Close My Eyes by Sophie McKenzie

by:  Sophie McKenzie
published by:  St. Martin's Press
publish date:  July 9, 2013

When Geniver Loxley lost her daughter at birth eight years ago, her world stopped… and never fully started again. But then a stranger shows up on their doorstep, telling Gen the very thing she’s always wanted to hear: that her daughter Beth was not stillborn, but was taken away as a healthy infant and is still out there, somewhere, waiting to be found. It’s insane, unbelievable. But why would anyone make that up? A fissure suddenly opens up in Gen’s carefully reconstructed life, letting in a flood of unanswerable questions. 

Close My Eyes would have been a really good story but it was about 100 pages too long.  For about the first half of the book I was really into and keen to know what was happening and interested in everyone involved.  By the last third of the book I was skipping ahead, because it was getting so drawn out and the story getting more and more convoluted.

Geniver (kudos on the name, I did like that) is still not quite over the still birth of her daughter 8 years previously when a stranger shows up on her doorstep claiming that her daughter is still alive.  That her husband and doctor were complicit in her disappearance.  Geniver's husband Art denies everything, but deep down she feels like she can't trust him and continues to investigate on her own until she find more proof.

One of the interesting things about this book is that Geniver's husband is gaslighting her throughout the book.  If you aren't familiar with the term, it means to make people think they're crazy when they aren't.  Not only is her husband doing this, her best friend seems to be playing a part too.  Fortunately, Geniver is a little bit more strong minded than they think she is, because she sees through what they're doing.  This book was a really classic example of the ways that people manipulate others through the fear of being labeled "crazy".

So, did I like this book?  Yeah, it was ok, not one of my favorites.  There were too many red herrings.  I think it could have done with some better editing so that it would have been a little bit more condensed.