Why a Booktrail?
1980s, 2000s: Do you really know anyone? What about your own mother?
Pieces of Her
What you need to know before your trail
Andrea Cooper knows everything about her mother Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small town of Gullaway Island; she knows she’s never had any more ambition than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life.
But one day, a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura.
Twenty-four hours later, Laura is in hospital, shot by an intruder who’s spent thirty years trying to track her down. Now, Andrea must go on a desperate journey to follow the breadcrumbs of her mother’s past. If she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either of them.
Travel Guide
Savannah and San Francisco
With a little road trip to find the truth…
The town where the mother and daughter live is fictional yet is set not far from Savannah on an inlet called Belle Ile which is ironic since there’s nothing belle about what happens here in the novel. It’s apt that it’s a small, vague place as it lends another level of mystery to a town where a daughter has returned home to her mother, and then discovers there’s a lot more to her than meets the eye.
The rest of the locations come into play in the background with the shootings in Oslo being mentioned and protests taking place at the Oslo Convention Centre. At the same time, characters live in San Francisco around the area of Presidio heights which is a smart part of town. The FBI who become involved in the story later on have their HQ not far outside the city centre.
Berlin is a city mentioned for its link to piano recitals which come to be significant in the novel. There’s a concert hall close to the wall – the Meistersaal which gets a nod.
The real setting is your own family. Who are these people really and what do you actually know about their pasts?
In the present day, Andy is on a dangerous road trip that will lead to shocking discoveries about her own identity as well as her mother’s past. From one place to another, one thought to another and one discovery to a final impact…
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Karin Slaughter is always an author I can rely on to deliver a good story and this one is no exception. A standalone and very different to her other ones but in a good way. This one really packs a punch and speeds up towards the end with plenty of bumps and twists along the way. Tell you something I had a good look at my own mother the other day….what does she get up to when I’m not around?
It’s not the gripping and fast paced story that you would expect from Slaughter but it’s one deeply invested in family secrets and how we cope with the information we find out years after the event. The two stories – one present day and one back in 1980s flipped over like pancakes one after the other and sometimes I would have liked it done a bit more on one side to be honest. But having said that, the overall picture is one meaty and insightful read.
You can tell this is Karin Slaughter as the assured writing and intricate plot is there, but her hard hitting characters and fast paced action less so. The various mentions and scenes of abuse were a bit too much.
Overall however, the premise of finding out that your mother really might not be who you think she is, and then finding out exactly who and what she is, keeps you reading.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Pieces of Her
Destination : Savannah, San Francisco, Oslo, Berlin Author/Guide: Karin Slaughter Departure Time: 1980s, 2000s
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