Friday Friyay: 'Sundial' by Cartriona Ward

Happy Friday! We're in December and Christmas is around the corner and so is a new year! I'm very slowly emerging from something of a reading slump, where I just didn't really have the desire or energy to really get into a new book. But that is changing, in part because I remembered I had a review copy of another Catriona Ward book patiently waiting for me! Sundial is bringing me back to life.

You can't escape the desert. You can't escape Sundial.

Rob fears for her daughters. For Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. For Annie, because she fears what Callie might do to her. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her of the family she left behind. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.

Callie is afraid of her mother. Rob has begun to look at her strangely. To tell her secrets about her past that both disturb and excite her. And Callie is beginning to wonder if only one of them will leave Sundial alive...

From the bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street comes a stunning thriller exploring the toxicity of the mother-daughter bond, and the power of the past to twist the present.

Book Beginnings is at home on Rose City Reader, hosted by Gilion Dumas, and Friday 56 at Freda's Voice, hosted by Freda. Freda is taking a break at the moment, but we're keeping the spirit going! I'll also be joining the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may be different in the published book.

BB:

'It's the chicken pox that makes me sure - my husband is having another affair.' 1%

I saw this opening line and knew I was in for something of a rollercoaster ride because how do you even think of something like this?! Honestly, Catriona Ward keeps surprising me, blowing me away, and keeping me on the edge of my seat with every book of hers I read.

F56:

'"You used to say you'd always protect me." Even to me, my voice sounds bitter. "What a crock."' 56%

This is pretty much where I've gotten to in the book so far and while I kind of suspected that the drama this quote refers to would happen, it still got me. Catriona Ward is really good at writing family relationships, the ways they can become stronger in crisis or fracture irrevocably. I also just adore how she writes women, with all the sharp edges and warmth that make up a fully-developed character.

BBH:

This week's question comes from Billy himself:

Where do you like to read the most?

On a perfect day, I'm curled up on the sofa, in a position that will lead to backpain later in the evening, with a book and my cat, snacks and a cup of tea nearby, with the sun shining in. That is where I like to read the most. But I do also very much like reading while traveling, on the train or on a plane, knowing that I have time to fill anyway and nothing to do until we reach my destination. I also like reading in bed, although usually then the reading doesn't last very long.

And that's it for me this week! I'm gonna do my best to hop around everyone's answers either today or tomorrow!