‘Her Here,’ by Amanda Dennis book review

Is it hope or guilt that haunts Siobhán? Now a successful gallerist in Paris, Siobhán gave Ella up as an infant. Upon learning of her adoption, the fresh college graduate felt betrayed and moved to Thailand, cutting herself off from family and friends. Ella chronicled her immersion in an unfamiliar landscape through a series of journals. Initially a blur of culture shock juxtaposed with her ongoing disenchantment, the journals track her obsession with her elusive, rakish colleague as well as her increasingly erratic state of mind. Writing doesn’t offer her illumination or solace, but her devotion to the practice speaks to her desire to be seen.

Dennis excels at delving into the psyche of these women, exploring their traumas and constructing wholly engrossing worlds. Her novel toggles back and forth between Elena’s cloistered life in Paris, Ella’s often cryptic journals and the…