Synopses & Reviews
People go missing every day. They walk out of their front doors and out of their lives into the silence of cold statistics. For those left behind it is the cruelest of long good-byes.
Anna, a self-sufficient and reliable single mother, packs her bags one day for a short vacation to Italy. She leaves her beloved six-year-old daughter, Lily, at home in London with good friends. But when Anna doesn't return, everyone begins to make excuses until the likelihood that she might not come back becomes chillingly clear. And the people who thought they knew Anna best realize they don't know her at all. How could she leave her daughter? Why doesn't she call? Is she enjoying a romantic tryst with a secret lover? Or has she been abducted or even killed by a disturbed stranger?
Did that person you loved so much and thought you knew so well did they simply choose to go and not come back? Or did someone do the choosing for them?
Dunant, a masterly British suspense writer, skillfully interweaves parallel narratives that are stretched taut with tension even as they raise difficult questions about motherhood, friendship, and accountability. In this compelling hybrid of sophisticated crime writing and modern women's fiction, Dunant challenges and unnerves us as she redefines the boundaries of the psychological thriller.
Review
"The suspense is good enough to keep the pages turning..." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Compelling psychological suspense." Booklist
Review
"In Mapping the Edge, Duant gives us a chance to see the 'what if?' side of life by telling the story of Anna in parallel narratives." USA Today
Review
"Switching back and forth between...two tales dissipates much of the tension that either plot line might have otherwise sustained." Library Journal
Synopsis
Anna, a self-sufficient and reliable single mother, packs her bags one day for a short vacation to Italy. She leaves her beloved daughter at home in London with good friends. When Anna doesnt return, everyone begins to make excuses, until the likelihood that she might not come back at all becomes chillingly clear. In this dazzling work of suspense, Sarah Dunant interweaves parallel narratives that are stretched taut with tension even as they raise difficult questions about love, trust, and accountability. We are challenged, unnerved, and ultimately exhilarated as Dunant redefines the boundaries of the psychological thriller.
About the Author
Sarah Dunant has written six suspense novels, three of which have been shortlisted for Britain's prestigious Golden Dagger award. Her novel Fatlands won the Silver Dagger. As a journalist and critic, she has worked extensively in print, radio, and television, where for many years she hosted her own show on the BBC. She lives in London with her family.
Reading Group Guide
- Do you think the books speculative agenda, its parallel narratives, explore a disquiet particularly characteristic of midlife? Is it an unrest limited to middle age? Why or why not?
- Discuss Dunants portrayal of Annas unconventional family. Is it a sufficient replacement for a typical nuclear family, in your opinion? What did you make of the rivalry between Estella and Paul, or that between Anna and Michael, for that matter? How does the childhood loss of her own mother inform Estellas feelings for Lily?
- How does the disingenuous nature of Annas affair with the art dealer heighten its intensity, for both? What is Dunant suggesting about the nature of sexual intimacy and personal trust?
- Do you think Dunant succeeds in her divergent storytelling? How do differing versions of the truth work to subvert the form of the typical thriller? How does the double plot serve as a metaphor for the duality of Annas desires, or those of anyone? How does Dunant resolve this dilemma, in your opinion? Does she?
- Discuss Dunants comparison of the physical connection between a mother and child to that of a woman and her lover. How are the varieties of love and desire intertwined here--for better and for worse?
- Discuss the intense, visceral love Anna and Lily feel for one another. According to Dunant, to what extent can Anna have a life separate from Lily?
1. Do you think the books speculative agenda, its parallel narratives, explore a disquiet particularly characteristic of midlife? Is it an unrest limited to middle age? Why or why not?
2. 2.Discuss Dunants portrayal of Annas unconventional “family.” Is it a sufficient replacement for a typical nuclear family, in your opinion? What did you make of the rivalry between Estella and Paul, or that between Anna and Michael, for that matter? How does the childhood loss of her own mother inform Estellas feelings for Lily?
3. How does the disingenuous nature of Annas affair with the art dealer heighten its intensity, for both? What is Dunant suggesting about the nature of sexual intimacy and personal trust?
4. Do you think Dunant succeeds in her divergent storytelling? How do differing versions of the truth work to subvert the form of the typical thriller? How does the double plot serve as a metaphor for the duality of Annas desires, or those of anyone? How does Dunant resolve this dilemma, in your opinion? Does she?
5. Discuss Dunants comparison of the physical connection between a mother and child to that of a woman and her lover. How are the varieties of love and desire intertwined here--for better and for worse?
6. Discuss the intense, visceral love Anna and Lily feel for one another. According to Dunant, to what extent can Anna have a life separate from Lily?