First published in 2008
460 pages

Torey hayden is an educational psychologist and a special education teacher and normally writes about her experiences with the children she worked very close with. If you have read any of her books before, you may think the same as me, that she is very repetitive in many of her books, which quickly becomes boring. However, this book moves away from this and becomes more of a novel.

~The story~
The book starts with Conor who is a nine year old boy and has been referred to James (a psychiatrist) through his doctor. He had been diagnosed as having Autism. However, after James had been having regular sessions with Conor, he believes that he was wrongly diagnosed with Autism, and is instead terrified of an event that had happened when he was just a toddler.

James then starts having regular sessions with Conor's mum, Laura, who quickly confides in James about her imaginary friend, not just as a child but through into her adult life. James finds this friend, caled Torgon, very intriguing and soon becomes gripped with Laura's accounts of Torgon and the community in which she lives. He is also bewildered with how a child can create such a vivid imaginary friend. It is almost as though Torgon is another human being, and Laura is able to see everything that is happening in Torgon's life.

Laura also confides in James some of her past relationships, mainly her ex Fergus who believed that Torgon was Laura's spirit guide. We soon learn, as a reader, that Fergus is very controlling and possessive and will stop at nothing to get Laura back. But this is his downfall. Is Torgon imaginary? Has Conor really seen something as a toddler that has affected him so much he has been diagnosed with Autism? And how does Conor's sister, Morgana, fit into this? Who is her 'imaginary friend'?

~My opinion~
I am not going to explain this book anymore as it will give away one of the best stories I think I have ever read. I would strongly recommend anyone to read this book, especially if you have read her previous books, or if you enjoy authors such as Jodi Picoult as the stories are written in the same way.

I have already this book about a year ago, but I was very happy to go back to it and read it all over again. And the best part is that I was still shocked at the ending, even though I'd read it before!

I hope that Torey Hayden has many more novels to write - I will definately buy them all!

~~~~~ Review also on Ciao under the same name, amylou-86 ~~~~~