The Other Me By Saskia Sarginson

[amazon_link id=”0349403384″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Other Me’ is the latest book by Saskia Sarginson.

Eliza Bennet has the life she’s always dreamed of. She’s who she wants to be, and she’s with the man she loves. But Eliza is living a lie. Her real name is Klaudia Myer. And Klaudia is on the run. She’s escaping her old life, and a terrible secret buried at the heart of her family.
This is the story of Eliza and Klaudia – one girl, two lives and a lie they cannot hide from.

‘The Other Me’, was for me a completely unexpected story that gripped my attention throughout. At its core, it is a love story with a bittersweet sad and historic tale that does make for tender reading.

The story is primarily set in three different eras, 1986 when Klaudia Myer is quiet teenage girl who becomes a victim of bullying when her father is revealed as the caretaker of her secondary school and people discover her true heritage, Fast forward to 1996 and Klaudia Myer has become Eliza Bennett. Her mother has suddenly passed away and she returns home to care for her father, a gruff, religious man who doesn’t show his only daughter much love or attention. Although she is a dancer at heart, she lacks confidence in herself and prefers to keep it hidden so she works in a burlesque bar and admires from afar the confidence that the other dancers exudes whilst she cleans glasses and dreams of a far more exciting life. Here in the her bar-tending role, she meets Cosmo, a artist who has become her boyfriend, although she loves him dearly, Eliza hides a secret from him. A secret that she has carried since she was a teenager and she worries if this secret is revealed then she will reveal the love of her life. The story is also written in 1931 in Germany during the Second World War and is seen from the eyes of a reluctant soldier and this is an intriguing part to the story as the identity of the soldier isn’t revealed until the end and I found this a particularly good twist to the story.

I really enjoyed this story and thought the leading character Klaudia/Eliza was an interesting woman as she tries to find her path in life, she questions her family and also hides her true identity from those she loves the most. She keeps people at a distance and regularly there are quite sad and poignant moments and then are other scenes when she takes a chance on life and seizes the opportunities that she feels are out of her reach and these are refreshing scenes.

Another part of the story that I enjoyed was the historical twist to the story, as I have a keen interest in German history and these chapters, I found myself racing through these parts of the story as they gave an interesting insight to the other side of the war, as one man battled with his emotions with not only his part in the war but with his relationship with his own family.

This book was a compelling read with an intricately written plotline that made for clever reading. A historical and romantic story with a twist, ‘The Other Me’ is a moving tale about family, guilt and finding your true path in life.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”0349403384″ target=”_blank” ]The Other Me from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.