A Dark Dividing (ISBN 0743450906)

Very captivating:
This is the second book I've read of Sarah Rayne's and I'm addicted! She writes in way that reveals a mystery in both the past and present, both of which are somehow linked and culminating into a nail biting climax. She also reveals many facts through the different characters' viewpoints that will keep you guessing. Her characters in this book are all interwined even though there is a 100 year gap in between them. The parallels and links are that there are 2 sets of conjoined twins, the two mothers who were both not in love with their husbands and an eerie house called Mortmain. When you start this book be prepared to set aside some time as the characters are so captivating and interesting that you just have to keep reading on to find out what happens. As in the Tower of Silence, the book does feature a mentally unbalanced character or two, and knowing their motives will keep you on the edge of your seat! I'm still thinking about the chartacters and storyline and I finished the book a few days ago.

Elegant and atmospheric:
What are the connections between two sets of conjoined ("Siamese") twins born eighty years apart and a ramshackle onetime workhouse named Mortmain (Dead (Man's} Hand)? These are the questions that down-and-out reporter Harry McGlen ends up answering after his editor assigns him to do a story on the enigmatic photographer Simone Marriot (née Alexander). In this elegant and atmospheric thriller, Sarah Rayne shifts effortlessly among multiple viewpoints (the mothers of both sets of twins, Harry, and Simone, among others) without ever losing the thread of her complicated story, and keeps the reader turning the pages until the satisfying ending, which is the most difficult trick of all, since I find that books that start out with promising premises such as this one often fall flat at the end. If you enjoy this book I would also recommend Thomas Cook and Robbert Goddard, who write a similar type of fiction - suspense tinged with a nostalgic sadness and often with an all too natural (as opposed to supernatural) horror.

I wanna know who this author is!!:
Before even finishing this book I started to order more Sarah Rayne books and would order the author's other books under another name if I knew who it was! The story is unique. You never can guess where it is going which is a makes for a truly exciting read. I atmosphere is dark and intriguing. I highly recommend it for anyone who appreciates both a good story and literature grade writing.

disappointing:
I was rather disappointed by this one. To me it seemed that the story emphasized the least interesting aspects of the lives of the twins. I felt that it left too much unexplained. I have always found twins, and twinspeak and the idea of psychic connections between twins to be a fascinating topic, and I know that many others do as well. This story focused mainly on one twin, and although the connection was there, it seemed to be a very loose connection indeed. The connection between the twins of the past and the twins of the present could have been more substantial and would have made the difference throughout the book. It was hinted at, but left to the end to explain. Sometimes the ending can be the saving of a story. That did not happen here. Sorry to say that I would not recommend it to a friend.

A Dark Dividing:
A Dark DividingA great thriller for anyone who wants to read a good twist and turn novel!