Neil's Reviews > My Phantoms

One thing you quickly notice as you progress through this novel is that the narrator is not going to tell you much about herself: she is far more comfortable when she can direct her attention elsewhere. This can be very frustrating for the reader, but that frustration is actually one of the strengths of the novel.

My Phantoms is narrated by Bridget. In the opening chapters, she tells us about her father, Lee, and her dysfunctional relationship with him. But the majority of the book concerns her relationship with her mother, Hen. As we read, we quickly become aware that there are fault lines in all the relationships (daughter-father, daughter-mother, wife-husband). We also become aware that we are being presented with a one-sided view of those relationships and it is up to us as readers to piece together a more rounded view and draw our own conclusions about what has caused these fault lines.

This is similar to Riley’s previous novel, which is the only other of her novels that I have read, “First Love”. That novel told us about a woman in an abusive relationship but gave us just one side of the argument, so to speak. In my review then, as a woman gave us her evaluation of past relationships, I wrote that “perhaps the strength of the book is that is leaves the readers to evaluate these relationships and decide for themselves where the fault line in the dysfunctional relationship lies.” You could take that novel at face value, or you could read between the lines and see other forces at work, things that the narrator either could not or would not see.

The same applies here. Bridget appears cold and unemotional, and she is not giving us much in the way of insight. Largely, this seems to be because she is almost completely lacking in self-awareness or empathy. This is where the reader’s frustration comes in, because as you read, you will almost certainly begin to wonder why it is that Bridget cannot see what you can see. You will also begin to form your own views on things that Bridget never sees fit to tell us about, or which she chooses not to follow through on. Why, for example, does she not want her mother to meet her boyfriend? And there are hints of something sinister sounding in her parents’ relationship that we can only speculate about.

I really appreciated the writing style in this novel. What could have been a very depressing read was made engaging and absorbing because of the way the narrative is written. Yes, Bridget is frustrating to spend time with because she is oblivious to so much around her, but even in the midst of frustration and damaged relationships, there is humour and there is a lightness of touch.

For me, this probably isn’t as powerful as “First Love”, but, on reflection, I think it feels more mature.

My thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley.