Description

My Sweet Girl

In My Sweet Girl Paloma had always believed that her life would truly begin once she found a loving family and made her way to America. Being adopted from a Sri Lankan orphanage had granted her access to the best education, financial stability, and parents who seemed too perfect to be real. However, as she reached the age of thirty, her parents abruptly cut her off from their funds, leaving her to face the harsh realities of life on her own.

Paloma

In an attempt to make ends meet, Paloma decided to sublet the second bedroom of her overpriced San Francisco apartment to Arun, a recent immigrant from India. Initially, she found solace in the idea of helping someone navigate their way through the complexities of America. Little did she know that this act of kindness would soon unravel her carefully constructed facade.

Arun

Arun stumbled upon Paloma’s darkest secret, a secret that had the potential to shatter her fragile existence in this country. Panicked, Paloma desperately tried to buy his silence, but before she could do so, she discovered him lifeless, lying face down in a pool of blood. Fear consumed her as she realized that there was no trace of Arun’s existence when the police arrived. Paloma couldn’t help but wonder if her past actions, the ones she had taken to escape Sri Lanka, were now catching up to her in the most horrifying way possible. Was her secret buried with Arun, or had his untimely demise placed her in even greater danger than before?

Uncertainty and Fear

As Paloma grapples with the uncertainty and fear that now plague her every waking moment, she must confront the consequences of her past choices. The perfect life she had envisioned seemed like a distant dream, overshadowed by the haunting reality that no matter how far she ran, her past would always find a way to catch up with her. With each passing day, Paloma’s anxiety grows, and she is left wondering if she will ever be able to escape the clutches of her history. The truth remains elusive, and the danger that lurks in the shadows threatens to consume her entirely.

Reviews

“My Sweet Girl has it all: a paranoid bad-girl protagonist, shocking twists, and gothic chills in an original setting.”
—Amy Gentry, bestselling author of Good as Gone

“Ridiculously good. Crazy good. Scary good.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The First to Lie

“[A] dark thriller of international deceit and murder.”
—BookPage

“In her debut novel, Sri Lanka–based Jayatissa is a master of first-person narration as she delves into questions of identity–how individuals perceive themselves, and the tendency not to see others for who they really are. Her fast-paced mystery, with an unreliable but sympathetic narrator, will hook readers from the very beginning.”
—Library Journal

“Equal parts witty, chilling, and hypnotic, and it includes some of the creepiest lines and images I’ve ever read.”
—Megan Collins, author of The Winter Sister

“Starts with a bang and doesn’t let up. Haunted by her past, hunted in her present, Paloma must find her life in America, or lose it forever. A richly layered, firecracker of a thriller.”
—Eliza Jane Brazier, author of If I Disappear

“A gothic-inspired, page-turner with enough twists and turns to keep you up through the night as well as a deft exploration of race and gender wrapped up within the thriller.”
—Nayomi Munaweera, author of Island of a Thousand Mirrors