★ 05/27/2019
In the prologue of the pseudonymous Daniels’s harrowing debut, Constance Mortenson, a successful writer and happy wife and mother, meets and befriends Vanessa Jones, who has moved into her London neighborhood. Connie and Ness become fast friends and nearly inseparable, until things go horribly wrong between them. Flash forward six years. A bruised, burned, and unrecognizable Connie, who has been diagnosed with dissociative amnesia, is awaiting trial for heinous crimes that she seemingly doesn’t know she’s committed. Emma Robinson, a forensic psychiatrist, must gain Connie’s trust to determine whether the amnesia is feigned or real. Despite Emma’s reserve and professional detachment, the patient and doctor begin to bond, finding they have much in common. Emma is surprised by Connie’s warmth, charm, and wry humor, then jolted by her patient’s flashes of seething hatred and bottomless pain. Each chapter, alternatively narrated by Connie or Emma, reveals each woman’s darkest secrets and perceived sins. Daniels presents an unflinching, visceral look into the nature of love, fidelity, and betrayal. Agent: Matthew Hamilton, Aitken Alexander. (July)
