robinlovesreading 's review for:

My Name Is Eva by Suzanne Goldring
5.0

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

She had many names. Evelyn Taylor-Clarke. Mrs. T-C to the caring home staff. Aunt Evelyn to her niece Pat, and Eva during her years of service during World War II. All of these names represent various sides to Evelyn that she manages to hide from many, during various stages of her life.

Presently, her niece Pat is helping her clear her home, as Evelyn is now in her nineties and, after breaking a hip, is unlikely to ever live there again. Pat is continually bringing different items to her aunt because she has many questions. Some the things include a photo of a little girl from 1951, a cache of weapons and odd clothing.

It is the weapons found that drastically change things for Evelyn. Pat is soon often accompanied by a detective at the Care Home. He has many questions about the things that were found, and even about a man who when missing years previously. However, as far as Pat, the staff and now the detective are concerned, Evelyn is all but senile, and her memory is unreliable.

Evelyn has a secret. Actually she has many, many secrets. For starters, her mind is as sharp as a tack, and she is simply play-acting. Furthermore, the story is told in varying timelines and readers are clued in to Evelyn's duplicitous nature and some of the activities she was engaged in during and after the war.

What a tangled web she wove! Young or old, Evelyn set out a path. During the war she had an objective. She never, ever lost sight of it and carried out her plans with exact precision. This book was equally startling and compelling. Kudos to Suzanne Goldring for writing such an impressive debut novel.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.