cover image In Her Wake

In Her Wake

Amanda Jennings. Orenda (IPG, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-910633-29-8

Bella Campbell, the narrator of this unsettling psychological thriller from British author Jennings (The Judas Scar), discovers after her mother’s death and her father’s subsequent suicide that they weren’t her real parents, that she was kidnapped as a child from another family to replace the dead daughter so beloved by her crazed “mother.” For Bella, perhaps this explains all the troubling dreams that might, in fact, have been memories. Bella sets out from London for St. Ives in Cornwall, the home of her birth mother, according to her father’s suicide note, in search of answers. Shocked and fearful, Bella slowly explores her past, which turns out to be much more troubled than her early fantasies. In this story of rebirth, Bella moves slowly beyond victimhood. Unfortunately, the pace is rather slow, as she needs time to agonize over and analyze each decision, to put each puzzle piece in its correct place. [em]Agent: Broo Doherty, DHH Literary Agency (U.K.). (Sept.) [/em]