The Girls I’ve Been

When Nora, her ex-boyfriend Wes and her new love Iris visit the local bank they do not envisage finding themselves hostage to two gunmen, along with various other staff and customers. The story provides an almost minute by minute account of what goes on, how they cope and make plans to try and escape. As the story unfolds, we gradually come to understand that Nora has hidden depths from her past, which will help her and the others in their bid to survive their ordeal. Mixed in with this narrative are the back stories of Nora and also the other two characters, as all of them share specific traumas in their past. Nora’s mother is a con artist who forced her daughters to take part in her schemes; however, Nora escaped the life after being abused by a step-father and helping put him and her mother in to prison. She and her elder sister have been hiding for the past five years and this situation puts them at risk.
The author takes us deep into the past of her central character and it is as if we are gradually peeling back the layers of her life (rather like an onion). As we go back into the past, we learn of all the different names that she has been made to use over the years and also the different characters that her mother forced her to assume. This is a story about manipulation and power and it is horrifying to think that all of the situations with her mother happened by the time Nora was twelve years old. It is difficult for us to imagine that anyone would treat a child in this way, but it does happen and the story also connects Nora with her two friends as they have also shared abuse at home. This book is being made into a film for Netflix, so it will be fascinating to see if they are able to maintain the chilling atmosphere that pervades the story and keeps us driven to keep reading.