White Bodies

Starred review from July 24, 2017
British author Robins (The Trial of Queen Caroline) makes her fiction debut with a deliciously creepy psychological thriller. Callie Farrow, who works in a London bookstore, becomes obsessed with every aspect of the life of her glamourous twin sister, Tilda, a well-known actress, after Tilda marries the controlling Felix Nordberg, a wealthy financier. Callie believes that Felix’s mania for perfection, from the order of his silverware to his volatile reaction to a minor error, signals a penchant for domestic violence. Convinced that Tilda is in danger, the increasingly unstable Callie monitors Tilda, snoops in her home, and reads her hidden diary. Callie also contributes to a website about domestic abuse and becomes fixated on women killed by their partners. As she teeters on the brink of insanity, Callie considers taking drastic measures to save her sister. The plot slowly but forcefully builds to a shocking finale as Robins skillfully explores the dynamics between sisters, mental health issues, and manipulative behavior. Agent: Natasha Fairweather, United Artists (U.K.).

July 15, 2017
A woman worries that danger lurks beneath the seeming happiness of her twin sister's relationship with a new man and becomes obsessed with uncovering the couple's every secret.Tilda, the vivacious golden-haired sister, has held the limelight since the Farrow twins were children, while the mousier, more observant Callie has stayed in the shadows. Now Tilda is an actress, having starred in the remake of Rebecca, one of many clunky Hitchcock references Robins uses throughout her fiction debut. Callie works a few days a week in a London bookshop, still idolizing Tilda from afar, savoring every morsel of time the two spend together; that is, until Tilda introduces Callie to her new love, American hedge funder Felix Nordberg. Charming, with icy Scandinavian good looks, Felix initially appears to be a healthy, if slightly OCD, influence on the oft-flighty Tilda. But Callie soon notices a change in her sister's behavior and glimpses a darker, perhaps more violent side of Felix that sends her online to a domestic abuse forum called controllingmen.com. There, she's inundated with typical stories of abusive spouses and boyfriends as well as things to look for in violent relationships. Convinced that Felix is abusing Tilda, claims her sister finds preposterous, Callie is shocked when Felix turns up dead of an apparent heart attack while attending a conference. The sisters' relationship--undeniably the most intriguing part of the story, especially its push-pull qualities--shudders under the weight of both Felix's death and the two women's conflicting ideas on what love really means. Had this been a character study of the obsessive, bordering on fanatical, relationship between twin sisters it would be a stellar novel; unfortunately, it's the crime that bogs down the story.

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August 1, 2017
Tilda Farrow has always been a star, outshining her fraternal twin sister, Callie, but Callie has always wanted to be close to Tilda, to the extent of ingesting some of her hair, teeth, and urine when they were children. When Tilda falls in love with wealthy financier Felix Nordberg, Callie becomes concerned, even obsessed, with her sister's safety, since Tilda shows signs of being physically abused, and her once-promising acting career has been stagnating. Callie turns to a website about men who abuse their partners and develops relationships with two other women online, eventually becoming involved in a mutual murder pact (in the manner of Strangers on a Train) as a radical means to deal with domestic violence. Felix's death is related on the opening pages, followed by flashbacks that vividly illustrate the twins' relationship and Callie's search for what actually occurred and who bears responsibility. This debut novel by British journalist Robins is a compelling psychological thriller that shines light on love and obsession and where they may lead. Robins is a writer to watch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)