This beautifully written, immersive, and unique crime story is a tĂȘte-bĂȘche novelâtwo intertwined stories printed back-to-back. Open the book and the first novella begins. It ends in the middle of the book. Flip the book over, head to tail, and read the second story in the opposite direction. At the bookâs core are two separate mysteries running across two different timelines, which are inextricably, forever linked.
1880s, Essex, England: Idealistic young doctor Simeon Lee is called from London to treat his ailing relative Parson Oliver Hawes, who lives in Turnglass House on a bleak island off the coast. Hawes believes he's being poisoned by his sister-in-law, Florence, who was declared mad years ago after killing the parsonâs brother in a jealous rage. Hawes keeps her locked in a glass-walled apartment in the Turnglass library; the secret to how she came to be there is found in his tĂȘte-bĂȘche journal, where one side tells a very different story from the other.
1930s, Hollywood: Celebrated author Oliver Tooke, the governorâs son, is found dead by apparent suicide. His aspiring actor friend Ken Kourian isnât so sure Oliver took his own life. He finds a link between Oliverâs death and the mysterious kidnapping of Oliverâs brother when they were children. He also discovers the secret incarceration of Oliverâs mother, Florence, in an asylum. To get to the truth, Ken must decipher clues hidden in Oliverâs final book, a tĂȘte-bĂȘche novel called The Turnglassâwhich is about a young doctor named Simeon Lee . . .?