Where sleeping girls lie by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

In this slow-burning mystery there are multiple layers to explore. Firstly there are the words of a drowning girl ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry . . .’ This is followed by a brief account of a girl escaping from a party to a join a companion in a car and her words ‘H-he’s dead’. The novel proper begins with Sade Hussein’s arrival at an exclusive boarding school, the Alfred Nobel Academy. She is an orphan, but wealthy, the new girl intent on making her way in the school. Her room mate Elizabeth seems like she will be a friend, the gay boy Baz is welcoming, and even the Unholy Trinity, the incredibly beautiful Juliette, April, and Persephone, don’t seem as unapproachable as their reputation suggests.

Strangely Elizabeth disappears on Sade’s first night in the school, and after the initial investigation the school seems ready to move on. But for Sade and Baz, there are too many questions about what could have happened to her. This becomes their focus in any spare moment, piecing together any clues they can find. For the reader, there is another underlying mystery: who exactly is Sade herself? We work out that she is black, Muslim, and lonely, and we know that previously she had been home-schooled, but we don’t know why. We know she has disturbing dreams and she sleepwalks, and there are many references to people dying in her past. In one of the earliest chapters there is the line ‘Sade Hussein was used to being lied to’. Sade is also not open about her past; if not lying, she is at least hiding something. In addition to all that we read mysterious diary entries always with the same intriguing anagram ‘I sleep, I drown & disappear’.

Abike-Iyimide has created a real teaser of a mystery. Although the first two parts of the novel are very long, with a number of red herrings, most readers will be drawn into following the various strands, as the tension builds up until the final chapters where all is revealed.

There is the suggestion of a LGBQTI+ romance but it is very understated. Instead it shows the value of platonic relationships. The central issues are those of toxic masculinity, misogynistic attitudes, harassment, privilege and entitlement. The book comes with a warning that it deals with real issues including sexual assault, rape, suicide and suicidal ideation, grief, and death of family members, and at the end there are referrals to support services in the UK. It is a book that reflects diverse cultures and experiences, and would be suitable for mature YA readers with a love of complex mystery stories.

Themes: Mystery, Missing person, School story, Toxic masculinity, MeToo, Friendships.

Helen Eddy