Can You See Me Now? by Trisha Sakhlecha. #BlogTour

‘Have you ever made a mistake, Alia?’

Noor’s face floats in front of my eyes.  I don’t say anything.

‘Because I’m going to find every mistake you’ve ever made and I am going to use it.  We all have skeletons in our closet.  Keep this up and I’m going to drag yours out for all the world to see.’

Three Indian girls. One horrific scandal.  And fifteen years later, secrets that refuse to stay buried…

Fifteen years ago, three sixteen-year-old girls meet at Wescott, an exclusive private school in India.  Two, Sabah and Noor, are the most popular girls in their year. One, Alia, is a new arrival from England, who feels her happiness depends on their acceptance.

Before she knows it, Sabah and Noor’s intoxicating world of privilege and intimacy opens up to Alia and, for the first time, after years of neglect from her parents, she feels she is exactly where, and with whom, she belongs.

But with intimacy comes jealousy, and with privilege, resentment, and Alia finds that it only takes one night for her bright new world to shatter around her.

Now Alia, a cabinet minister in the Indian government, is about to find her secrets have no intention of staying buried . . .

Release date: 4th February 2021.

My Thoughts

After reading Trisha’s debut Your Truth Or Mine? I had been eagerly awaiting her next book, and I can safely say that it was certainly worth the wait!

Can You See Me Now? is set in Delhi, India, and this is where we meet Alia – our 31 year old protagonist who is currently running for election as an MP. The political party in which Alia is a part of was originally started by Javed Qureshi, a man who has not only been her mentor over the years, but was also the father of one of Alia’s best friends Noor who killed herself at the age of sixteen. Following Javed’s recent death, Alia is more determined than ever to prove herself. When Alia makes the decision to support a woman who was murdered following gang rape, by one of the most elite men in Delhi, she quickly becomes a target, and her chances of winning the election are put at risk, along with her life – and the awful risk of a secret she has kept for many years being brought to light could cost her everything.

Then we meet Sabah, who completed the trio of best friends including Alia and Noor. Sabah is now a documentary maker who explores cold cases, and has found herself in the rather unfortunate position of being broke whilst starting a new life for herself in London, desperately hoping to escape her troubled past. When Sabah receives an email from an unknown address, she is left questioning whether there was more to Noor’s suicide than they first thought.

This book was completely captivating from the start. The way in which the story was told through a dual timeline, alternating between the past and present tense, really added so much depth to this incredible story. The characters were well developed and each of them were given their own unique voice. The plot was perfectly structured, with the perfect amount of tension and suspense building up as the story began to unfold. The storyline was well driven throughout and had so much attention to detail, you could picture the scenes playing out vividly in your mind. This author really does have the most marvellous writing style and really makes the reader feel fully immersed in not only the story but the characters lives throughout.

Chilling, and utterly captivating, this is undoubtedly one of the must read books of 2021

About the Author

Can You See Me Now is a highly literary novel, but one with all the page-turning compulsion of an unputdownable thriller. It is a book about India that can stand proudly beside Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. But it is…also about friendship, ambition, betrayal and growing up. A great read and one of my books of the year. Trisha Sakhlecha is a novelist to watch., Edward Wilson, Author of The Envoy

Praise for Your Truth Or Mine?

A deliciously dark and original debut about love, loss and lies, with an ending that is impossible to predict – Alice Feeney  

Well written, with plenty of twists and an excellent sense of place – Laura Wilson, Guardian  

Original and evocative, I was completely hooked by the longing, love and envy simmering sometimes unseen, yet ever-present. With an ending I couldn’t predict, this debut is one to savour –  Karen Hamilton

‘Your Truth or Mine? is a book that you’ll want to read again as soon as you’ve finished it, to look for clues, wondering how you’d missed them the first time around. I thought I had it all figured out, so was ‘Wait . . . What?’ when the reveal came. The sucker punch came from nowhere and lifted me off my feet – the sign of a great book – Sandie Jones, author of The Other Woman