As seen on my blog: 
 You know how, sometimes, you read a synopsis, and fall entirely in love with what could be written inside a book's pages? You know how, more often than not, the synopsis of said book ends up being a horrendously exaggerated description of a narrative that just fell flat? 
 What I Had Before You 
 was a win-win, straight across the board. The publisher promised me an "evocative literary novel," and that, my dear readers, is exactly what I got. 
 What I Had Before You 
 begins with a vision. Olivia is convinced that she's spotted her deceased twin sisters, fully alive, and running around town like two normal, teenage girls. The shock is well warranted, as Olivia has spent a lifetime convinced, by her psychic mother, that her sisters were stillborn at birth. Skip to present day, Olivia, newly divorced, has arrived back at Ocean Vista with her children: Daniel, her nine-year old with an acute case of bipolar disorder, and her daughter Carrie, who has hit the ripe and temperamental age of 15. The narrative navigates between time periods, as Olivia relives a past that's becoming hard to ignore since stepping back into her hometown, and suffers through the present time, as she searches tirelessly for her son Daniel, who seems to have disappeared into thin air. 
 Sarah Cornwell has a gift for writing scenes in a very realistic tone, based on the time in which it took place. It's often difficult, when narratives switch back and forth from past to present, to follow along without getting confused, or having to re-read the last couple of pages. Cornwell did this with ease, and with a confidence that really shone through her writing. Without a doubt, I knew when I was being brought back into the tumultuous realm of Olivia's past. The references were extremely accurate, and the language so beautifully on point for a teenager in the 80's. I didn't live through that time myself, but I was placed in a mindset that forgave my ignorance, because Cornwell's writing was heart-wrenchingly detailed. 
 Biopolar disorder is a diagnosis that has endlessly fascinated me, and to read about the depths and curves of it's symptoms in 
 What I Had Before I Had You 
 , was a powerful experience. Cornwell plotted a map through generations, a string that tied characters together not only by blood, but by a specific set of emotions that became the downfall of all three: Daniel, Olivia, and Myla. There was so much truth, and intensity, behind Cornwell's words, the way she told a story that was so much more than what it was written about. The dynamics of family, of a broken home-one in which I'm all too familiar with. 
 What I Had Before You 
 is a book that needs to be experienced by all, and appreciated for the fact that Sarah Cornwell brought her entire self to this debut, and came out a winner, on so many levels. 
 Recommended for Fans of: Adult Contemporary, mental illness in fiction, 
 Sharp Objects 
 by Gillian Flynn.