How much can you infer from studying someone's email correspondence? From the varied ways they choose to greet and sign off their communication to others? Or the version of the persona they choose to present? How easy is it to assume that persona, creating the illusion that they still exist, when they may not? What bits matter? How meaningful are those 'in-jokes' and how important are they to people and their relationships?Leila is of the strong opinion that people have the right to choose their own future and the time upon which they want to end their life. She sets out to help Tess fulfil her human right and achieve it in the most humane and sensitive way. She assumes Tess's identity whilst she disappears abroad to take her own life after telling friends and family she wants to get away from it all and start afresh. Then Leila takes over all correspondence online – emails, facebook etc until Tess is expected to gradually fade out of everyone's lives. She'll be forgotten and people will lose touch. Job done.
But Leila starts to enjoy living Tess's virtual life. And suddenly the line blurs between the real world and her online world. Their characters that started out at polar opposites begin to meld. The 'best' of Tess merges with the 'best' of Leila – in her eyes at least.
This is an incredibly relevant novel to the world today and our obsession with our online presence. It explores the personas that we create and how far from the truth they can be. It looks at the Facebook generation and our interpretation of 'friends' on this platform. It takes you through the fantasy and the repercussions that occur when that fantasy comes crashing into real life.
I think this book is going to be huge. I read it over the last bank holiday weekend and could not put it down. It's bizarre and somewhat fantastic, yet so real and enthralling you really do need to keep going to find out just where it will all end. It mingles the discomfort you might have felt watching the film 'Single White Female', with the page turning quality of the likes of 'Gone Girl' or 'Before I Go To Sleep' and stays with you long after you've finished it. This will be a great one to discuss at Book Clubs. I can't wait till it's release so I can start discussing it with others!
