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The Hidden Girl
From “a writer to watch” (Booklist), this gripping psychological thriller follows a young woman who uncovers a terrible secret in her idyllic suburban neighborhood—but who will believe her?
Hannah Riley and her musician husband, Will, hope that a move to the Suffolk countryside will promise a fresh start.
Hannah, a human rights worker, is desperate for a child and she hopes that this new life will realise her dream.
Yet when the snow comes, Will is working in London and Hannah is cut off in their remote village. Life in Tornley turns out to be far from idyllic, who are the threatening figures who lurk near their property at night? And why is her neighbour so keen to see them leave? Plus Will's, behaviour is severely testing the bonds of her trust.
Hannah has spent her professional life doing the right thing for other people. But as she starts to unbury a terrible crime, she realises she can no longer do that without putting everything she's ever wanted at risk.
But if she does nothing, the next victim could be her...
Hannah Riley and her musician husband, Will, hope that a move to the Suffolk countryside will promise a fresh start.
Hannah, a human rights worker, is desperate for a child and she hopes that this new life will realise her dream.
Yet when the snow comes, Will is working in London and Hannah is cut off in their remote village. Life in Tornley turns out to be far from idyllic, who are the threatening figures who lurk near their property at night? And why is her neighbour so keen to see them leave? Plus Will's, behaviour is severely testing the bonds of her trust.
Hannah has spent her professional life doing the right thing for other people. But as she starts to unbury a terrible crime, she realises she can no longer do that without putting everything she's ever wanted at risk.
But if she does nothing, the next victim could be her...
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
August 18, 2014
3.5 When Hannah finds out she will be unable to have children, she and her husband Will decide to adopt. Although they come close to adopting a little boy, they lose out to another couple. Hannah believes this was because they lived in an apartment, with this thought she talks Will into buying Tornley, in Suffolk, a house that needs to be presentable in a short period of time. The house needs to be ready for the social workers visit, a visit Hannah hope will bring them a much wanted child.
Almost from the beginning, Hannah encounters problems and a snow storm that keeps Will in London doesn't help. She meets a strange young woman who seems able to get into the house at will. She is forced to ask for help from a few neighbors when she loses heat. At first all seems friendly but soon a insidious web is being weaved around her, a web she will find hard to break. Soon she does not know who is friend or foe and she fears for her life.
Although some of these happenings could stretch the belief of a reader, in an enclosed community stranger things have been known to happen. Hannah is a times a little to obsessed with the adoption, but it does provide the excuse for her to stay even when weirder and weirder things and situations begin to manifest.
A psychological mind game, with the characters and the reader. A village I never hope to visit, gave off a Children of the Corn vibe. Creepy without being graphic. A good solid read.
Almost from the beginning, Hannah encounters problems and a snow storm that keeps Will in London doesn't help. She meets a strange young woman who seems able to get into the house at will. She is forced to ask for help from a few neighbors when she loses heat. At first all seems friendly but soon a insidious web is being weaved around her, a web she will find hard to break. Soon she does not know who is friend or foe and she fears for her life.
Although some of these happenings could stretch the belief of a reader, in an enclosed community stranger things have been known to happen. Hannah is a times a little to obsessed with the adoption, but it does provide the excuse for her to stay even when weirder and weirder things and situations begin to manifest.
A psychological mind game, with the characters and the reader. A village I never hope to visit, gave off a Children of the Corn vibe. Creepy without being graphic. A good solid read.
February 4, 2015
Let's get to the review shall we? As I have mentioned several times before, mystery is my favorite genre of books. I am extremely picky in rating it cause my expectations are clear from the start. If it does not pull me initially, then there is really no reason to keep reading. There are some books that are exempt from this rule but not the majority, mainly the only thing that I look far is a thrilling moment in the first pages. This book was nothing like the critics described, it was not creepy or chilling. It was not full of twists and turns, neither did it keep me up all night. However it was boring, trite and the characters were so undeveloped, I forgot about their role after I turned the page.
Just what the heck is this book suppose to be about? It had absolutely no direction, it kept going back and forth about things that were not relevant to the plot. Honestly,,I cannot even describe to you what I read, I gave up after the 50th page or so. Not even the opening poem made sense, the only thing that was hidden was the accolades that this book received.
Hidden girl? What hidden girl? UGHHHHHH another book that bites the dust!
NEXT!!!!!
Just what the heck is this book suppose to be about? It had absolutely no direction, it kept going back and forth about things that were not relevant to the plot. Honestly,,I cannot even describe to you what I read, I gave up after the 50th page or so. Not even the opening poem made sense, the only thing that was hidden was the accolades that this book received.
Hidden girl? What hidden girl? UGHHHHHH another book that bites the dust!
NEXT!!!!!
October 23, 2014
The Hidden Girl just didn't do it for me. Which is so rare for me to give a book two star rating, but I was just so bored for most of the book. I mean honestly the title is so much of a spoiler that even the things that are supposed to be suspenseful don't really end up feeling that creepy. That's probably my number one gripe about the book - it had so much potential but it seemed kind of squandered. Like I really don't think the first two thirds of the book had much substance, I almost quit reading. Yes, they move into an older house that needs massive renovations but thry only have time to do some very quick two weeks worth of DIY because of a social worker visit where they're desperately hoping to adopt a child.
So her husband is largely absent as the stress gets to him and he pours his hours not on fixing up the house but working in his music studio off site and drinking to excess, not to mention spending a bit too much time with a female co-worker. I felt really bad for his wife, left home alone in an old house with massive work to do and a huge snow storm. She barely can keep herself warm and safe as the boiler goes and she locks herself out and has to break a window to get in - something she can't repair herself and so the wind and snow come howling in, making her DIY list feel even more stressful. She wants everything to appear perfect for the social worker. And weird things keep happening around the house, she encounters odd neighbors and she's growing more frustrated by the day as her husband isn't around to help or share her experiences.
Spoiler alert...
Okay so what ticked me off about the book is that all these things happen in the house that she starts to semi-jokingly begins to think she's got a ghost. But DUH the title of the book is The Hidden Girl - it ruined most of the mystery and suspense for me because it was obvious what was going on, there was a hidden girl in her house steals food and shelter etc.
The only reason why this book didn't get a one star rating is because it had an interesting answer to the hidden girl's history and the weird/creepy neighbors that I thought was unique. Other than that, this book was so boring for me. :(
So her husband is largely absent as the stress gets to him and he pours his hours not on fixing up the house but working in his music studio off site and drinking to excess, not to mention spending a bit too much time with a female co-worker. I felt really bad for his wife, left home alone in an old house with massive work to do and a huge snow storm. She barely can keep herself warm and safe as the boiler goes and she locks herself out and has to break a window to get in - something she can't repair herself and so the wind and snow come howling in, making her DIY list feel even more stressful. She wants everything to appear perfect for the social worker. And weird things keep happening around the house, she encounters odd neighbors and she's growing more frustrated by the day as her husband isn't around to help or share her experiences.
Spoiler alert...
Okay so what ticked me off about the book is that all these things happen in the house that she starts to semi-jokingly begins to think she's got a ghost. But DUH the title of the book is The Hidden Girl - it ruined most of the mystery and suspense for me because it was obvious what was going on, there was a hidden girl in her house steals food and shelter etc.
The only reason why this book didn't get a one star rating is because it had an interesting answer to the hidden girl's history and the weird/creepy neighbors that I thought was unique. Other than that, this book was so boring for me. :(
March 31, 2021
Meet Will and Hannah.
