Improvising Carla by Joanna Hines
• Reviewed by Hazel Marshall

If Carla was my friend I think I’d want to murder her too. At least that’s how I felt at the beginning of the book because she seemed rather annoying. Of course, we don’t know if her friend Helen has actually murdered her. Helen doesn’t know either, in fact, she doesn’t even know if she really was Carla’s friend and she’s not sure if she wants to find out. And when the police refuse to press charges against anyone for Carla’s murder, Helen has to try to carry on as normal. This is a book about jealousy and guilt, obsession and amnesia.

From the bright sunlight of a Greek island to the dreary darkness of a Devon winter, Joanna Hines has crafted a book that maintains intrigue and suspense throughout. What did happen on that fatal night? And can Helen cope with such a dark secret? How will it affect her life?

Within the machinations of the crime itself, lies the deeper psychological implications of carrying around a secret. And secrets don’t come much bigger than supposed murder. Hines delves into the guilt that Helen feels and how it affects her everyday life. Initially unable to get on with her life after her return from her holiday idyll, Helen changes tack after six months and decides that one way to atone is to search out Carla’s friends and family and see how Carla fitted in. But will this bring her atonement or just more problems?

The charcaters are drawn exceptionally well, particularly Carla’s husband and his children and ex wife. The book starts off as being about a friendship, but while we explore that friendship, the pages also shiver with suppressed knowledge about a future happening.
Although I said at the beginning that I would have murdered Carla (obviously I wouldn’t really) I had changed my mind by the end of the book because I had got to know her. And I think that is the crux of the book. You meet someone, you share time with them, even a hotel room but do you actually know someone until you have found out the position that they hold in everyone else’s life?

Joanna Hines has written a very clever and well crafted book about friendship and guilt - two things that every woman knows a lot about.

© Hazel Marshall 2001

Hardcover - 391 pages (2 January, 2001) Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 068486052X

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