Hi
I've just finished reading The Girl Before.
It's an engrossing read. Here's my review.
If you had to choose one personal item to take with you and leave the rest behind, what would it be? This is the vein of this physiological thriller.
Jane, to secure One Folgate Street with an unbelievably low rental, has to agree to a long list of rules and complete a long questionnaire, which will be submitted to Edward Monkford for his decision. Then on a regular basis, there are more questions that must be completed before this ultra modern house will allow her to have a hot shower or cook.
A concrete staircase without a handrail is dangerous isn't it... but Monkford insists that a handrail would spoil perfection.
At first, she's happy to leave behind all the extraneous stuff of her life.
Jane does her utmost to keep Edward happy in their developing relationship that from the onset is unusual and controlling.
Who is Edward Monkford? Oh yes, we are told he's an eminent architect and a perfectionist, but what dark secrets does he hide? Does every woman who crosses his path want to bed him? Why did he pick Jane to be the one to move into One Folgate Street, the most austere house she'd ever seen. There's no where to hide clutter and dirty plates. She will have to change her ways.
When she discovers that her features are very similar to Edward's dead wife and his last girlfriend Emma, her curiosity is aroused and she sets out to find out more about Emma, and why his dead wife and son are buried at One Folgate Street. What other secrets does this house keep?
Who is leaving flowers on the front doorstep all the time?
This book echoes Daphne du Maurier's, Rebecca.
At each turn, Jane is confronted with more of Emma's secrets.
This story is told by an unreliable narrator with an ending that is so unexpected that you'll be thinking about the story for days.
Be warned... graphic sex.
Once I started reading this story, I couldn't stop.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book for an honest review through NetGalley.