Will is a "reformed" bad boy music tech (he's not, he's still an arsewipe) and Hannah has quit her job as a press officer to obsess over a dilapidated house and a possible adoption. This couple is TOXIC and is so toxic that the first 60% is just them getting arsey with each other and Hannah going mad because the snow means Will can't come home.
Yes, the vast majority of this book is dedicated to this hot mess of a relationship and not the actual mystery this book proposes that it is. If I hadn't paid for this audiobook, I would have DNFed a LOOOOONG time ago. Just when I was going to finally throw the towel in, the mystery FINALLY happened.
The gaslighting and lying made me very curious, but then it became almost farcical. The gathering of the villagers towards the end just conjured images in my mind of "Curse of the Wererabbit" if I'm honest. I also found the ending disappointing and the crime wasn't fully explained.
Will is a "reformed" bad boy music tech (he's not, he's still an arsewipe) and Hannah has quit her job as a press officer to obsess over a dilapidated house and a possible adoption. This couple is TOXIC and is so toxic that the first 60% is just them getting arsey with each other and Hannah going mad because the snow means Will can't come home.
Yes, the vast majority of this book is dedicated to this hot mess of a relationship and not the actual mystery this book proposes that it is. If I hadn't paid for this audiobook, I would have DNFed a LOOOOONG time ago. Just when I was going to finally throw the towel in, the mystery FINALLY happened.
The gaslighting and lying made me very curious, but then it became almost farcical. The gathering of the villagers towards the end just conjured images in my mind of "Curse of the Wererabbit" if I'm honest. I also found the ending disappointing and the crime wasn't fully explained.
May 17, 2014
We meet Hannah Riley and her husband Will as they drive to a remote spot in Suffolk to their new house. Hannah is placating Will who is lost in the countryside that formed the happier moments of his childhood. The new house has to be perfect for Barbara in a mere 10 days. Hannah longs for a child of her own and she believes the house is the key to finally achieving this.
Having moved in winter no sooner has Will returned to London where he works as a music producer than the snow falls cutting off the majestic sounding Tornley Hall from the surrounding towns and villages and Hannah is left alone in the house.
Hannah sees figures, has to contend with half the house being inexplicably locked and with a strange lingering smell. With poor mobile reception and Will appearing to have less invested in the move she is clearly in for a rough time until the snow clears. There is plenty of unwelcome surprises for Hannah but I felt frustrated with her. No one in their right mind would be planning on bringing up a child in a remote spot with no transport, surely? The desperation to fix the house up for the mysterious Barbara and the belief that any normal reaction to a suspected crime would jeopardise the visit made no sense even with the protracted build up and ongoing hints of the mysterious events eight months previously didn’t convince this reader.
The mystery continues when the villagers appear to contradict everything that Hannah has said causing further conflict between herself and her husband which isn’t resolved as he runs into the distance and back to London leaving Hannah to deal with the now wary inhabitants of Tornley.
I found this a somewhat tortured tale which stretched the bounds of credulity to the max, I know it’s fiction but in these types of thrillers I have to believe that this could really happen and this time I didn’t. The pace of the book is good, there are plenty of twists along the way and with a nod to recent press stories along similar lines but I wasn’t invested enough in any of the characters, the villagers in particular seemed to be the stereotypical country bumpkins of fifty years ago without distinct personalities to differentiate them from each other. I think part of the problem is we have two strong story-lines; that of Hannah’s longing for a child as well as a potential crime and whilst one is used to illustrate the lack of action on Hannah’s part these are two heavy subjects for one book especially when combined with the disabled neighbour, Will’s past issues as well as a strange relationship with his cousin it all became a little bit ‘issue-heavy’.
I have read Louise Millar’s previous books The Playdate and Accidents Happen which I found much more thrilling, so I’m sure if I hadn’t been a disbeliever The Hidden Girl may have been a better read for me.
I’d like to thank the publishers Macmillan for allowing me to read a copy of this book prior to publication on 22 May 2014.
Having moved in winter no sooner has Will returned to London where he works as a music producer than the snow falls cutting off the majestic sounding Tornley Hall from the surrounding towns and villages and Hannah is left alone in the house.
Hannah sees figures, has to contend with half the house being inexplicably locked and with a strange lingering smell. With poor mobile reception and Will appearing to have less invested in the move she is clearly in for a rough time until the snow clears. There is plenty of unwelcome surprises for Hannah but I felt frustrated with her. No one in their right mind would be planning on bringing up a child in a remote spot with no transport, surely? The desperation to fix the house up for the mysterious Barbara and the belief that any normal reaction to a suspected crime would jeopardise the visit made no sense even with the protracted build up and ongoing hints of the mysterious events eight months previously didn’t convince this reader.
The mystery continues when the villagers appear to contradict everything that Hannah has said causing further conflict between herself and her husband which isn’t resolved as he runs into the distance and back to London leaving Hannah to deal with the now wary inhabitants of Tornley.
I found this a somewhat tortured tale which stretched the bounds of credulity to the max, I know it’s fiction but in these types of thrillers I have to believe that this could really happen and this time I didn’t. The pace of the book is good, there are plenty of twists along the way and with a nod to recent press stories along similar lines but I wasn’t invested enough in any of the characters, the villagers in particular seemed to be the stereotypical country bumpkins of fifty years ago without distinct personalities to differentiate them from each other. I think part of the problem is we have two strong story-lines; that of Hannah’s longing for a child as well as a potential crime and whilst one is used to illustrate the lack of action on Hannah’s part these are two heavy subjects for one book especially when combined with the disabled neighbour, Will’s past issues as well as a strange relationship with his cousin it all became a little bit ‘issue-heavy’.
I have read Louise Millar’s previous books The Playdate and Accidents Happen which I found much more thrilling, so I’m sure if I hadn’t been a disbeliever The Hidden Girl may have been a better read for me.
I’d like to thank the publishers Macmillan for allowing me to read a copy of this book prior to publication on 22 May 2014.
May 12, 2014
At the start of this novel young couple, Will and Hannah, move from London to Tornley Hall in Suffolk. Hannah has given up her high profile job as a press officer in order to create the perfect rural retreat, while Will, a music producer, is resentful at a long commute, a huge mortgage and the fact that he feels pushed into a way of life he is not completely comfortable with. From the very beginning, the author manages to set the scene without giving away too much of the plot. We are aware that the couple are childless, that Hannah is desperate to start a family and that both her deep sadness and need to make things right are creating a distance between her and Will; while Will himself comes across as slightly selfish and unwilling to face his own personal demons.
Hannah has set herself difficult personal targets – to get the house ready within a very short time, in order that an important visitor will be impressed by the perfect home she has created. The reality is very different; the house in rundown, many of the doors are inexplicably locked and the keys cannot be located, the neighbours are less than friendly and then the snow comes... With Matt in London, no trains running and his attention wandering to another woman, Hannah is left in an unheated house and soon becomes spooked. Is the house haunted? For she keeps finding things moved, or doors closed that were open, or lights on that she had turned off. The author builds the tension well, as Hannah and Will’s relationship begins to crumble under pressure and then Hannah stumbles upon a long buried secret which puts her in danger.
This is a very well paced, interesting thriller, with good characters and a sympathetic heroine. I really liked Hannah, who tried so hard to make everything right and yet always seemed to come up against barriers; from Matt’s cousin who makes her feel she is incapable or over-reacting, to her inability to make sense of what is going on in her house, her attempts to understand the behaviour of Will, and her own desperation, which leads to her turning to the rather creepy local, Dax. This is a plotline which will resonate with many recent news stories, and which, although shocking, is sadly all too believable and, yet, the author manages to create great tension between the mystery that Hannah discovers, and her own personal troubles, and yet make both storylines believable and interesting. Overall, a very good read and it would be a good choice for book groups, with much to discuss.
Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, for review.
Hannah has set herself difficult personal targets – to get the house ready within a very short time, in order that an important visitor will be impressed by the perfect home she has created. The reality is very different; the house in rundown, many of the doors are inexplicably locked and the keys cannot be located, the neighbours are less than friendly and then the snow comes... With Matt in London, no trains running and his attention wandering to another woman, Hannah is left in an unheated house and soon becomes spooked. Is the house haunted? For she keeps finding things moved, or doors closed that were open, or lights on that she had turned off. The author builds the tension well, as Hannah and Will’s relationship begins to crumble under pressure and then Hannah stumbles upon a long buried secret which puts her in danger.
This is a very well paced, interesting thriller, with good characters and a sympathetic heroine. I really liked Hannah, who tried so hard to make everything right and yet always seemed to come up against barriers; from Matt’s cousin who makes her feel she is incapable or over-reacting, to her inability to make sense of what is going on in her house, her attempts to understand the behaviour of Will, and her own desperation, which leads to her turning to the rather creepy local, Dax. This is a plotline which will resonate with many recent news stories, and which, although shocking, is sadly all too believable and, yet, the author manages to create great tension between the mystery that Hannah discovers, and her own personal troubles, and yet make both storylines believable and interesting. Overall, a very good read and it would be a good choice for book groups, with much to discuss.
Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, for review.
August 12, 2017
Hannah and Will Riley move out to the country to Tornley Hall. They wish to adopt and Hannah is desperate to show that they have a suitable home in which to bring up a child (she feels responsible for the fact they missed out last time, and it was shattering). She only has a fortnight until the social worker arrives to assess the house, and it needs a lot of work, so she becomes obsessive about getting it all done within that time frame.
Suffice to say, the house has secrets, and I can't say much more than that! To do so could be considered spoilers because this is VERY, VERY SLOW to get started! If you want 200 pages of description about doing up a house and moving around furniture, then step right up. About 100 pages should have been shaved off this story, that's for sure! We spend a lot of time with Hannah and Will, and neither are all that likable, unfortunately. They're both very selfish and self-absorbed in their own ways. Will's behaviour in the later part of the book is childish in the extreme, and I wanted to give him a short, sharp slap! What a tool!
However, the last 120 pages or so are quite good as the mystery deepens and explanations eventually make their way to surface. But it takes far, far too long to get to the good stuff.
Suffice to say, the house has secrets, and I can't say much more than that! To do so could be considered spoilers because this is VERY, VERY SLOW to get started! If you want 200 pages of description about doing up a house and moving around furniture, then step right up. About 100 pages should have been shaved off this story, that's for sure! We spend a lot of time with Hannah and Will, and neither are all that likable, unfortunately. They're both very selfish and self-absorbed in their own ways. Will's behaviour in the later part of the book is childish in the extreme, and I wanted to give him a short, sharp slap! What a tool!
However, the last 120 pages or so are quite good as the mystery deepens and explanations eventually make their way to surface. But it takes far, far too long to get to the good stuff.
August 23, 2016
Another super psychological thriller from Louise Millar. A novel that had me up late reading and not wanting to stop.
Hannah and Will Riley give up their busy London lifestyle to take on a huge, run down home in the Sussex countryside, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
Right from the start the plot starts to weave it's clever tendrils around you as you feel the suspense around some strange events going on in their new home.
Bit by bit the plot weaves in more characters, most of it starting to happen after Will is trapped at his workplace in London due to heavy snowfalls, when he can't get home to Hannah, who is all alone in this strange house where nothing seems to be going right and things go bump in the night.
It's tense and clever, chilling and mysterious, as Hannah tries to make sense of all that she is dealing with. The book is full if a few dubious characters, it takes the whole book to put together the facts of what is really going on in this lovely but unloved old house and the small community around it.
Compelled to read on to find out what was going on this book hooked me right in, the last few chapters didn't disappoint either as the pace builds up to a great ending.
At times there is almost some funny moments amongst the suspense and thrills, all adding to the overall appeal of this very readable book.
Hannah and Will Riley give up their busy London lifestyle to take on a huge, run down home in the Sussex countryside, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
Right from the start the plot starts to weave it's clever tendrils around you as you feel the suspense around some strange events going on in their new home.
Bit by bit the plot weaves in more characters, most of it starting to happen after Will is trapped at his workplace in London due to heavy snowfalls, when he can't get home to Hannah, who is all alone in this strange house where nothing seems to be going right and things go bump in the night.
It's tense and clever, chilling and mysterious, as Hannah tries to make sense of all that she is dealing with. The book is full if a few dubious characters, it takes the whole book to put together the facts of what is really going on in this lovely but unloved old house and the small community around it.
Compelled to read on to find out what was going on this book hooked me right in, the last few chapters didn't disappoint either as the pace builds up to a great ending.
At times there is almost some funny moments amongst the suspense and thrills, all adding to the overall appeal of this very readable book.
June 12, 2014
This is a story that keeps you guessing all the way through. Who is the mysterious Barbara that Hannah is expecting? What lies beyond the locked doors of Tornley Hall? What secrets are the neighbours keeping? I was never quite sure until the end if I was reading a ghost story, a horror story or a thriller and it's that addictive not knowing that will keep you turning the pages. Louise Millar's easy, flowing style makes this a book you'll reach for whenever you have a free moment.
October 6, 2014
Disappointing - I kept waiting for it to get creepy, and it never really did. And the way it all wrapped up made me feel like she hadn't planned it all out ahead of time, she just sort of came across an idea that fit what she'd written so far and threw it in there. Plus the main characters were just annoying people, not at all likeable, so I didn't much care if he left her alone in the snow or not.
November 25, 2017
I have had this book on my tbr pile for far too long but I am so glad I got round to it. I have always loved Louise Millar's books and this was no exception. It drew me in right from the start and it is slow burning pace made for an intriguing read. As I read I actually felt like I was in the creepy house in the middle of nowhere, it was very atmospheric. The only reason I did not score 5 was because I thought the ending was a bit rushed but even so I really enjoyed this book.
February 16, 2020
It has an isolated house and a marriage on the rocks, which is common enough in thrillers—but it took a couple of mostly unexpected turns.
The story is clearly Hannah’s but the shifting perspectives allowed for some tension and anticipation, as well as for my sympathies shifted from very biased toward one member of the marriage in the beginning, to something a bit more balanced by the end.
I don’t think it’s an entirely new take, but the characters felt well-rounded out and it made for a decent mid-winter thriller.
The story is clearly Hannah’s but the shifting perspectives allowed for some tension and anticipation, as well as for my sympathies shifted from very biased toward one member of the marriage in the beginning, to something a bit more balanced by the end.
I don’t think it’s an entirely new take, but the characters felt well-rounded out and it made for a decent mid-winter thriller.
May 19, 2017
3.5 stars. Review to follow on this and all recent reads when I can, I've been so busy with moving ect that I can't keep up!
September 6, 2014
When Hannah and Will finally move into Tornley Hall, a dilapidated old house that has been empty for a few years, their relationship appears to be stretched to breaking point. It is not only the remoteness of the house in the Suffolk countryside that is a factor, but the tension between Hannah and Will. Hannah’s longing for a child has divided them and whilst she is sure that this will be the perfect family home, Will is not so sure about the huge commitment they have made in the house.
