Author: Stuart Neville
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Publisher: Soho Press
Publication Date: September 7, 2021
Book Description: Sara Keane’s husband, Damien, has uprooted them from England and moved them to his native Northern Ireland for a “fresh start” in the wake of her nervous breakdown. Sara, who knows no one in Northern Ireland, is jobless, carless, friendless—all but a prisoner in her own house. When a blood-soaked old woman beats on the door, insisting the house is hers before being bundled back to her care facility, Sara begins to understand the house has a terrible history her husband never intended for her to discover. As the two women form a bond over their shared traumas, Sara finds the strength to stand up to her abuser, and Mary—silent for six decades—is finally ready to tell her story . . .
Through the counterpoint voices—one modern Englishwoman, one Northern Irish farmgirl speaking from half a century earlier—Stuart Neville offers a chilling and gorgeous portrait of violence and resilience in this truly haunting narrative.
Rating: 3 Stars
Mini-Review: Sarah and her husband Damien have recently moved to Ireland from England. When we first meet Sarah she seems so isolated from family and friends. When the book opens Sarah finds an intruder in her house. A woman who claimed that this was her house. Sarah starts to question her husband and on her own researches the history of this house.
As Sarah starts to uncover the history of the house, she might have just opened Pandora’s Box involving her husbands family and the people of this town.
There are trigger warnings for domestic violence in this book. Neville does a pretty good job of peeling back the layers of this story. There is much to unpack throughout. My one complaint is that it felt a little rushed at the end. For such a good story, that kind of ruined it for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 