Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach
By Elizabeth Walker
There’s something just fascinating about twins. While more common than they used to be, thanks to advances in modern fertility treatments, twins – particularly identical twins – continue to captivate the mind. Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach is engrossing not only for its portrayal of its monozygotic heroines but also for the deliberate unraveling of their shared history.
The reader first encounters Ava Antipova flying back from Paris to her childhood home, a vineyard in upstate New York. She has come back to make arrangements after her twin sister, Zelda, has been reported dead in a barn fire. While Ava goes through the emotionally draining motions of organizing the funeral, talking to the police, and tending to her aging mother, she finds herself doubting the story of her estranged sister’s demise. Her suspicions are confirmed when she begins receiving emails from Zelda from beyond the grave.