Hannah puts them both under intense pressure by insisting on having the house decorated from top to bottom within two weeks and ready for inspection by someone initially only known as “Barbara”. To begin with I thought that Barbara was the mother-in-law from hell who must be shown a perfect house but no, apparently she is the person who potentially holds Hannah’s future happiness in her hands. When a heavy snowfall keeps Will in London and Hannah stranded at the house on her own, strange things start to happen, for example items being moved around in various rooms and a feeling of being watched. At this stage, I wasn’t quite sure where the story was heading – was it a psychological thriller or a ghost story? With sinister neighbours, no heating, no landline, an unreliable mobile phone signal and signs that someone unseen is also living at the house, it’s not surprising that Hannah starts to feel scared.
I have to admit when I first started reading, I did take me a while to feel anything for Hannah and Will. Hannah’s relentless decorating schedule was exhausting and I could understand why Will did a runner back to London. Hannah had previously had a challenging and responsible career and she was used to dealing with difficult situations however her all consuming desire for a child conflicted at times with common sense decisions. Will seemed quite immature and rather than stay and discuss their problems, he ran way.
Despite my initial reservations and after a bit of a slow start, this did turn into a gripping and suspenseful read with the author skilfully racking up the sense of fear and the sinister atmosphere. The neighbours were truly creepy and were desperate to keep their secrets hidden at any cost, giving rise to an ever present feeling of danger. Hannah’s increasing isolation, both in terms of location and in her marriage added to the tension. The ensuing storyline was original and it certainly didn’t pan out in the way that I had envisaged.
I did spot a couple of instances of minor inaccuracies with regard to the trains and I don’t know if these have since been corrected. Having travelled the London to Essex/Suffolk line for over 15 years from London Liverpool Street, I am not aware that you can get a train direct to Suffolk from Paddington Station.
There are plenty of plot twists to make this an interesting and addictive read. I will certainly read more by Louise and do have The Playdate and Accidents Happen on my bookshelf awaiting their turn.
Hannah puts them both under intense pressure by insisting on having the house decorated from top to bottom within two weeks and ready for inspection by someone initially only known as “Barbara”. To begin with I thought that Barbara was the mother-in-law from hell who must be shown a perfect house but no, apparently she is the person who potentially holds Hannah’s future happiness in her hands. When a heavy snowfall keeps Will in London and Hannah stranded at the house on her own, strange things start to happen, for example items being moved around in various rooms and a feeling of being watched. At this stage, I wasn’t quite sure where the story was heading – was it a psychological thriller or a ghost story? With sinister neighbours, no heating, no landline, an unreliable mobile phone signal and signs that someone unseen is also living at the house, it’s not surprising that Hannah starts to feel scared.
I have to admit when I first started reading, I did take me a while to feel anything for Hannah and Will. Hannah’s relentless decorating schedule was exhausting and I could understand why Will did a runner back to London. Hannah had previously had a challenging and responsible career and she was used to dealing with difficult situations however her all consuming desire for a child conflicted at times with common sense decisions. Will seemed quite immature and rather than stay and discuss their problems, he ran way.
Despite my initial reservations and after a bit of a slow start, this did turn into a gripping and suspenseful read with the author skilfully racking up the sense of fear and the sinister atmosphere. The neighbours were truly creepy and were desperate to keep their secrets hidden at any cost, giving rise to an ever present feeling of danger. Hannah’s increasing isolation, both in terms of location and in her marriage added to the tension. The ensuing storyline was original and it certainly didn’t pan out in the way that I had envisaged.
I did spot a couple of instances of minor inaccuracies with regard to the trains and I don’t know if these have since been corrected. Having travelled the London to Essex/Suffolk line for over 15 years from London Liverpool Street, I am not aware that you can get a train direct to Suffolk from Paddington Station.
There are plenty of plot twists to make this an interesting and addictive read. I will certainly read more by Louise and do have The Playdate and Accidents Happen on my bookshelf awaiting their turn.
July 21, 2014
“The Hidden Girl” by Louisa Millar, published by Emily Bestler Books.
Category – Fiction/Literature Publication Date – August 19, 20
Put your advance order in for this book now. It is quite possible that you will not put this book down until you have finished it. Hannah Riley and her husband Will cannot have children, although Hannah desperately wants them. They have tried everything and now see adoption as their last resort. Hannah is devastated when a young boy they thought sure was going to be theirs was adopted by another couple. Hannah believes that moving out of London to a nowhere town called Tornley would increase their chances at adoption. They purchased an old mansion that is in need of extensive repair. Hannah sets up a work schedule so that the repairs can be completed before the social workers come to investigate their new home. Will, who works in London, must return to his work leaving Hannah alone. Things start going bad when a bad snow storm hits, the boiler breaks down, and has little or no cell service. She tries to seek help from the few locals in the area and finds that not only are they reluctant to help but seem a little odd in their ways. She does find some help from a local named Dak, who seems friendly enough but may turn out to be the strangest of the lot.
Adding to her worries Hannah, she now feels the house may be haunted, or at least she feels that someone besides herself is in the house. Her next door neighbors offer Hannah the help of a young girl that seems to be mentally handicapped and very shy. Little does Hannah know that this girl is going to play a very important part in her life. Hannah attempts to explain all the strange things that have been happening to her but no one will believe her. It seems like the locals are doing everything they can to get her to leave town and to quit looking into the strange history of the family that lived in the house. Excellent read. Betcha can’t put it down.
Category – Fiction/Literature Publication Date – August 19, 20
Put your advance order in for this book now. It is quite possible that you will not put this book down until you have finished it. Hannah Riley and her husband Will cannot have children, although Hannah desperately wants them. They have tried everything and now see adoption as their last resort. Hannah is devastated when a young boy they thought sure was going to be theirs was adopted by another couple. Hannah believes that moving out of London to a nowhere town called Tornley would increase their chances at adoption. They purchased an old mansion that is in need of extensive repair. Hannah sets up a work schedule so that the repairs can be completed before the social workers come to investigate their new home. Will, who works in London, must return to his work leaving Hannah alone. Things start going bad when a bad snow storm hits, the boiler breaks down, and has little or no cell service. She tries to seek help from the few locals in the area and finds that not only are they reluctant to help but seem a little odd in their ways. She does find some help from a local named Dak, who seems friendly enough but may turn out to be the strangest of the lot.
Adding to her worries Hannah, she now feels the house may be haunted, or at least she feels that someone besides herself is in the house. Her next door neighbors offer Hannah the help of a young girl that seems to be mentally handicapped and very shy. Little does Hannah know that this girl is going to play a very important part in her life. Hannah attempts to explain all the strange things that have been happening to her but no one will believe her. It seems like the locals are doing everything they can to get her to leave town and to quit looking into the strange history of the family that lived in the house. Excellent read. Betcha can’t put it down.
December 30, 2015
It was Hannah's idea that her and her huband Will Riley move from London to Suffolk in an abandoned Thornley Hall house. Hannah convinces Will that he can still travel to work in London from their new house in Suffolk. Thornley Hall is a bit more run down than they first thought and it is in desperate need of painting. Every thing seems to go wrong in Thornley Hall. When the snow falls it traps Hannah's husband Will in London at his music production company, and then strange things start to happen to Hannah inside Thornley Hall.
January 22, 2015
I loved this book, was so easy to read and couldn't put it down. It's not the best thriller I've read but the story flows so well you just want to keep reading. Looking forward to reading more by this author.
