The Blamed

Review Part psychological thriller, part literary family drama, part sunsoaked nostalgic noir and a mustreadSunday IndependentSkilful, evocative and moving ... This is one of those books that stays with you after you've read itSinead Moriarty Product Description 'Insightful and astute writing ... Emily Hourican has a wonderful understanding of human nature' Louise O'NeillThe summer she turned twentyfive, Anna felt invincible.In love for the first time, in a strange city far from home, she could be a new person. All that she had ever wanted was there for the taking. But the glorious possibility of those long sultry days ended in a reality far starker than she could have imagined.Now, fifteen years later, Anna is struggling to get through to her teenage daughter Jessie named in memory of Anna's best friend who has developed an eating disorder. Mother and daughter were once close, but now Anna feels as if Jessie's every word and action is a mystery. Though sometimes she wonders if Jessie can see right through her.And when her daughter starts to report dreams about the namesake she never met, Anna increasingly unnerved by just how much her daughter seems to know is forced to face the secrets of that summer when her life changed in one unravelling moment, and the brutal truth about the part she had to play. About the Author Emily Hourican is a journalist and author. She has written features for the Sunday Independent for ten years, as well as Image magazine, Conde Nast Traveler and Woman and Home. She was also editor of The Dubliner Magazine. Emily's first book, a memoir titled How To (Really) Be A Mother was published in 2013. She is also the author of novels The Privileged,White Villa and The Blamed.She lives in Dublin with her family.