I'd Know You Anywhere

I have a weird affinity for mystery stories carried by female detectives...which is how I first discovered Laura Lippman as an author.  Her Tess Monaghan series more than fills my excessive need for mysteries solved by fearless, smart women.  When this new title by Lippman came into the library, I automatically placed a hold for it because I thought it was another one in the Tess series.  When I finally started reading it I realized it was a stand alone title.  And it was written nothing like her other novels.  It did not start with a murder or theft that needed to be solved.  Instead, it is a mystery of a different sort, mixed with the details of a psychological thriller.  The story is told from the point of view of several characters and flips back and forth between the 1980s and the present day.  Elizabeth Lerner (later Eliza Benedict) was kidnapped for six weeks as an early teen and raped just before her abductor was caught and she was returned.  Her kidnapper/rapist had raped and killed other girls and Elizabeth's testimony sent him to death row.  Elizabeth, now Eliza, married with two children, cherishes her simple life devoting herself entirely to her husband and children.  Then one day she receives a letter from Walter and her past is brought immediately to the present.  Walter makes a seemingly heartfelt apology to her and Eliza's need to understand why he let her live, drives her to comply to his request for further contact.  Walter pushes further, more than an aplogy, now, he wants Eliza to help save his life.  Eliza has to relive her painful past and find strength now that she didn't have then... to heal herself.  This book reminded me again of the complexity of human relationship, emotions, and the circumstances of life.  I found myself drawn into the characters, both those portrayed good... and bad.  I found sympathy where one wouldn't expect to find it and also the fear and anger for both the characters and the reader.  This novel helps show how heavy the fear and obedience that are quickly injected into kidnap victims that helps explain a little to those who are constantly badgering with questions of "why didn't you try to escape?"    And while fear and confusion weighed the victim of this book down in many ways in her past and present, it was amazing to see her finally find her voice and her strength.  This was one of the rare novels where I truly felt that I was feeling what the characters were feeling.  This had a very Jodi Picoult-ish style to it.  Though I wanted a little more from the ending of this book, both with the story from the past and the family situations of Eliza's present, I loved this book and could not put it down.