A huge thank you to Myshara Herbert-McMyn of The Ormsby Review for such a delightful review of THE DAY SHE DIED. Here’s an excerpt I really enjoyed, which touches on Eve’s artwork and how it changes throughout the book:
“Since Eve is an artist, I must touch on her art and how it changes over the course of the novel. The artistic imagery is vivid without being over the top. For example, before her accident Eve is standing in the hallway with her grandmother, Button, looking at her finished pieces. Eve talks about one of her paintings, describing it as a café on the Rue Saint-Honoré. “I’d paint it differently now,” she says. “Tighten the focus to that scatter of bread crumbs, and where the coffee splashed into the saucer. Highlight the imperfections” (p. 18). Like any artist, Eve reflects on how she might improve the simple scene in France.
Another painting shows the Adlers’ backyard in early summer, a peaceful scene of friendship, nature, and love. “Button touched Sara’s painted cheek, traced the flowers clutched against her chest, and ran her finger over the blood-red soil at Sara’s feet” (p. 19). The rest of her paintings are similar, describing scenes or moments in Eve’s life in a gentle and simplistic style.
Then Freedman shows what Eve paints after her amnesia and it’s truly horrific:
Gone were the children, the blackberry bushes, and the hazy summer sky. At the top corner, the river still lapped peacefully to the shore. But as it continued down to the centre of the canvas, it transformed into a thick, silver snake. It coiled over and around itself, scales shimmering with hints of green and blue. Red droplets of blood sprayed from fangs to flank. Instead of a tongue, a human arm unfurled from its mouth like a nightmare party whistle. The hand was delicate, the fingernails shiny with dark polish (p. 89).
Each piece of this painting is surreal and terrifying, with everything in opposition to the happy, calm tones of the previous paintings. Something inside Eve’s mind has changed the way she sees the world around her. Many more questions emerge, and the plot thickens.
Fans of Criminal Minds, of thrillers like The Push, and of true crime will love The Day She Died.”
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW HERE.