Mirrorland: the dark and twisty fiction debut from 2022's new voice in psychological suspense

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But whilst some aspects of the ending didn’t quite land with me, Mirrorland definitely succeeded in keeping me reading – and in making for a thrilling read. But then something happens that tears them apart and sends Cat across the Atlantic Ocean to America.

It didn't matter that the words were barely audible; it didn't matter that the dragon had no language to understand them. I had guess, after guess, after guess as to what was happening, had happened in the past, and though I guessed certain parts, there was more than one that hit me out of nowhere, but once they come to light, you wonder how you didn’t see it sooner. The girls do not know who their father is – they are told that their mother destroyed her marriage, taking the twins with her to Edinburgh. El had staged her death to make sure Ross was blamed, since she knew he was going to kill her anyways. Although one of them might not be imaginary, and El’s husband – of course – had a fling with Cat before El’s previous suicide attempt.El and Cat – Ellice MacAuley and Catriona Morgan – were twins who lived in their own wild world when they were children. Let me be clear, this is not magical realism – or at least it isn’t in my mind – what this is about is escapism and childhood imagination working overtime to block things out (although clowns?

Though it is a psychological thriller at it’s heart there are elements of horror as well as magical realism all of which help bring El and Cat’s story to light. I was slightly less taken by the relationship between the two sisters and Ross which did, sadly, conform to a lot of the tropes of the genre. On page 77, we meet many of the characters of Mirrorland: “El and Ross were sitting cross-legged in the Captain’s Quarters. El’s diary, which is part of the bread-crumb trail, is written in a rather gauche imitation of childhood, such as “Mum is always making us read or reading to us.

They were so fully immersed in this ongoing play acting that, years later, Cat wasn't sure exactly what (or who) was real or pretend. The atmosphere of the novel, set mostly on this wild Greek island, echoes strongly the classical tragedies of Greece. If there’s one thing that I would critique about Mirrorland, it’s that I think the book tried to do a bit too much. A journey into the dizzying interaction between Russia and China—from street market traders to high politics—each illuminating the other.