August 15, 2016
felt this book was slow starting off and felt a rushed ending as the plot took ages to get going. the book itself could be a bit shorter and had a more of a punch especially with the subject matter involved.
September 16, 2015
Just re-read this. Makes me wary of isolated little farming communities in the English countryside. Great fodder for mystery writers a la Agatha Christie.
August 27, 2014
My Take:
5+++++ Stars!
I LOVED this book! No one and nothing could tear me apart from reading this book, as soon as I started reading it! In fact, I pulled an all-nighter because I could not/did not want to stop reading this book! I ended up finishing it at 6:00am the next morning, and it was THAT good! Was it worth messing up my sleep schedule for the next few days? Oh, YES!!! This book is such an AMAZING Psychological Thriller! The writing pulls you in, the storyline makes you want/need to know what is going to happen next. This author has you snagged! This author really knows how to mess with our heads! She just continues to keep the reader glued to the pages making us to continue to flip them with all of the twists and turns in this story. We need to know what is going to happen at the next, so we have to keep flipping the pages as fast as we can! So what happens in this book that makes it SO GOOD? Here it is with NO SPOILERS!
Hannah and her husband Will are now done trying to conceive a child on their own. The resulting pregnancies are never 'viable' even with the 'best of the best' professionals out there. They have tried everything, including Invitro Fertilization three times, and now the doctors suggest they stop after three unsuccessful attempts. Hannah feels as if it's her fault she cannot bear children. Since everything else has failed, they continue on in life, but Hannah is determined to have children even if they have to adopt, and, adopt it is! They had one child all set to adopt, and out of the blue it fell through. She could not take that chance again.
To improve the odds of Hannah and her husband getting a child, she feels buying a house instead of renting an apartment would be much better and make a better impression for the Social Workers or even the birth parents. They end up buying a fixer-upper out in the country in Suffolk, away from the busy city of London, plus it also happens to be near Will's family, his sister's house. She and her husband have several children, they would be blocks away, and this can only be more of a positive for Hannah and Will. It can't get any better than this! Yes, it will be a little drive for Will going back and forth to and from London every day, but he can do it. When the weather is bad, he can stay overnight in his office or with one of his buddies he works with if need be.
I felt Will is somewhat of a jerk at times towards Hannah. Will puts himself first, and everyone else comes last. He blows off Hannah's concerns and doesn't give her the time he should, and at the same time he blames her for wanting 'everything needs to be perfect' mantra over and over and over. He headed out to London and was going to stop at the store to buy food since that was the one thing they did not have, but he doesn't come home on purpose that night after work, and Hannah's needs are left second to none, again. (Grrrrr! Jerk! This did leave me wondering why she would want to have a family with 'him'.)
Hannah, now out in Suffolk, alone, with horrid cell service, is in their new fixer-upper, working away. Hannah has 9 days until the Social Worker, Barbara, from the Adoption Agency, is coming out to their home to make sure the house, along with the both of them are all set and ready to adopt a child when one becomes available.
Hannah is in high gear and is pumped up. She is painting like crazy, all one color, freshening it up whether it needs it or not, and works late into every night so she can get it all done. Why isn't Will helping her more?
While Hannah is working around the house, she starts to think she's heard things. Noises. She blows it off and continues on working, but out of the corner of her eye thought she saw someone IN her house. No, can't be. Everything is locked. She double checks, but can't find her keys. Are they LOST? How? What did she do with them? She can't believe she could lose something as important as her keys.
Hannah meets a neighbor, Dex, an odd sort of fellow. He helps her out and she is very grateful for it. They exchange phone numbers for later, just in case as you never know . . . Hannah meets her neighbors on the other side of her, and they a little strange, too, but Hannah blows it off to living where they do. Hannah also gets to meet a few to meet a few other people, too, and she starts to feel like she's fitting in now. There is only one problem. Later, her one neighbor, Dex, is turning out not to be who he claims he is. Hmmm? Now, a long string of strange events start to happen.
Where is Will? This is where it starts to really get good and you'll lose sleep over reading! Where are her keys again?
A snowstorm hits. Everyone is snowed in and are pretty much paralyzed from the amount of snow that fell. They haven't seen record setting snow like this in a long time, decades. Roads are impassable, and Will is stuck in London, and Hannah is still stuck at the house, alone. She still has no food. She was waiting for Will to bring it home with him, but now since the snowstorm, he is stuck in London. Now she is practically down to bread crumbs, a can of tuna, and a few other tiny things. Will really should get his butt in gear and try to find a way to get home to her? Come on, Will! Hannah needs you! Ugh! Yes, I was yelling at him while reading the book!
Now Hannah does see a person IN her house. She knows what she saw, and this IS a person! Now, all kinds of things start to happen. The worse thing, again, is she barely has ANY cell phone service out where they are living, and what they do have is all choppy. She can't make a call out for help, and no one can call her, and the keys . . . and the person IN her house! Things are going crazy now and the Social Worker, Barbara, whom Hannah has been breaking her neck fixing up the house for, will still be here in how many days now?
The house is not finished, and the problems that have crept up on her are not going away. The safety of her life is in jeopardy.
This book is an excellent 'on the edge of your seat' psychological thriller! One of the best this year! I can see this appealing to everyone who love this genre, and I can also easily see this hitting the bestseller list! Watch for it! This is one book you should NOT PASS UP! You will remember it for a long time to come!
Thank you +Atria Books ! I LOVE your authors/books! Yes, Atria provided this book for me to read and write a review, but so many times when I go to pick up a new book, guess who the publisher is? Yep! Atria! Again, thank you, @AtriaBooks!
I received this book for FREE from the Publisher, Atria Books, and NetGalley. Around the same time I was completely surprised to receive a beautiful ARC mailed to my home as a 'thank you' for reviewing their books, which was a HUGE and wonderful surprise! (This is how I unknowingly ended up with the two copies of this book! An ebook and an ARC. Atria Books sure KNOWS what I LOVE to read!) in exchange to read and write a review about this book. "Free" means I was provided with ZERO MONIES to read and write a review about this book, but to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it and giving my own honest opinion no matter whether it is positive or negative. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the law set here: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/wa...., The Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255, 16 CFR 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising Federal Acquisition Regulation.
5+++++ Stars!
I LOVED this book! No one and nothing could tear me apart from reading this book, as soon as I started reading it! In fact, I pulled an all-nighter because I could not/did not want to stop reading this book! I ended up finishing it at 6:00am the next morning, and it was THAT good! Was it worth messing up my sleep schedule for the next few days? Oh, YES!!! This book is such an AMAZING Psychological Thriller! The writing pulls you in, the storyline makes you want/need to know what is going to happen next. This author has you snagged! This author really knows how to mess with our heads! She just continues to keep the reader glued to the pages making us to continue to flip them with all of the twists and turns in this story. We need to know what is going to happen at the next, so we have to keep flipping the pages as fast as we can! So what happens in this book that makes it SO GOOD? Here it is with NO SPOILERS!
Hannah and her husband Will are now done trying to conceive a child on their own. The resulting pregnancies are never 'viable' even with the 'best of the best' professionals out there. They have tried everything, including Invitro Fertilization three times, and now the doctors suggest they stop after three unsuccessful attempts. Hannah feels as if it's her fault she cannot bear children. Since everything else has failed, they continue on in life, but Hannah is determined to have children even if they have to adopt, and, adopt it is! They had one child all set to adopt, and out of the blue it fell through. She could not take that chance again.
