Close Your Eyes

April 25, 2011
A nearly transparent whodunit provides a less than ideal structure for an otherwise incisive story of loss and redemption. Lauren Mahdian has no interest in uncovering the details of her mother's murder 24 years ago, but her brother, Alex, is obsessed with exonerating their father, who has been convicted of the murder, and whom Lauren has cut out of her life. But when Alex, a physician with Doctors Without Borders, is feared dead after his hospital is bombed, Lauren feels compelled to carry on his investigation, disinterring memories of a night she'd long ago repressed, suffering panic attacks, and recoiling from her sweet if bumbling boyfriend. Elsewhere, Sylvia Hall is pregnant, with few prospects, and planning on getting help from her glamorous childhood friend, Victoria, with whom she shares a dark secret from many years ago that just may hold the key to Lauren's mother's death. Ward (Love Stories in This Town) excels at capturing vivid moments of warmth and kindness even amid a staggering accumulation of personal losses, and while the mystery plot is weak, the rest of the novel is marked by a bruised but generous spirit.

June 15, 2011

Lauren Mahdian believes her father "ruined everything, everything, everything" in Ward's (Sleep Toward Heaven, 2004, etc.) literary novel.

Lauren is just past 30, lives in trendy Austin, Texas, with her boyfriend, works as a real-estate agent and has one anchor in her somewhat neurotic life, her older brother, Alex. Lauren's certain her father killed her mother, a murder that occurred when Lauren was eight and the family lived in New York. Alex, even though believing their father innocent, has been her pillar of emotional support throughout their life with maternal grandparents, through college and beyond. Their father, Izaan Mahdian, was an Egyptian immigrant, a writer, but a man whose Jewish-American wife, Jordan, was the family breadwinner. In the afterglow of a party, Jordan was killed by a blow to the head. Izaan was convicted of her murder and has spent two decades in prison. Lauren's logic, and a shadowy memory, tells her Izaan is guilty, but her heart constantly reminds her that belief is counter to all that she knew and loved about her parents. The novel opens with Alex leaving for Baghdad to serve with Doctors without Borders. Alex is soon declared missing after a car bombing, pushing Lauren further toward collapse. The story grows more complicated when, in Book Two of the novel's five, Sylvia Hall leaves her boyfriend at a Colorado ski resort and heads to her childhood home in New York City. Sylvia is 41 and pregnant, and she is linked to Lauren in a manner which Lauren cannot comprehend. Lauren is a realistic, sympathetic protagonist. Her relationship with her boyfriend and Sylvia's relationship with hers eerily mirrors the relationship of Izaan and Jordan, but that remains symbolic rather than fully explored. Ward writes familiarly of Austin, and of New York City, and her writing, laced with literary prose, moves the narrative forward believably.

A captivating story of loss, forgiveness and ultimate redemption.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2011

When Lauren was a child, her father murdered her mother. Finally, as an adult, she's trying to come to terms with the past. Ward has been published in 15 countries, and as evidenced by titles like How To Be Lost, she excels at depicting fraught family relationships; readers who enjoy such novels should be sure to investigate. With a seven-city tour.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2011
Lauren Mahdian was eight years old when her father was sent to prison for murdering her mother, and while her older brother, Alex, clings to the hope that their father was wrongly convicted, Lauren is equally steadfast in her belief that he is guilty. When Alex leaves for a dangerous posting as a medical volunteer in Iraq, he entrusts Lauren with documents and a potent piece of evidence that could free their father. Loath to give up her long-held convictions, Lauren reluctantly begins an investigation that will ultimately bring her into contact with Sylvia, a woman on the run, both from her present dire circumstances and from the memories of her own fatherless childhood spent in the thrall of a domineering friend. Lacking the nuanced characterizations and subtle story arcs of her previous fiction, Wards latest novel nonetheless provocatively explores themes of loss and betrayal, remorse and redemption, identity and trust through the stories of two women who have more in common than they can ever know.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2011

Ward (Forgive Me; How To Be Lost; Sleep Toward Heaven) has written an intriguing literary mystery involving compelling, complex characters. After spending a summer night sleeping in their tree house, six-year-old Lauren Mahdian and her brother, Alex, discover their mother's body. The police arrest their Egyptian father for the murder, and he is sentenced to life in prison. Alex believes their father is innocent; Lauren accepts the verdict and suppresses her memories. Twenty-four years later, Lauren is a real estate agent and her brother a medical student. When Alex joins Doctors Without Borders, Lauren begins to experience panic attacks and must find the courage to face her past and explore her feelings about her father. VERDICT The elegant prose and compelling plot will attract fans of Kate Atkinson as well as Ward's readers. [Seven-city tour; library marketing; see Prepub Alert, 2/1/11.]--Cheryl L. Conway, Univ. of Arkansas Lib., Fayetteville

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.