Birthright
Description
A sublime psychological thriller from Polari Prize-shortlisted Charles Lambert.
Sixteen-year-old Fiona inhabits a privileged world of English affluence, though her relationship with her widowed mother is strained. When she discovers an old newspaper clipping of a woman and her daughter – the little girl a mirror image of her own younger self – she becomes convinced she has a true family elsewhere. Four years later, with the help of charming fraudster Patrick, Fiona drops everything to seek out her doppelgänger in Italy.
Fiona arrives in Rome to find Maddy living hand to mouth with her alcoholic mother. Spooked by the appearance of this strange girl wearing her face and stalking her every move, Maddy wants nothing to do with her. Caught in a surreal push-and-pull, the two are both fascinated and repulsed by the oddly familiar other, each coveting a different life. But they aren’t the only ones trying to control their fate, and the two women will soon learn that people aren’t always what they seem – though blood may still prove thicker than water.
Birthright is a dark, gripping literary thriller for fans of Ian McEwan, Rupert Thomson and Edward St AubynMore Details
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Published Reviews
Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of this intriguing psychological thriller from Lambert (The Bone Flower), Liz is cleaning up after dinner when her lover, Aldo, alerts her to an image on a TV program about missing people featuring an elderly Italian woman, who's displaying a photo of a child that Aldo insists looks exactly like Liz would have at that age. While Liz dismisses his claim, she secretly watches a recording of the show, musing to herself that the mother featured on it is lying about the circumstances of her daughter's disappearance. Meanwhile, the focus shifts to Fiona, who at 16 first became aware of the possibility that she had a secret physical twin out in the world when she learned about a girl named Maddy, who may or may not be her relative. Fiona becomes a language teacher in Rome in the 1980s and continues her quest for her doppelgänger. Other sections present Maddy's story from her perspective, before the question of whether any of these three women are blood relations is resolved. Lambert makes the mysteries complement the deeper questions of how self-identity depends on relationships with others. This is a thoughtful look at the impact obsessive quests for connection can have on the psyche. (Jan.)
Publishers Weekly Reviews
At the start of this intriguing psychological thriller from Lambert (The Bone Flower), Liz is cleaning up after dinner when her lover, Aldo, alerts her to an image on a TV program about missing people featuring an elderly Italian woman, who's displaying a photo of a child that Aldo insists looks exactly like Liz would have at that age. While Liz dismisses his claim, she secretly watches a recording of the show, musing to herself that the mother featured on it is lying about the circumstances of her daughter's disappearance. Meanwhile, the focus shifts to Fiona, who at 16 first became aware of the possibility that she had a secret physical twin out in the world when she learned about a girl named Maddy, who may or may not be her relative. Fiona becomes a language teacher in Rome in the 1980s and continues her quest for her doppelgänger. Other sections present Maddy's story from her perspective, before the question of whether any of these three women are blood relations is resolved. Lambert makes the mysteries complement the deeper questions of how self-identity depends on relationships with others. This is a thoughtful look at the impact obsessive quests for connection can have on the psyche. (Jan.)
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