At the moment, the market is flooded with psychological thrillers and domestic noir, but this bestselling debut novel by Louise Jensen is one of the best. I read it over two days and it held my attention throughout. The twist at the end is a brilliant one.
At the moment, the market is flooded with psychological thrillers and domestic noir, but this bestselling debut novel by Louise Jensen is one of the best. I read it over two days and it held my attention throughout. The twist at the end is a brilliant one.
When Grace and Charlie were children, they were best friends. Charlie helped Grace to settle into a new school, was always up for mischief and adventure, and displayed her caring, sharing nature by helping her depressed, poverty-stricken and alcoholic mother to deal with life. But then Charlie disappears and Grace is devastated. She's now with Dan, a boy she met while she was still at school, so has known forever. But Dan can't seem to help Grace to cope with such a devastating loss.
Then Anna comes into Grace's life, claiming to be a half-sister Grace never knew Charlie had.
Anna looks like Charlie, and Grace wants to believe Anna might become a new best friend, someone who is not Charlie but who is almost as lovely. At first, Anna is indeed lovely, cooking for Anna and Dan, treating Grace to days out, and taking Grace shopping for gorgeous clothes. But something isn't right. Why does Dan seem both attracted to and repelled by Anna? What is Dan hiding? What is Anna hiding, and is she mad, bad or merely misunderstood?
As the novel reaches a nail-biting climax, there are revelations upon revelations. Who is Anna, who are or were her parents, and what does she really want?
It turns out Anna wants what most of us want - to be part of a loving family. But how far will Anna go to get what she wants, and will Grace emerge from this situation unscathed? Or even alive?
This is a novel to keep you reading until the early hours!
It's a five star read for me.
