Blurb: Is Zenna a muse, a sleep-deprived apparition, or something much more sinister?
Suffering long-term amnesia, artist Jo Mckye is ready to start a fresh, new project after the success of her debut exhibition. But the fictional subject of the collection, Zenna, won’t let go so easily. Infiltrating Jo’s dreams—and increasingly, her waking hours—Zenna is fast becoming a dangerous obsession.
Jo is confident the answers lie at her childhood home, an idyllic Cornish village on the south-east coast; she just doesn’t know why. Only when she walks into the sea and almost drowns does the past start to unravel.
Review: Jo Mckye is haunted by a strange muse Zenna who will not let her go. Zenna follows Jo from her moments of inspiration to her dreams and into her everyday life. Living with amnesia, Jo can't remember much of her past, and in a bid to find out more about herself, she returns to Cornwall and her estranged mother. Zenna sweeps Jo up further, taking her life from her unless she can find why this woman haunts her so.
This is an incredibly well-written tale of literary fiction. It's set in contemporary UK, but it brings us to slower times in Cornwall. A layer of mystery mists everything and drew me in, raveling me further in the story. Jo's emotions are surreal, intense and floating. The frenzy of painting, the obsession with her muse, and the not knowing. There are so many layers to the characters, and I loved peeling them away to find the truth. I don't want to give away anything more, but this is a read I highly recommend.
You can find Annalisa Crawford on her site and buy the book here!