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Summary
Summary
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.
Author Notes
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
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In British author Morgan's intriguing first novel, identical twins Ellie and Helen Sallis decide to swap roles after their father's death when they're four. When outgoing Helen, the narrator, tries to end the game soon afterward, socially awkward Ellie continues to pretend to be Helen, denying that she's Ellie. Despite Helen's fervent protests, the sisters' self-absorbed and unsupportive mother believes the new Helen, concluding that "Ellie" is lying to be difficult. As a consequence of the switch, "Helen" (the real Ellie) becomes popular and a good student, while "Ellie" (the real Helen) fulfills the low expectations of her mother and friends by acting out. Over time, the game begins to spiral out of control. "Helen" becomes a famous talk show host with a husband and daughter, while "Ellie" is barely functional. The reader must piece together what, if anything, is true about Helen's story as her family's secrets slowly surface. The arc of each girl's life and the game's tragic trajectory make for riveting and suspenseful reading. Agent: Caroline Hardman, Hardman & Swainson (U.K.). (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Identical twins Helen and Ellie have significant differences detectable by those who care to see. Helen is the favored one: pretty, obedient, smart; Ellie is dull, slow, shunned. After their father commits suicide and their mother remarries, mean-spirited Helen proposes a malicious prank: she and Ellie will swap personalities to get the adults' attention. Her gambit, however, works all too well, and when Ellie begins flourishing under all the adulation normally given her sister, she refused to switch back. As the girls grow up, the original Helen develops sociopathic tendencies, and the original Ellie blossoms into a poised and popular young woman. Totally estranged from her family, Helen teeters on the edges of society, while Ellie becomes a beloved TV celebrity. When a tragedy forces the sisters to confront and acknowledge their true selves, it may be too late to go back to the way things were. With ever-shifting points of view and evolving transitions in time and place, it will take careful reading to keep up with this intricate exploration of identity and family. This won't be a problem for fans of Gone Girl (2012) and a novel to which Beside Myself will inevitably be compared for good reasons, The Girl on the Train (2015). Morgan's stunning debut is a thrilling and thought-provoking psychological drama.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
How much of our identity is based on our name? Twin girls-Helen is smart and popular, Ellie is awkward and slow-decide to play a game and switch identities to see if they can trick people, but at the end of the day-Ellie refuses to switch back. This creepy tale of stolen identity will keep readers engaged as alternating chapters depict the sisters' youthful experiences to adulthood. One twin has a wonderful life of fame while the other battles mental illness. Helen's struggles as she tries to make people realize her true identity are heartbreaking, and her family's dysfunctional history is the shadowy underlying theme that permeates the novel. VERDICT Blogger Morgan (The World Between Two Covers) has written a solid psychological debut thriller that fans of S.J. Watson and Gillian Flynn will want to add to their to-read lists. [See Prepub Alert, 7/27/15.]-Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.