Don’t Close Your Eyes by Holly Seddon

Twin sisters Robin and Sarah haven’t spoken in years.

Robin can’t leave her house. A complete shut-in, she spends her days spying on her neighbors, subtly meddling in their lives. But she can’t keep her demons out forever.

Sarah will do anything to get her daughter back, but she’s unraveling under the mounting pressure of concealing the dark secrets of her past. And her lies are catching up to her.

The novel takes readers back in time to witness the complex family dynamics that formed Robin and Sarah into the emotionally damaged, estranged young women they’ve become. As the gripping and intricate layers of their shared past are slowly peeled away, the shocks and twists will keep readers breathless long after the final page.

Here, DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES author Holly Seddon discusses her latest book with The Big Thrill:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

That while our past always shapes us—whether we like it or not—nothing is insurmountable. And that women can rock.

How does this book make a contribution to the genre?

Unique characters who will stay with the reader after the final pages.

Was there anything new you discovered, or surprised you, as you wrote this book?

How many varieties of guitar there are… (one of the main characters was the lead guitarist in a rock band, until her past imprisoned her in her own home.)

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

That the original idea was based on someone whose life was paralyzed by superstition. Once I started writing, that fell by the wayside, but the working title that I kept entirely to myself was “Good morning, Mr Magpie,” and it will be very clear why when you read the final novel.

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

I adore everything Augusten Burroughs has written. I’d read his shopping lists if he let me. I read Lee Child almost every night as a bedtime story (I started with the first Reacher during a bout of insomnia and it’s become a ritual ever since.) I love the humanity of Maggie O’Farrell, and Kate Atkinson blows me away with her skill. But I don’t think I write like any of them!

*****

Holly Seddon is a full time writer, living slap bang in the middle of Amsterdam with her husband, James and a house full of children and pets. Holly has written for newspapers, websites and magazines since her early 20s after growing up in the English countryside, obsessed with music and books. Her first novel Try Not to Breathe was published worldwide in 2016 and became a domestic and international bestseller. Don’t Close Your Eyes is her second novel.

To learn more about Holly, please visit her website.