The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian

The sleepwalker might appear slow in the beginning but somehow that works favorably for this story. There is dual narration though it is not clear till the end who is the second narrator.

This is a story of a mother and wife who disappears one night. She has a known history of sleepwalking hence everyone assumes she has walked out of the house that night and either got hurt or killed. The body surfaces after months of the actual incident and all the while the daughters and husband deal with the situation in their own ways , slowly unraveling and barely functional. The case is being worked by a detective who was a friend of the mother from her sleep clinic and now gets involved with the daughter.

The author has researched well about the disorder and various ways that the sleep disorders manifest in people. The way it affects the family is handled subtly in the narration. What I find very touching is the way out understanding and anger for our parents change as we know more and more about their life. I wished so many times that parents talked more or elaborated more but perhaps their instinct to protect us are too strong.

I was totally hooked to the book till I finished it. It was gripping , heart warming and surprisingly sad in its own way.

My rating : 4/5