A review by motherbooker
My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley

4.0

The relationship between parents and their children has always been a great source of material for writers and Gwendoline Riley knows this better than many. Her books often deal with millennials trying to break free of their boomer parents. In My Phantoms, Bridget Grant is haunted by her past. She is the daughter of separated parents and has struggled to leave her traumatic childhood behind. She barely sees her mother these days and her father has been dead a few years but they still have an inescapable hold over her. My Phantoms is told in the first person so we only get Bridget's perspective on the matter. We quickly learn that she's not the most reliable narrator and her view of the past might not be entirely trustworthy.

It's difficult to know who to feel sorry for in this book. It's easy to feel as though the narrator is the person we should connect to but Bridget is a hard person to like. She talks us through her childhood and the way her father treated her. She describes her flighty and distracted mother, Helen. It all sounds pretty dire and you can see why she wanted to escape. However, the more time you spend with her, the more you realise that Bridget might not deserve all our sympathy. As we spend time with Helen, or Hen to her friends, we meet an insecure and desperate-to-please woman. She tries so hard with her daughter but Bridget is so unresponsive. Not only does she keep her life away from her mother but she keeps it away from the reader. It is the mother or the daughter that is really in need of our sympathy?

I really enjoy books that are light on plot and big on character. That's why I love Gwendoline Riley's writing. She knows how to write memorable and emotionally charged books about damaged women. Bridget has removed herself from all emotional bonds. The only times we meet her boyfriend, he offers a psychoanalyst's eyes rather than a loving partner. When Bridget is on the phone with Helen, she gives vague answers that you might expect to hear from a mental health professional, not your daughter. Yes, there might not be a lot of action here but every exchange is dripping with meaning. This is a short but complex read that is so easy to dig your teeth into.

The writing is also absolutely beautiful. Nothing is spared here and Riley continues her trend of making every word count. She understands how to create characters that resonate on the page and really brings them to life. The difference between Bridget and Helen is fantastic. Helen, who has been burned by love so many times, remains hopeful whenever she meets someone new. On the other hand, Bridget has settled into a comfortable relationship with a man she refuses to introduce to her mother. They have both suffered at the hands of the same man but the two women have dealt with the past in different ways. It's an interesting dynamic that makes this book such an intense and haunting read.