To improve the odds of Hannah and her husband getting a child, she feels buying a house instead of renting an apartment would be much better and make a better impression for the Social Workers or even the birth parents. They end up buying a fixer-upper out in the country in Suffolk, away from the busy city of London, plus it also happens to be near Will's family, his sister's house. She and her husband have several children, they would be blocks away, and this can only be more of a positive for Hannah and Will. It can't get any better than this! Yes, it will be a little drive for Will going back and forth to and from London every day, but he can do it. When the weather is bad, he can stay overnight in his office or with one of his buddies he works with if need be.
I felt Will is somewhat of a jerk at times towards Hannah. Will puts himself first, and everyone else comes last. He blows off Hannah's concerns and doesn't give her the time he should, and at the same time he blames her for wanting 'everything needs to be perfect' mantra over and over and over. He headed out to London and was going to stop at the store to buy food since that was the one thing they did not have, but he doesn't come home on purpose that night after work, and Hannah's needs are left second to none, again. (Grrrrr! Jerk! This did leave me wondering why she would want to have a family with 'him'.)
Hannah, now out in Suffolk, alone, with horrid cell service, is in their new fixer-upper, working away. Hannah has 9 days until the Social Worker, Barbara, from the Adoption Agency, is coming out to their home to make sure the house, along with the both of them are all set and ready to adopt a child when one becomes available.
Hannah is in high gear and is pumped up. She is painting like crazy, all one color, freshening it up whether it needs it or not, and works late into every night so she can get it all done. Why isn't Will helping her more?
While Hannah is working around the house, she starts to think she's heard things. Noises. She blows it off and continues on working, but out of the corner of her eye thought she saw someone IN her house. No, can't be. Everything is locked. She double checks, but can't find her keys. Are they LOST? How? What did she do with them? She can't believe she could lose something as important as her keys.
Hannah meets a neighbor, Dex, an odd sort of fellow. He helps her out and she is very grateful for it. They exchange phone numbers for later, just in case as you never know . . . Hannah meets her neighbors on the other side of her, and they a little strange, too, but Hannah blows it off to living where they do. Hannah also gets to meet a few to meet a few other people, too, and she starts to feel like she's fitting in now. There is only one problem. Later, her one neighbor, Dex, is turning out not to be who he claims he is. Hmmm? Now, a long string of strange events start to happen.
Where is Will? This is where it starts to really get good and you'll lose sleep over reading! Where are her keys again?
A snowstorm hits. Everyone is snowed in and are pretty much paralyzed from the amount of snow that fell. They haven't seen record setting snow like this in a long time, decades. Roads are impassable, and Will is stuck in London, and Hannah is still stuck at the house, alone. She still has no food. She was waiting for Will to bring it home with him, but now since the snowstorm, he is stuck in London. Now she is practically down to bread crumbs, a can of tuna, and a few other tiny things. Will really should get his butt in gear and try to find a way to get home to her? Come on, Will! Hannah needs you! Ugh! Yes, I was yelling at him while reading the book!
Now Hannah does see a person IN her house. She knows what she saw, and this IS a person! Now, all kinds of things start to happen. The worse thing, again, is she barely has ANY cell phone service out where they are living, and what they do have is all choppy. She can't make a call out for help, and no one can call her, and the keys . . . and the person IN her house! Things are going crazy now and the Social Worker, Barbara, whom Hannah has been breaking her neck fixing up the house for, will still be here in how many days now?
The house is not finished, and the problems that have crept up on her are not going away. The safety of her life is in jeopardy.
This book is an excellent 'on the edge of your seat' psychological thriller! One of the best this year! I can see this appealing to everyone who love this genre, and I can also easily see this hitting the bestseller list! Watch for it! This is one book you should NOT PASS UP! You will remember it for a long time to come!
Thank you +Atria Books ! I LOVE your authors/books! Yes, Atria provided this book for me to read and write a review, but so many times when I go to pick up a new book, guess who the publisher is? Yep! Atria! Again, thank you, @AtriaBooks!
I received this book for FREE from the Publisher, Atria Books, and NetGalley. Around the same time I was completely surprised to receive a beautiful ARC mailed to my home as a 'thank you' for reviewing their books, which was a HUGE and wonderful surprise! (This is how I unknowingly ended up with the two copies of this book! An ebook and an ARC. Atria Books sure KNOWS what I LOVE to read!) in exchange to read and write a review about this book. "Free" means I was provided with ZERO MONIES to read and write a review about this book, but to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it and giving my own honest opinion no matter whether it is positive or negative. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the law set here: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/wa...., The Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255, 16 CFR 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising Federal Acquisition Regulation.
June 22, 2015
The Hidden Girl by Louise Millar has been sitting on my bookshelf for quick a while, hidden beneath bigger hardbacks and bigger names. The copy I had gotten was a paperback with a black cover and little graphics, so it was lost there for a while. I found it digging through the pile and decided I needed something different to read from what I had been going through lately and opened it up. It was the next morning when I put it down, finished and enjoyed. A reminder that some of the best stories we will read this year come in some of the least imposing packaging. This one is a gem of haunting and tense writing.
Hannah and Will Riley are leaving London for the Suffolk countryside, to a quaint and hidden little village to start a new life. Hannah has quit her career and is devoting herself to fixing the old and austere Tornley Manor that they had just purchased. Will is a musician and has to travel back and forth to London, as his is now the only income supporting the couple. But there are deeper issues with the couple, Hannah is unable to have a baby and blames herself and her career for them not being able to adopt a child. Hannah believes that she needs this home to be approved for a child and she needs the child to keep her marriage. Will is trying to be supportive of Hannah but the stress is straining on him and more and more he is tolerating her obsessive behavior just to avoid a fight. As a brutal snow storm hits the area, Will is stuck in London and Hannah is left alone in the manor. Hannah begins to hear noises and things are moved about in the old manor and Hannah begins to believe she is not alone. Slowly she realizes that there is much more going on in the old village, with the people and the young woman who looks to be a little slow. Is there some terrible secret in this secluded village or is Hannah imagining the whole scenario. So fearful that anything could come between her and the child she wants to adopt. She must find out the truth before she losses the opportunity, but is there more at stake for Hannah than adopting a child?
It is hard to describe the complexity of the tale Louise Millar tells in The Hidden Girl. Hannah is at best a difficult character to like. Her obsessive behavior and drive to adopt a child absolutely gives her a tunnel vision to everything and everyone else around her. Her jealousy and dislike for Will's cousin just because they share a relationship makes her petty and standoffish. She left a promising career and shoulders Will with all the financial responsibility with the purchase of the home and fixing it up but seems unable to notice his reluctance in her press to own the home and adopt a child. Will himself is something of an ass. Selfish and immature, he lashes out in temper tantrums whenever anything doesn't happen fast or easy enough for him. There is also the fact that they won't have sex and haven't for a long time. This is the environment that Hannah believes will be a good home for a child. Then there is Tornley manor. A vacant and broken down old home with way too much to fix with Hannah on her own. Leaving her to rely on the villagers around her. This is where the novel becomes something far more than a drama about a dysfunctional marriage. In her current state of emotional distress, Hannah must come to understand if there is some strange happenings in the village or is this just her imagination and loneliness playing tricks on her.
Millar does an outstanding writing job of building atmosphere and tension, brick by brick, word by word as the solitude and despair that Hannah feels is compounding by this uneasy sense of danger that surrounds the manor.
The Hidden Girl is a terrific Gothic noir thriller that will have you trying to unravel for yourself, what is and isn't real.
A terrific read!
