#BlogTour ‘Mirrorland’ by Carole Johnstone

About the book…

Perhaps everyone’s childhood memories are the same: part truth, part fantasy.

But this house turned our imagination into a melting pot, a forge. A cauldron.

I can trust nothing that came out of it.

No. 36 Westeryk Road, an imposing flat-stone house on the outskirts of Edinburgh. A house of curving shadows and crumbling grandeur. But it’s what lies under the house that is extraordinary – Mirrorland. A vivid make-believe world that twin sisters Cat and El created as children. A place of escape, but from what?

Now in her thirties, Cat receives the shocking news that her sister has disappeared. Forced to return to Edinburgh, Cat finds herself irresistibly drawn back into Mirrorland. Because El has a plan. She’s left behind a treasure hunt that will unearth long-buried secrets…

A sharply crafted mystery about the power of imagination and the price of freedom, perfect for fans of Erin Kelly and Tana French.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tour for the invite and publishers Harper Collins/The Borough Press for my e-arc of ‘Mirrorland’ which is out on April 1st in ebook and paperback formats!

‘Mirrorland’ is a tale of a childhood viewed through carnival glass, the distortions and reflections of which remain very much open to interpretation. Twins Ellice and Catriona are raised in a Scottish, gothic house by their mother and grandfather, with rooms that have names (such as ‘The Clown Cafe’)fairy tales and myths woven into their memories like lettering through rock.

As a result, the memories that Cat has are distorted and warped, but as she is the reader’s eyes into the mystery of her missing twin, we have to take her narrative with a healthy dose of suspicion. Her return from L.A following El’s disappearance is tinged with sadness and regret, but at no point does she appear to think her sister has done anything other than have a massive pout and go off for a bit. She has, apparently, done this before. But this raises suspicion with the detectives investigating El, her lack of emotion and concern for her strong swimmer and sailor sister, last seen setting sail in her boat , rings all kinds of bells.

The memories which Cat explores as she re-visits the mausoleum of her childhood reveals a time of constant fear, being run through drill after drill by her mother, everyone having emergency get away bags kept under their beds for any eventuality. What, or who they are prepped to run away from is not obviously clear, but there is absolutely a secret behind the unnamed Bedroom 3, the one room where their mother puts the fear of God into them and stops them from entering.

From the tales on which the girls imaginations are fed, to the bizarre surroundings of their home, it is difficult to tell what is real or imagined through the kaleidoscope of Cat’s memories, but with writing this good, you stop interrogating every detail and go along for the ride. It’s so beautifully rendered, and has so many layers and nuances to it that the missing El is just one of many threads making up a beautiful tapestry of the mirror twins lives.

It is so hard to believe that this is a debut novel, it is assured, confident and immensely well plotted, the gothic nature of the story is a reinvention of the horror trope of a haunted house, 32 Westeryk Road is a canvas on which the lives of the residents have painted their lives.

Where has El gone to and why?

What was the reason that Cat fled to America and cut all contact with home for 12 years?

Who has been sending El sympathy cards and why?

Why did El buy the house they grew up in when it appears they have spent so much time trying to get away from it?

Sooooo many questions! And in El’s absence we only have other people’s stories to construct a portrait of her, and the distorted reflections of memory can lead the reader down some dark and vastly overgrown paths. It’s a brilliant book and I think it deserves so much love when it comes out into the world, I have pre-ordered my copy of the hardback, I think you really need to if you enjoy dark, twisting narratives with unforgettable characters.

About the author…

Carole Johnstone’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in annual “Best of” anthologies in the US and UK.
Her debut novel, Mirrorland, will be published in spring 2021 by Borough Press/HarperCollins in the UK and Commonwealth and by Scribner/Simon & Schuster in North America.
She lives in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Links-https://www.carolejohnstone.com/

Twitter @C_L_Johnstone @RandomTTours @BoroughPress