Darkly entertaining

 

 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ Clove seems to have the perfect life. A loving husband, two precious children, a gorgeous home. But she has many secrets, too, including her troubled past, her possibly deceased parents and her real name. We join Clove when her ability to keep this perfectly manufactured mask of happiness in place is slipping. Her world is upended and becomes frantic when she receives an unexpected letter and everything starts to go wrong. It's utter mayhem but feels, for the reader, like a calorific indulgence as we watch this hyper vigilant mother and health freak start to lose it.

Someone paying closer attention might see the direction of travel as this book unfolds but I missed it entirely being so absorbed in the gradual disintegration of the carefully manicured life Clove has built. Ms. Bieker made Clove's amped up tensions feel so real for the reader. Clove was in a tricky spot which was becoming more and more complex by the day. Perfectly illustrated anxiety binding tighter with each page.

Awful topics are explored in great detail, so be warned about domestic abuse, violence and coercive manipulation in Clove's past. Beyond that I found this slick, well balanced and compulsive reading.