Hannah and Will Riley are leaving London for the Suffolk countryside, to a quaint and hidden little village to start a new life. Hannah has quit her career and is devoting herself to fixing the old and austere Tornley Manor that they had just purchased. Will is a musician and has to travel back and forth to London, as his is now the only income supporting the couple. But there are deeper issues with the couple, Hannah is unable to have a baby and blames herself and her career for them not being able to adopt a child. Hannah believes that she needs this home to be approved for a child and she needs the child to keep her marriage. Will is trying to be supportive of Hannah but the stress is straining on him and more and more he is tolerating her obsessive behavior just to avoid a fight. As a brutal snow storm hits the area, Will is stuck in London and Hannah is left alone in the manor. Hannah begins to hear noises and things are moved about in the old manor and Hannah begins to believe she is not alone. Slowly she realizes that there is much more going on in the old village, with the people and the young woman who looks to be a little slow. Is there some terrible secret in this secluded village or is Hannah imagining the whole scenario. So fearful that anything could come between her and the child she wants to adopt. She must find out the truth before she losses the opportunity, but is there more at stake for Hannah than adopting a child?
It is hard to describe the complexity of the tale Louise Millar tells in The Hidden Girl. Hannah is at best a difficult character to like. Her obsessive behavior and drive to adopt a child absolutely gives her a tunnel vision to everything and everyone else around her. Her jealousy and dislike for Will's cousin just because they share a relationship makes her petty and standoffish. She left a promising career and shoulders Will with all the financial responsibility with the purchase of the home and fixing it up but seems unable to notice his reluctance in her press to own the home and adopt a child. Will himself is something of an ass. Selfish and immature, he lashes out in temper tantrums whenever anything doesn't happen fast or easy enough for him. There is also the fact that they won't have sex and haven't for a long time. This is the environment that Hannah believes will be a good home for a child. Then there is Tornley manor. A vacant and broken down old home with way too much to fix with Hannah on her own. Leaving her to rely on the villagers around her. This is where the novel becomes something far more than a drama about a dysfunctional marriage. In her current state of emotional distress, Hannah must come to understand if there is some strange happenings in the village or is this just her imagination and loneliness playing tricks on her.
Millar does an outstanding writing job of building atmosphere and tension, brick by brick, word by word as the solitude and despair that Hannah feels is compounding by this uneasy sense of danger that surrounds the manor.
The Hidden Girl is a terrific Gothic noir thriller that will have you trying to unravel for yourself, what is and isn't real.
A terrific read!
Read
September 29, 2024!!!!!!!
THIS REVIEW MAY HAVE SOME SPOILERS. I normally don't spoiler-hide my reviews or even warn for them, but there is some mystery/suspense in this novel, so be warned.
!!!!!!
Why I read it: I like mystery & suspense.
Thoughts: Terrible. Goes to the Donate pile as soon as I've posted this review.
Here is the plot in a nutshell: Hannah and Will lived in London up to the start of the novel. Hannah and Will can't have children. After dealing with that (tests + multiple rounds of IVF) for a while, prior to the start of the novel, they decide to adopt. They nearly get to adopt a little boy, but at the last second another family gets him. Hannah, who used to work for a charity and travelled/worked in war-torn countries, suddenly loses every single marble she was ever born with and fixates on impressing a social worker so much that she and Will buy a rundown manor house in Suffolk and move into it with two weeks to spare before the social worker is due to visit them again. Why she thinks this will fix things, I don't know. By all accounts, she and Will didn't do anything wrong when it came to the first adoption, and even prior to them up and moving to Suffolk, they had been approved for an adoption and they were simply waiting for an opportunity to come up.
So anyway, there they are, in Suffolk. The manor is old and needs a lot of repairs. Hannah has a renovation/redecoration schedule, which is basically just making sure the house has basic amenities (phone, water, power, internet) and slapping on a fresh coat of paint on every surface without going to any real depth. They paint over wallpaper, and in the kitchen they just paint over the cabinetry and don't clean the insides (described as dirty and greasy in Hannah's POV chapter). Hannah and Will are also going through Marital Issues™. Hannah is ultra-obsessed with getting Barbara, the social worker, to love her and the new house, to the point where it's an all-consuming fixation and I would say she needs not a crumbling manor to fix up, but mental health help. Will is super bummed out that Hannah doesn't want to have sex, which seemed selfish at first, but then it turns out she also flinches away when he just touches her or shows any other sign of physical affection, so I did feel a little bad for him. But only a very small amount, because he's a fucking prat. As for why Hannah thinks fixing up the manor in only the most superficial ways is enough to prove to social services that they're responsible adults with a completely safe home... who knows? The plot demands this, so she does it.
Two days after they move into the house, Will goes back to London (he still has to commute there for work until they set up his studio in the garage) and there is a massive snowstorm that blocks off the country and when it turns out he can't return home, he feels very relieved about not having to deal with Hannah's bullshit for a while. He then proceeds to drink himself silly and nearly have an affair with a coworker, all the while whingeing to himself about how Hannah used to be much cooler, braver, tougher, better, when she did all her NGO work, and now she's just terrible and he doesn't want to deal with her anymore.
In the meantime, weird shit is going on back at the house, and Hannah is all by herself. Her neighbours are either creepy AF or downright threatening, and the secret at the core of this book is that the people who used to own Hannah's new house basically took in an illiterate pregnant teenager and then manipulated her into staying as their servant forever, and then also kept her children in servitude for themselves and their neighbours. Every time a neighbour starts to figure out what's going on with the "help" they get cut into the deal and get to use them as well. It's really, really gross. And then Hannah and Will move in and while Will is away, Hannah not only has to deal with a bunch of terrible people as her neighbours, but she also gets to meet "Elvie", the current generation of illiterate house servant, and sniffs out that there is a mystery surrounding her house (and Elvie), and the more she digs, the more her neighbours turn on her and try to gaslight her. As a group, they successfully convince Will that Hannah cheated on him, to which I have to say: clearly he wanted out of the marriage, if he really believed his currently-sex-averse wife would just cheat on him with a stranger.
The solution to the mystery is interesting at first, while it starts to take shape in the novel, but it takes so damned long for the mystery to even show up in the first place. By the time Hannah finally starts to feel something is terribly off, the reader has spent a lot of time with her and Will, and they're both so fucking unbearable. She's obsessed with Barbara and her decorating plans (which are incredibly tedious to read about), and Will just reads like an absolute scumbag. The real mystery only shows up after Will has had a lot thoughts about how much Hannah sucks now and how trapped he feels with her and how he only agreed to buy the house in Suffolk because she wanted it and she was so depressed after losing the potential adoption that he wanted to fix it for her and blah blah blah. He blames himself not nearly as much as he blames her and it's insufferable. He also gets drunk/high with his coworker and they get emotionally and physically close and she kisses him and he lets her and then he runs off and he's somewhat wracked with guilt, but he also never tells Hannah about it. After his strange neighbours convince him that Hannah cheated on him, he abandons her again and he goes to hang out in London with his work acquaintance, not physically cheating but definitely kind of emotionally cheating on Hannah, in a childish, spiteful sort of way.
Meanwhile, Hannah's neighbours show up at her house, threaten her, and then eventually actually kidnap her and take her off to be drowned off the coast somewhere, because she's asking too many questions. I would say that from this point on, the book rushes to its conclusion, but honestly, this was doomed from the start:
1. The set-up took too damned long.
2. Hannah and Will are boring. Hannah's past job and Will's wild youth are mentioned over and over again until I was sick of them, and it was only because the characters were stale lumps who had nothing else going for them, so the author always brought up those two things to fill the dead air.
