Description
How far would you go to save your reputation? The stunning new noir thriller from the author of the bestselling The Missing One and The Other Child. Perfect for fans of I Let You Go and The Ice Twins.
Professor Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new bestseller she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything.
Only one person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward sixty-year-old housekeeper of a Sussex manor who found the Victorian diary on which Olivia's book is based. She has now become Olivia's unofficial research assistant. And Vivian has secrets of her own.
As events move between London, Sussex and the idyllic South of France, the relationship between these two women grows more entangled and complex. Then a bizarre act of violence changes everything.
The Night Visitor is a compelling exploration of ambition, morality and deception that asks the question: how far would you go to save your reputation?
Only one person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward sixty-year-old housekeeper of a Sussex manor who found the Victorian diary on which Olivia's book is based. She has now become Olivia's unofficial research assistant. And Vivian has secrets of her own.
As events move between London, Sussex and the idyllic South of France, the relationship between these two women grows more entangled and complex. Then a bizarre act of violence changes everything.
The Night Visitor is a compelling exploration of ambition, morality and deception that asks the question: how far would you go to save your reputation?
Review
The book opens with Olivia's book launch event we are then taken back to the events of 18 months before when she first met Vivian the catalyst for the book.
From the blurb we know that there are secrets Olivia is keeping and to begin with I just couldn't imagine what they would be. The story flips between being told by the powerful TV Professor Olivia (in my mind played by Lana Parrilla from Once Upon a Time) and the downtrodden assistant Vivian (who would be played by Melissa McCarthy).
However, as the book progresses we begin to realise that Vivian is also a powerful woman in her own right and one that Olivia has misunderstood and underestimated. There is a tension between them which when we see them together first in France, (where Vivian has followed Olivia) is not at first readily understandable.
For me about half way through the book there was an "aha" moment and I quickly began to guess at some of what was happening, that Olivia was still yet to fathom. From then on I just wanted to get to know how this book was going to unfold.
There is a scene not for the fainted hearted, which I admit I did skip over. There is a lot of talk of Dung beetles and their attributes correlated to human behaviour - not the most interesting part of the book but a necessary part of the story. The night visitor reference I think is overplayed as the title but is a part of the storyline.
I liked the way the book was written and each of the characters voices was distinct to them, probably why I could picture them so clearly. It's also firmly rooted in the here and now with Olivia having been invited to appear on Strictly!
I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC.
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