The Twilight Wife

Finished November 29

The Twilight Wife by A.J. Banner

This novel starts with marine biologist Kyra Winthrop walking the beach on Mystic Island, set in the San Juan islands of Puget Sound. Kyra had a diving accident a few months ago and, as a result, has no memory of the last four years of her life. Jacob, her husband has told her that she taught at Seattle University and that they've been married for three years. She goes through picture albums, both of the earlier years that she remembers and of the years she has forgotten. When she tries to force the memories, she gets headaches, so she slows down, but it bothers her a lot that she has this gap in her life. Jacob says that they recently moved to the house that he grew up in, on this remote island to allow her a quieter environment to recover. He's also told her that they spent time here on the island last summer, staying in a local bed and breakfast, before the accident.

Kyra is beginning to have spurts of memories come through. She remembers another man, Aiden and knows that she had feelings for him, and intimacy. When an older local man, Doug, seems to recognize her she wants to find out who she reminds him of. 

One of their neighbours is Nancy and her husband Van. Nancy grew up with Jacob and seems to have confused feelings about him. Nancy has befriended Kyra and yet seems to also resent her in some ways. 

As Kyra begins to remember things and learn things from the few others on the island, she also finds that Jacob has kept some information from her. Is it to protect her as he claims, or are there secrets he doesn't want her to know? 

This is a tale of narcissism, control, and manipulation, along with Kyra's struggle to find the truth about herself and the people in her life. A book that is hard to put down.