by Amanda Eyre Ward! 
Close Your Eyes: A Novel
by Amanda Eyre WardThe blurb:
If Laura Mahdian can be sure of one thing, it is that when she was eight-years-old, her father murdered her mother in their family home. Now an adult with a career, a home, and a boyfriend, Lauren still clings to this truth, using it as a compass to guide her life. She refuses Gerry's please to marry her as she's seen what love can do, and she wills herself to stay detached form all that surrounds her as she knows how quickly things can be torn painfully away.
When Lauren's brother, Alexander, announces that he will be moving overseas with Doctors Without Borders, she is crushed -- Alex is the only person with whom she feels safe. Before he leaves, Alex attempts one last time to share his belief in their father's innocence. Although Lauren at first refuses to listen to his arguments, she begins to wonder if his theories have any grounds. What follows is a story of long-harbored lies and twisted decisions, as Lauren finally decides to go in search of the truth about what happened that night so many years ago.
Review:
Close Your Eyes is unusual literary fiction of family drama and old fashioned suspense. We sympathize and follow Lauren as she tries to make sense of her painful family history and carry on a regular life. Lauren isn't perfect and her insecurities and demands on Alex can get annoying, although this does make her character seem authentic.
The story moves from Lauren to Sylvia Hall who is "forty-one years old and five months pregnant". Raised by a beautiful, glamorous, and emotionally draining single mom, Sylvia Hall attended an elite private school in Manhattan's Upper East Side on a scholarship. Amanda Eyre Ward takes us to Sylvia's years in Manhattan, the power dynamics with her best friend Victoria, and the difficult times with Sylvia's mother Pauline.
Lauren and Sylvia's lives intersect in an unexpected and irrevocable way.
Full of suspense and plot twists, Close Your Eyes is emotionally intense and complex. Literary fiction and psychological thriller, I paused for some quiet after finishing the book. If you're looking for an unusual read, I recommend it.
ISBN-10: 0345494482 - Hardcover $24.00
Publisher: Random House (July 26, 2011), 272 pages.
Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.
About the Author:
Amanda Eyre Ward is the author of three novels: Sleep Towards Heaven, How to Be Lost, and Forgive Me, as well as a collection of short stories, Love Stories in This Town. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two sons.
Sounds like this was a great read for you!
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