When I Was You | Amber Garza
REVIEWED BY SARAH PROCTOR
TWO WOMEN. ONE LIFE. THEY CAN’T BOTH HAVE IT.
It all starts with a misdirected phone call from the baby clinic.
Kelly, alone in her nice house, is planning to spend the day organising her kitchen cupboards. Her son left for college a year ago and her husband works away.
Maybe that’s why the idea of another woman with her name, in her town, and a new mother to boot, sparks such an intense interest in her.
And so she makes sure she is just passing the clinic at the time of the appointment. Thus the two Kelly Medinas meet…
The other Kelly is a thoroughly modern young, single mum. She’s clearly very fond of her little boy, Sullivan, but often attached to her phone and less than conscientious about some aspects of baby care.
Lonely Kelly becomes convinced that young Kelly urgently needs her help.
It would all be perfect serendipity, but for her husband’s and best friend’s immediate expressions of concern and the unsettling hints about “that time with the other baby”. Then, of course, there are her evasive appointments with Dr Hillerman.
What has happened in Kelly’s past, and how controlled and stable is she really?
And then – halfway through – the book pivots and everything is turned on its head.
The tension escalates, we think it’s all over, but there are more twists to come…
The more we learn, the more impossible it becomes to imagine how it could possibly end.
A smart psychological thriller that pulls the reader in, just as its characters’ lives become irretrievably enmeshed.
When I Was You by Amber Garza is published by Sphere on February 18, £8.99 PB
You may also like…
My Husband’s Wife
Haven’t They Grown
The Broken Ones
Sarah Proctor
I've worked on a variety of regional newspapers and national magazines. My Weekly and Your Best Ever Christmas are fantastic, warm-hearted brands with an amazing, talented team. I'm a sub-editor and particularly love working on cookery, fiction and advice pages - I feel I should know all the secrets of eternal life, health and happiness by now, but hey, we all need that regular reminder!
