^#smrgSAHAF Thirty - Three Swoons - A Novel - 2005

Since the death of her semiestranged cousin, Eve, Camilla has been having strange dreams - that her dead father and an obscure Russian theater director named Meyerhold visit her. What Camilla doesn't know is that the dreams, and part of her subconscious, have been overtaken by Meyerhold's doppelganger. The doppelganger feels guilty about Meyerhold's execution in the Russian Revolution and tries to help Camilla solve her familial problems as a way of making amends. The novel is alternately narrated by the doppelganger and Camilla - the doppelganger an interesting, somewhat gimmicky, effect added onto a rather conventional family tale of distant parents and mistaken paternity. Eve's daughter, Danny, wants to learn more about her parents. Camilla wants to make a decision about her long-term relationship with a married man, and everyone wants Camilla to be more honest with them and with herself. Some of the dialogue seems self-consciously forced, especially that of Camilla's gay best friend, but this is an enjoyable read.