All of Us

April 27, 2020
Carolyn Grand, the protagonist of the pseudonymous Carter’s solid debut set in Brooklyn, was abused as a child, both by her father and later by foster parents, and developed dissociative identity disorder as a result. Though many of her personalities have since been reintegrated, her six remaining ones, ranging from practical homemaker Martha to heterosexual man Kirk, still often vie for control. While dealing with other stressors in her life—including joblessness and state-mandated visits to a therapist who definitely is not looking out for her—she learns that her father is out of prison. Soon afterward, he stalks her and winds up murdered. Carolyn’s a logical suspect, and since her own personalities don’t always know what the other is doing, even she isn’t sure of her innocence. Though a dubiously ethical relationship between Carolyn and a police officer investigating her strains credulity, Carter ably handles the different narrative voices, as well as presenting a mentally ill lead without fetishizing the illness. Readers will hope to see more from Carter. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Webber Assoc. (June)This review has been updated to note the author is pseudonymous.

May 1, 2020
Six personalities are locked inside Carolyn Grand. Each gets a chance to reveal itself in turn, in narratives of startling intimacy that make it difficult for the reader to disengage. All are manifestations of what remains of Carolyn after a horrific childhood of sexual abuse and the degradations and failures of the very legal and welfare systems that were set up to help. Despite resentments toward each other, each knowing the flesh I inhabit will never be my own, the personalities manage to work together to avoid being committed to a psychiatric facility. Further terror is added to their our sky is always falling existence when Carolyn's father, the man who abused her, is released from prison. When he is found stabbed to death, the reader is left to decide which one of the six sides of Carolyn could commit a gruesome murder; the police, finding themselves in uncharted waters, are even more flummoxed. This will satisfy immersive-thriller fans, although the graphic depictions of cruelty and pedophilia will be disturbing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)