Award-winning author of many books for teens and children in the U.K., Sophie McKenzie makes her U.S. debut with the decidedly adult novel Close My Eyes, a fast-moving tale of psychological suspense full of twists and genuine surprises. Told from the point of view of a woman whose fragile emotional state and inability to move on from a terrible trauma have rendered her tremendously vulnerable to manipulation, Close My Eyes quickly draws readers into her world where the lies are so tightly woven that reality itself starts to lose its meaning.
Geniver Loxley is a novelist whose career and personal life have settled into a state of permanent, cloudy hold. Eight years prior, she gave birth to a stillborn child--a daughter she'd named Beth. She is haunted by vivid dreams of her lost child that seem more real than the fog of her waking hours. While deeply affected as well, Geniver's wealthy and successful husband, Art, has been able to move forward emotionally in a way that seems impossible for Geniver.
One day Geniver receives an unexpected visitor whose information is so shocking it calls into question everything she knows to be true: Art was involved in a scheme to give away their baby and convince Geniver that Beth had died in utero. Geniver dismisses the woman's story, but the possibility that it might be true lodges in her craw and she can't let it go. But perhaps grief really has driven her mad.
The continuing question of whether or not Geniver really has imagined it all--and we with her--creates a chilling and unsettling feeling that pervades this page-turner right up to its last word. --Debra Ginsberg, author