- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Corvus; Main edition (2 July 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1838951083
- ISBN-13: 978-1838951085
Synopsis
When Arden Maynor was six years old, she was swept away in a terrifying storm and went missing for days. Against all odds, she was found alive, clinging to a storm drain. Fame followed, and so did fans, creeps and stalkers. As soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and left Widow Hills behind.
Twenty years later, Olivia, as she is now known, is plagued by night terrors. She often finds herself out of bed in the middle of the night, sometimes streets away from her home. Then one evening she jolts awake in her yard, with the corpse of a man at her feet.
The girl from Widow Hills is about to become the centre of the story, once again…
Review
The Girl From Widow Hills is a unnearving psychological thriller split between two time lines. Arden Meyer was washed away in a storm aged six after sleepwalking outside her house. Missing for three days, the story made the national news, and her rescue was seen as a miracle, putting her and her mother centre of attention. Twenty years later, still trying to escape the limelight, and lead a normal life, Arden has changed her name to Olivia Meyer and moved to the small town of Central Valley pretty much in the middle of nowhere where no one knows who she really is. But can you really out run your past, and as the twentieth anniversary of her dissapearace looms, she finds someone from her past has come looking for her. When she begins sleepwalking again she finds herself standing over the body of a man, putting her anonymity in danger, and she is left wandering if she is capable of murder.
The main part of the book is narrated by Olivia, but there are also chapters of interviews, broadcasts and 911 calls from 2000 when Olivia, then Arden went missing. This inclusion brought to the fore just how many resources nation wide were brought in to help find Arden, and how people became invested in her story. In the present, Olivia has spent the last ten years running from that fame. She and her mother had to move from Widow Hills to escape the attention and the nasty and threatening letters that also came with the fame; people wanting to know what happened to the money they were sent and that her mother was paid for her book, the disbelief in her story and her lack of memory. Olivia has spent her life running, looking over her shoulder to see if a reporter was following her and always frightened people might find out who she really is. It is no surprise that at twenty six she has a very small circle of friends; Rick, her neighbour who keeps an eye out for her, and Elyse and Bennett at her work at the local hospital. She has been estranged from her mother for quite a while when she is told she has died, and Olivia receives a box of a few of her mother’s things. This is the catalyst for her sleepwalking beginning again, and finding herself standing over the body of a man from her past with no recollection of how she got there.
Olivia’s first person narrative makes this a more personable book to read. As the book progresses I could feel her tension rise, the fear that she may have killed the man, and the paranoia that she was being watched. After her friend goes missing as well, unnerving her even more, Olivia doesn’t know who to trust, maybe not even herself, or her past. I hadn’t really thought about the dark side of fame before, especially unsolicited fame. The accusations levelled at them were horrible, people seemed to think they owned a part of them and as such Olivia and her mother were accountable to them, its not suprising Olivia suffered from PTSD and wanted to be anonymous.
Megan Miranda covers some very dark issues in this book including murder, suicide, stalking, drug addiction and manipulation which when uncovered seems to add more questions than answers to Olivia’s story. The plot races along, with red herrings, and so many twists and turns it left me reeling and unable to put the book down; this was anooher book I just read in a day. The writing grabs from the first paragraph, because lets be honest, the story of a child going missing and then being found after hope was running out fascinates us all. It is intersting that Olivia’s story has always drawn the public’s attention, and it is also this backstory that drew me to her as a reader, I wanted a happy outcome for her after all she had been through. The sleepwalking idea adds to the tension and uncertainity in this book, Olivia has no recollection of how she came to be outside or what she has done, and has to ask herself could she be the murderer. Memory, or lack of it play a big part in Olivia’s story in both past and present.
The Girl From Widow Hills is a haunting and atmospheric psychological thriller. Megan Miranda takes a unique look at the missing child scenario, the darker side of being thrown into the public eye and it’s effects on those who were caught up in it. The paranoia, lack of memory and sleepwalking give a disturbing and chilling feel to this well plotted and intelligent thriller that has a touch of Hitchcock about it (it would make a brilliant film). Another brilliant thriller to add to your bookshelves.
I’d like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Corvus Books for my invitation to this blog tour,
