Watching Edie by Camilla Way is a twisty psychological suspense story. Written by Camilla Way, it’s the story of a dark friendship between two women who met as teenagers.
Edie was a beautiful, creative, relaxed and friendly teenager with an ability to make friends easily. A gifted artist, at school she had plans to study art at university but that was not to be.
Meanwhile, Heather was bright and intelligent, a ‘straight A’s student’ whose parents hoped that she would become a doctor. But Heather had a troubled past and was a loner, viewed as a ‘weirdo’ by her classmates.
When Heather met Edie, it was a life changing encounter for both girls. On the surface, they had little in common except that they both had troubled home lives. Edie didn’t get on with her mother while Heather’s relationship with her parents was marred by the childhood death of her younger sister, Lydia.
When Edie befriended Heather, it was an unbalanced relationship from the outset. For Edie, it was casual but for Heather, who was needier, it was much more important.
Dark secret
Edie and Heather share a dark secret dating back to their teens when something happened that had a traumatic impact on their friendship. As a result, for a long time, they didn’t see each other.
So, when Heather walks back into Edie’s life, Edie is shocked and afraid. Why is she back? What does she want? Yet, before long Heather has moved into Edie’s flat and is helping to care for her baby daughter, Maya.
It’s a claustrophobic relationship. Heather is controlling and Edie allows herself to become isolated.
The story alternates between Edie and Heather’s points of view with the timeframe switching between ‘before’ and ‘after’ where ’before’ relates to events from the past and ‘after’ is events in the present.
Suspense builds as more and more details of the Heather and Edie’s past are revealed. And, as the tension rises, the atmosphere of claustrophobia and dread intensifies.
This is a character driven novel with a surprising finish — an interesting twist on the current trend of psychological thrillers.
Watching Edie by Camilla Way is published by Harper Collins.
Disclosure: An advance copy was provided via Netgalley for the purpose of this review.