Page 24 - Phonebox Magazine March 2016

Book Review
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both with the breakdown of a family isolated from modern society in self-imposed exile. It poses many questions, not all of which are answered.
plagued by depression and self doubt. Eva bucks this trend and is a well-de ned female writer and journalist, who is ambitious but kind and ultimately, more human than the men. All are believable, but you certainly know where your loyalty should be.
The author is a journalist by trade, and this shows in the writing and these details. She is interested in these people and what is happening to them and what could have happened to them, this then keeps the reader involved even as the three different streams become occasionally tangled together. This would be my main problem with the novel, that the different plots can become very confused and the characters of the children from the various relationships are not quite as well drawn as the adults, it’s hard to remember which is which.
This is an interesting idea for a novel; it is already being made into a TV series, which is a well executed, well written and engaging read. The Author sites ‘The Time Travellers Wife’ as an in uence on her writing this novel and that is plain to see, I adored the Audrey Niffnegger book, but this hasn’t made the same impression on me. I did enjoy it, but the characters weren’t quite as engaging as the Time Traveller. As long as you can keep all the different relationships clear in your imagination, you will enjoy this book.
Thelma Shacklady
The Ice Twins by S.K.Tremayne
When the twins, Kirstie and Lydia, were born they were absolutely identical, the kind of brilliant ‘idents’
which made nurses from other wards cross long corridors, just to look at them. Since it was impossible to tell them apart, a nurse advised their parents to have one twin tattooed in a discreet place, so that no mistake could be made. As a compromise, they were differentiated by having coloured nail varnish painted on to one of their ngernails, yellow for Lydia, blue for Kirstie.
For a few years they were the ideal family, but then tragedy struck; Lydia fell from a balcony and died. Grief stricken, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft prepare to move with their remaining daughter to a run- down cottage, left to them by Angus’s
Debbie Taylor
The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
Ever wondered ‘What if?’, then this could be the novel for you. This debut novel takes this idea and runs with it, starting with one short
meeting between the two main characters to begin the book and then taking the story in three different directions to explore what could have happened given different choices. Eva and Jim meet brie y in Cambridge in 1958, when Eva falls off her bicycle on her way to a seminar whilst studying English at University. The rest of the book follows three main strands, showing their lives if Eva married Jim, if Eva married her Ex, David Katz or if Eva married someone else completely.
These stories are carried through to their full conclusion, following these two characters until they are both over 70. It’s really dif cult to say what happens in the stories without giving away too much of the plot and surprises along the way. All three threads come together at important milestones that happen in everyone’s lives, family birthdays, weddings and funerals, but the writing has pace and the key characters are well written 24 Phonebox Magazine | March 2016
grandmother, on a remote Scottish island. They hope to restructure their lives as they renovate their new home, but Sarah is appalled when, in response to the news about their impending move that daughter asks,
‘Why do you keep calling me Kirstie, Mummy? Kirstie is dead. It was Kirstie that died. I’m Lydia.’
Was this an expression of Kirstie’s grief at the loss of her twin, or had a dreadful mistake been made? Which twin had died, and which was still alive? And exactly how did the accident occur?
This is just one of the questions posed in this complex psychological thriller, set against the background of a wild, unspoiled Hebridean island. The surface perfection of the ideal family, already fractured by tragedy, is completely destroyed, revealing deceit and betrayal. Nothing is at it seems.
This is a fascinating, well-written story, which interweaves Hebridean folklore with the night terrors of a young girl and combines
and the reader becomes engrossed with them. Each plotline has elements from the history of the time, which brings the story alive with the feelings and news of the day. Adding in snippets of music that you relate to that particular time is a great touch.
The male characters in these stories seem to be painted with pretty broad strokes, David is the self con dent actor who becomes more super cial as the narrative goes along, Jim is the anguished artist, lacking in con dence,