Girl in The Mirror - Cecelia Ahern

Ceceila Ahern is one of my favourite authors of all time. This book was short and sweet but had me captivated and just as mesmerised as any of the books which came before it. The small book came with two short stories inside, the other story which I wasn't as blown away by was called 'The Memory Maker' this story lacked slightly in substance for me -

The blurb says:

They say you never forget your first love. But what happens when those cherished memories start to fade? Some people would do anything to hold on to the past and, for one heartbroken man, that means finding a way to relive those precious moments…

The 'Memory Maker' tells the tale of a man who invents a machine that can create memories. The machine cannot erase memories but instead builds them where they are fading or where there were none to begin with. Cecelia tells the heartwarming tales of the boy who gives life to his memories to include an absent father cheering at the sidelines of his childhood football matches. Or the widow who can’t remember her husband’s face and wants to recapture how he looked first thing in the morning.

The Girl in the Mirror was a fascinating read for me. Parts of this book really freaked me out, you are kept in suspense until you've practically reached the end of the story. In some cases this may infer that the majority of the build up is tedious but this isn't the case with this book at all. You are kept constantly on the edge of your seat wondering what the mystery could possibly be.

The blurb says:

Lila knows how lucky she is to have found the man of her dreams. But when a secret from her family's past comes to light on her wedding day, her destiny changes in the most unexpected of ways...

Whatever you're thinking at this point, you are wrong. The story takes such a miraculous turn, you will not be expecting it. Lila's character loves her grandmother 'Grellie' a combination of the names Ellie and Grandmother. Lila takes a friend to visit her grandmother's house, and it's the friend that sets the dubious scene. She describes how she feels in the house - not comfortable, cold, sad, creepy. At this point there are no explanation for these feelings. All the mirrors in the house are covered up but with no explanation other than the fact that her grandmother doesn't like mirrors. Her grandmother is blind so the fact that the mirrors are covered up becomes even more of a mystery. There is of course much more to it than this but it's not until Lila's wedding day that this mystery is revealed.

Lila uses her grandmother's house as somewhere to relax in before the big moment, on the most special day of her life. With no mirrors in the house how is she going to survey her appearance before she walks down the aisle? Against her grandmothers wishes she enters an upstairs room which has always been marked as forbidden for as long as Lila can remember. She rips down the black cape which covers the mirror's face and stares at herself in the mirror as she takes in how beautiful her wedding dress looks. She notices a smudge in her make up and walks closer to the mirror to inspect the damage, before she's aware of what's happening she is on the other side of the mirror, face to face with her own reflection.

The reflection gives her three chances to make a life changing choice. She either loose her sight and return to the world she knows - blind - or abide in the mirror to live forever as a reflection, unable to communicate with anyone on the outside world again.

What choice does Lila make?

The wrong one, it seems. She refuses to loose her sight. The choice that at this stage it is clear that her grandmother did make, which is why she is blind, and why she refuses to ever look in a mirror again. Her heart breaks as she watches her beloved 'husband to me' marry her reflection, as mirrors surround the 'couple' in the church. She twirls and bows as her first dance plays out without featuring as the main attraction herself. Her grandmother tries to warn her finance of the mistaken identity, but who is going to believe this kind of story? The way Cecelia writes her narrative has me fully convinced of the truth to her story, the attention to detail that goes into her storytelling never fails to have me captivated.

There is a happy ending to the story however. There is always a chance to swap places, and when a Innocent (but lonely and unhappy) decorator agrees to help out Lila's grandmother at the house, he gets dragged into a destiny of darkness surrounded by his reflection.

How freaky does this make mirrors?!