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Thursday, 7 February 2013

Black Heart Blue by Louise Reid




“Hepzibah and Rebecca are twins.  One beautiful, one disfigured.  Trapped with their loveless parents, they dream of a normal life.  But when one twin tragically dies the other must find a way to escape.  Because if she doesn't then she'll end up like her sister.”

 

Blue Heart Black is a dark menacing book telling the story of twin girls, Rebecca and Heph.  Heph is the beautiful one whereas Rebecca is disfigured due to her suffering from Treacher Collins Syndrome.  They live in a very small village with their Mother and Father, who is a vicar.  From the start we know that one of the twins has died and the story is told by both sisters before and after this event, Heph before and Rebecca after. In this way we get to find out more about each sister and their painful upbringing with a, frankly, sinister Father.  This is a tense tale of abuse and religious fervour and not for the feint hearted but if you can stomach it Louise Reid writes the two sisters so well that you are gripped from the outset and as emotional as the book becomes you want to see it though if only to find out what happens next. The girls have such a deep love that connects them that this is where you find the light passages of the book and so have a mini break from the darkness that surrounds them.  The book has moments where you want to cry and then shout out in anger at their situation.

 

Please do not get me wrong, this is an enthralling read and I highly recommend it and will now look out for other books by Louise Reid.
 
Many thanks for Emma at Book Angels for the loan of the book:
http://www.bookangelbooktopia.com/

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