Shadow Selves

Double Happiness #1

by H Raven Rose

Lily Rose, a blocked writer, can finally write... after she visits her mentally ill identical twin sister, Lily Beth, and is drugged and left on a locked ward in a mental institution. After her initial shock and drugs wear off, and she's free of restraints, she adjust to life in the loony bin. When she does, she finds her creativity and is happy for the first time in a long while. Meanwhile her twin, Lily Beth, is enjoying her freedom for the first time in years. Off her meds, impersonating her sister and shocking her friends and acquaintances, she takes a lover, pens a salacious new book, and life is a series of high-class adventures until the shadows of her past and her irresistible urge for self-destruction over take her. When Lily Beth has a mental break down, Lily Rose must reconnect to her psychically, and fully face the truth of their abusive past, in order to escape the institution and find and save her sister.

Warning: This book may be triggering for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse/incest or victims of violent crime or rape.

199 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 5, 2012

About the author

H bleeds ink. She grew up in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of Blairsville, GA and now lives in La La land. A screenwriter and author, she writes sci-fi which sometimes has horror elements and supernatural themes. Her stage play 'Dark Eros,' adapted into a suspense novelette of the same title, was staged as readings in Los Angeles, one of which starred Jessica Biel in the lead role as Leila. Visit http://hravenrose.com/ or follow her on Instagram. She wrote her thesis on, “AN EXAMINATION OF TRADITIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE STORY DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES FOR SCREENWRITERS: In the Context of Creativity and Hemispheres of the Human Brain”. Currently, she is completing a PhD in Sf Screenwriting at Swansea University in the birthplace of story and the poetic in mythical, magical Wales.

Reviews

[Sadsack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the movie Final Analysis (Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman) and this story reminded me of that movie even though it was completely different. It’s a dark tale of two sisters who have a love-hate relationship and is dotted with humor.
As with some of the author’s other books I have read (Dark Eros, Café Latte) I enjoyed the writing style of the author – unrestrained and unleashed. She isn’t afraid to go there and calls a spade c**nt, (laughs) all of which holds your attention.
However, her writing is nothing short of lyrical, ie.:
“The red splashes of paint were appealing, a pale wash of color, with a hint of iridescent underpainting, and attractive. The black, watercolor and ink or, perhaps, a very dark pencil of some kind, had made markings that seemed to denote a certain hostility of form. The shadows in the art piece resonated and evoked a hostility of emotion.”
Throughout the book, I told myself that I knew what was going to happen next and …I was wrong. Now that’s a five star book, a book worth reading. Looking forwards to Vol 2 from this author.