The first book of this month was one I kind of really wanted to read, it was because of the cover and the name that had piqued my interest in the book and when the release date finally came, I didn’t have time yet, but with the beginning of this month and finishing my previous book I bumped this one to the front of the line. I’m talking about ‘The women in white’ by Sarah Pekkanen.

This book has a dual time line sort of thing going on. One that takes place in the present and one that tells you what happened in the 1960’s.

Riley is about to go for a job interview to be an elderly woman’s caretaker, not that she needs a job because she has one but with debt collectors soon wanting their debt paid and knowing those people can be ruthless and will go beyond the law to get what they want, she is kind of happy to have this interview come her way. Within minutes of talking to Betty, she’s hired; the only thing that seems weird is, Betty does most of the things herself so, why would she need a caregiver? Right?

The first request Riley gets is to go grocery shopping and not soon after Betty asks her to go the The Marquis which is a college she was volunteering at, at the time. She wants to know what became of her three best friends, friends she hasn’t seen for about sixty years; she would like to reconnect if possible. When Riley does her digging, she doesn’t find any one the names in the register from back then and it soon becomes clear why. Betty and her friends were volunteers at the Trimble institute; when Riley learns the truths about what happened to Betty’s friends, she gets an uneasy feeling. All three of them had something monumental happening on the same day. Only Betty is left among the living.

In the 60’s Dr. Silas Trimble has funding through the Marquis to set up his own institute and pursue his study into women with high sensitivity. Meaning; he’s looking for women that have unlocked the third eye. Through endless study he finds four women he wants to conduct his testing on and has the backing to get them to volunteer, whatever it takes. At first the study seems harmless, a couple of hours here; a couple of hours there but soon enough it is taking up full days. First test is the easiest, zenner cards but the tests become quite hard. Dr. Trimble has a theory; if the four women grow close enough, they could communicate through telepathy.

There is one test the women dread most and that is where one gets put in a room with blindfolds on, the blindfold is made of two halves of a Ping-Pong ball that cover the eyes. You have to keep your eyes open throughout the test and have to tell out loud what comes to mind. In the end, all that was build had to be broken again to prove a theory.

Once Betty learns about what transpired with her friends, she is eager to visit The Marquis once more. Stepping out of the house for the first time in many years, Betty can’t believe what she is seeing. The world evolved while she was hidden away at home. Betty is adamant to find out what is happening when it becomes clear that someone has started up the study again. She’ll find out and end it once and for all because this study has cost the lives of her friends and was the reason she lived in seclusion for many many years. We all know that poking a sleeping lion never goes without incident.

This book had my interest but was also hard to keep track off. That’s why I’m giving it a 3.5 star rating. I mean, it was good! But everything that was happening in the 60’s I had to give my full attention to get what was happening.