It is rare to read a debut novel this beautifully written and engaging. I am so impressed by this moving story of 2 women, an artist and the archivist who attempts unravel both her history and her death while trying to save her sanity.

Miranda Brand was a world famous photographer and her death was never explained. Kate Aitken, the archivist hired by her son Theo becomes obsessed by Miranda’s history as well as Theo. As she reads through the papers and her diaries, she uncovers long held secrets.

Her own mental health has been endangered by her involvement in a very timely ME TOO situation that upended her career and her own mental health.

As a reader, I was impressed by both these women and the author’s skill in telling their stories.

Bravo Sara Sligar, keep writing!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to be an early reviewer.

Great debut novel. I wished a few things had been more closely examined or revisited, but overall an exciting read.

I can't say enough about how much I loved this book. What an amazing debut. Deep psychological insight and gorgeous writing. There was so much to admire from a feminist perspective as well. The ending in particular is very satisfying!

Told in alternating chapters of the main character and the object of her growing obsession, Take Me Apart was a well-paced, beautifully written and engaging psychological thriller from an author whose works I'll be on look-out for.

My only complaint about this book is that it's the author's first and, therefore, currently only - I was hoping to dive into another immediately.

Thank you to Macmillan for the ARC copy of this novel.
I did download a copy due to a travel issue, so thank you to NetGalley and Edelweiss as well.
#TakeMeApart
If you like B.A. Paris and Liv Constantine mystery reads then Take Me Apart will peak your interest. It is an adult mystery that has an unreliable narrator, who isn't really sure what she is getting into when so goes to take care of a famed photographer's possessions. It is a mystery that unfolds slowly with a heavy tension. I loved this one immensely that author felt like she'd been doing this forever and it's a debut! I look forward to more of her work.

Sara Sligar's TAKE ME APART, shines a powerful light on art, fame, motherhood and mental illness. Kate has run from the bridges she left in flames in New York to her aunt and uncle's house in Callinas, California. Although she is a journalist by trade, Kate is hired as the archivist for the photographs and papers of the late, great Miranda Brand, Callinas' most notorious resident. Miranda was a star in the art world when she gave birth to her son, Theo. the post-partum depression she suffered after the birth changed her forever. Kate has had her own experience with mental illness and as she delved into Miranda's personal life, she becomes obsessed with proving that Miranda did not commit suicide, as the coroner thought, but was murdered. But by whom? TAKE ME APART thoroughly illustrates what women sacirfice to be taken seriously and they way they are frequently suppressed or controlled by now. But TAKE ME APART is hardly a feminist anthem dressed up as a novel; it is literary fiction at its finest. Beautifully written with realistic characters and a plot that pulls the reader in, TAKE ME APART is a fabulous read and one to share with others!