Tell Me What I Am

March 1, 2023

When her sister Deena disappeared in 2004 Philadelphia, Nessa suspected Deena's ex-husband of getting away with murder. Now he's raising Nessa's niece, Ruby, in upstate New York, and Ruby is starting to wonder what happened to her mother. From Philadelphia-born, County Sligo, Ireland-based Mannion, author of the Kate O'Brien Award-winning A Crooked Tree; with a 40,000-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

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Starred review from May 15, 2023
Mannion (A Crooked Tree) explores the long shadow of domestic violence in this outstanding mystery. In 2004, Nessa Garvey’s sister, Deena, disappears after leaving their shared Philadelphia apartment for work. Nessa feels certain Deena’s abusive ex, Lucas Chevalier, is responsible—particularly when he uses Deena’s absence to gain custody of the couple’s four-year-old daughter, Ruby—but Lucas’s mother alibis him. He then convinces a judge to deny Nessa visitation rights to see Ruby and decamps with the girl to Vermont. Nessa refuses to move on, however, obsessing over her sister and niece’s fates; meanwhile, as Ruby grows up exploring Lake Champlain’s islands, she learns to hunt, farm, and manage her father’s temper. She knows not to ask about her “messed up” mother, whom Lucas says abandoned them when Ruby was two, but when someone mails her a picture contradicting that timeline, she starts questioning her father’s motives. Mannion expertly intertwines Nessa and Ruby’s stories via visceral, close-third-person narration that alternates perspectives, and weaves through time to build tension and dole out reveals. Her subtly shaded characters add nuance and poignancy. This artful slow burn should earn Mannion new fans.

Starred review from July 1, 2023
Ruby was just four when she saw her mother, Deena, for the last time after she left the house where they were staying with Deena's sister, Nessa. The mystery of what happened to Deena that day would take 14 years to solve while Ruby lived in isolation with her strict, manipulative father, Luke, in northern Vermont, far from her mother's loving, boisterous family in Philadelphia. The latest tale of family suspense from Mannion, following A Crooked Tree (2021), is told from Ruby and Nessa's points of view and is fraught with longing and questions. Luke has forbidden all mention of Ruby's mother and family, banning access to the internet and newspapers and unofficially homeschooling Ruby until a complaint to child services forces him to send her to public schools. Luke's scheming restrictions only serve to provoke Ruby's curiosity about a past that stirs strong, if untethered, memories. For her part, Nessa wallows in self-recrimination for missing emotional and physical clues suggesting that Deena was in danger the longer she stayed with Luke. Through Ruby's steady belief in her mother's love and Nessa's unwavering devotion to her sister's honor, Mannion creates an emotionally charged yet gently paced thriller that evokes the doubt and anguish that arise after uncertain loss.

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