years ago, but her brother, Alex, is obsessed with exonerating their father, who has been convicted of the murder, and whom Lauren has cut out of her life. But when Alex, a physician with Doctors Without Borders, is feared dead after his hospital is bombed, Lauren feels compelled to carry on his investigation, disinterring memories of a night she'd long ago repressed, suffering panic attacks, and recoiling from her sweet if bumbling boyfriend. Elsewhere, Sylvia Hall is pregnant, with few prospects, and planning on getting help from her glamorous childhood friend, Victoria, with whom she shares a dark secret from many years ago that just may hold the key to Lauren's mother's death. Ward (Love Stories in This Town) excels at capturing vivid moments of warmth and kindness even amid a staggering accumulation of personal losses, and while the mystery plot is weak, the rest of the novel is marked by a bruised but generous spirit.
