With alternating narratives between two very different women, I couldn’t imagine how their stories would in any way connect or even intersect.
Edie is an irritating, self-absorbed, promiscuous, and immature twenty-three year old English girl who is presently working at a Croatian holiday resort – without a work permit. Surprisingly, her twin sister Laura shows up at the resort. When Edie awakens the following morning, there is no sign of Laura…
Fatima, almost the same age as Edie, is a widowed woman trying to escape a war torn country with her three-year-old twin girls. Without any home, or any possessions, she is struggling to survive amidst her grief over losing her husband to the bombing. She joins forces with her brother-in-law and their respective children to find sanctuary away from their besieged and decimated country. Fatima’s terror, panic, and desperation were palpable.
Edie’s obsession with the odious Vuk, was hard to stomach, and I disliked hearing about their sex life, and his mistreatment of her. He was the epitome of an unscrupulous and misogynistic man.
Fatima’s plight was the only reason I kept reading. Though you see such people on the news so often that we somehow become immune to their suffering, this novel brought their immense and valiant struggles to the forefront of my mind in an authentic and heartbreaking way. It put a human face on the issue, and Fatima’s strength and resilience were admirable and impressive.
Despite my distaste of Edie, there was a point in the story when she redeemed herself and became a bit more mature. Once I learned more about her background, I began to understand her more.
“The Missing Twin” was an emotional read, making me think about the people behind the newspaper headlines and the tremendous struggles they face. With themes of people smuggling and rape, there were several scenes that were difficult to read.
In short, I loved Fatima’s story far more than I enjoyed Edie’s story. Don’t be put off at the beginning, if you persevere with this novel it gets much more compelling in the second half. The final chapters were very suspenseful and the final pages held an astounding plot twist.
This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from One More Chapter/HarperCollins UK via NetGalley. This title is from my extensive NetGalley backlist.
Publication date: August 18, 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins UK / One More Chapter
ISBN: 9780008271282 ASIN: B072TYXKLB – 400 pages
Alex Day is a writer, teacher, parent and dreamer who has been putting pen to paper to weave stories for as long as she can remember. The Missing Twin is her first psychological thriller but she is a bestselling author of fiction under the name Rose Alexander.
Inspired by a real pair of identical twin girls, The Missing Twin also draws on Alex’s experience of teaching newly arrived refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in a London comprehensive school.
Connect with Alex Day via her website; Twitter ; and/or Instagram.
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