3. I couldn't make myself believe that any person is as gullible as Hannah is, especially when she's allegedly been in a lot of tough spots and met a lot of intimidating, dangerous people. Your gruff, temperamental, really strange neighbour just barges into your house and starts "helping" you (i.e. treating you like a servant and getting you to make him endless tea while he puts up your shelves), or he "gives you a lift to the coast" (i.e. basically kidnaps you and takes you off to help him to physical labour for the day) and you just shrug it off like, "I guess this is countryside hospitality"?????
4. Most of the solution to the mystery is delivered to Hannah via explanatory email, and she's still like, "Huh? I don't get it??"...
5. ...and then later a man has to explain it for her all over again. I've read plenty of mysteries that were just "meh" rather than suspenseful or mysterious, but a novel that spends most of its time chasing its own tail and then delivers the full solution via expository dialogue in the last handful of pages is not a mystery novel.
6. After all that... after Hannah nearly gets drowned and Elvie rescues her and they get chased back to the house and they hide in a weird under-floor recess and then she has to sneak into a taxi and make her own way to London in the middle of the night, having just escaped being murdered after her husband abandoned her in the countryside, you're telling me that not only Hannah still gave Will an ultimatum, but that they actually reconciled and went on to adopt a child?? I would've crawled back to London on my hands and knees just to kill my husband with my own two hands, never mind adopting a child with him!!
Would I read more from this author: After this? No.
Would I recommend it: No.
THIS REVIEW MAY HAVE SOME SPOILERS. I normally don't spoiler-hide my reviews or even warn for them, but there is some mystery/suspense in this novel, so be warned.
!!!!!!
Why I read it: I like mystery & suspense.
Thoughts: Terrible. Goes to the Donate pile as soon as I've posted this review.
Here is the plot in a nutshell: Hannah and Will lived in London up to the start of the novel. Hannah and Will can't have children. After dealing with that (tests + multiple rounds of IVF) for a while, prior to the start of the novel, they decide to adopt. They nearly get to adopt a little boy, but at the last second another family gets him. Hannah, who used to work for a charity and travelled/worked in war-torn countries, suddenly loses every single marble she was ever born with and fixates on impressing a social worker so much that she and Will buy a rundown manor house in Suffolk and move into it with two weeks to spare before the social worker is due to visit them again. Why she thinks this will fix things, I don't know. By all accounts, she and Will didn't do anything wrong when it came to the first adoption, and even prior to them up and moving to Suffolk, they had been approved for an adoption and they were simply waiting for an opportunity to come up.
So anyway, there they are, in Suffolk. The manor is old and needs a lot of repairs. Hannah has a renovation/redecoration schedule, which is basically just making sure the house has basic amenities (phone, water, power, internet) and slapping on a fresh coat of paint on every surface without going to any real depth. They paint over wallpaper, and in the kitchen they just paint over the cabinetry and don't clean the insides (described as dirty and greasy in Hannah's POV chapter). Hannah and Will are also going through Marital Issues™. Hannah is ultra-obsessed with getting Barbara, the social worker, to love her and the new house, to the point where it's an all-consuming fixation and I would say she needs not a crumbling manor to fix up, but mental health help. Will is super bummed out that Hannah doesn't want to have sex, which seemed selfish at first, but then it turns out she also flinches away when he just touches her or shows any other sign of physical affection, so I did feel a little bad for him. But only a very small amount, because he's a fucking prat. As for why Hannah thinks fixing up the manor in only the most superficial ways is enough to prove to social services that they're responsible adults with a completely safe home... who knows? The plot demands this, so she does it.
Two days after they move into the house, Will goes back to London (he still has to commute there for work until they set up his studio in the garage) and there is a massive snowstorm that blocks off the country and when it turns out he can't return home, he feels very relieved about not having to deal with Hannah's bullshit for a while. He then proceeds to drink himself silly and nearly have an affair with a coworker, all the while whingeing to himself about how Hannah used to be much cooler, braver, tougher, better, when she did all her NGO work, and now she's just terrible and he doesn't want to deal with her anymore.
In the meantime, weird shit is going on back at the house, and Hannah is all by herself. Her neighbours are either creepy AF or downright threatening, and the secret at the core of this book is that the people who used to own Hannah's new house basically took in an illiterate pregnant teenager and then manipulated her into staying as their servant forever, and then also kept her children in servitude for themselves and their neighbours. Every time a neighbour starts to figure out what's going on with the "help" they get cut into the deal and get to use them as well. It's really, really gross. And then Hannah and Will move in and while Will is away, Hannah not only has to deal with a bunch of terrible people as her neighbours, but she also gets to meet "Elvie", the current generation of illiterate house servant, and sniffs out that there is a mystery surrounding her house (and Elvie), and the more she digs, the more her neighbours turn on her and try to gaslight her. As a group, they successfully convince Will that Hannah cheated on him, to which I have to say: clearly he wanted out of the marriage, if he really believed his currently-sex-averse wife would just cheat on him with a stranger.
The solution to the mystery is interesting at first, while it starts to take shape in the novel, but it takes so damned long for the mystery to even show up in the first place. By the time Hannah finally starts to feel something is terribly off, the reader has spent a lot of time with her and Will, and they're both so fucking unbearable. She's obsessed with Barbara and her decorating plans (which are incredibly tedious to read about), and Will just reads like an absolute scumbag. The real mystery only shows up after Will has had a lot thoughts about how much Hannah sucks now and how trapped he feels with her and how he only agreed to buy the house in Suffolk because she wanted it and she was so depressed after losing the potential adoption that he wanted to fix it for her and blah blah blah. He blames himself not nearly as much as he blames her and it's insufferable. He also gets drunk/high with his coworker and they get emotionally and physically close and she kisses him and he lets her and then he runs off and he's somewhat wracked with guilt, but he also never tells Hannah about it. After his strange neighbours convince him that Hannah cheated on him, he abandons her again and he goes to hang out in London with his work acquaintance, not physically cheating but definitely kind of emotionally cheating on Hannah, in a childish, spiteful sort of way.
Meanwhile, Hannah's neighbours show up at her house, threaten her, and then eventually actually kidnap her and take her off to be drowned off the coast somewhere, because she's asking too many questions. I would say that from this point on, the book rushes to its conclusion, but honestly, this was doomed from the start:
1. The set-up took too damned long.
2. Hannah and Will are boring. Hannah's past job and Will's wild youth are mentioned over and over again until I was sick of them, and it was only because the characters were stale lumps who had nothing else going for them, so the author always brought up those two things to fill the dead air.
3. I couldn't make myself believe that any person is as gullible as Hannah is, especially when she's allegedly been in a lot of tough spots and met a lot of intimidating, dangerous people. Your gruff, temperamental, really strange neighbour just barges into your house and starts "helping" you (i.e. treating you like a servant and getting you to make him endless tea while he puts up your shelves), or he "gives you a lift to the coast" (i.e. basically kidnaps you and takes you off to help him to physical labour for the day) and you just shrug it off like, "I guess this is countryside hospitality"?????
4. Most of the solution to the mystery is delivered to Hannah via explanatory email, and she's still like, "Huh? I don't get it??"...
5. ...and then later a man has to explain it for her all over again. I've read plenty of mysteries that were just "meh" rather than suspenseful or mysterious, but a novel that spends most of its time chasing its own tail and then delivers the full solution via expository dialogue in the last handful of pages is not a mystery novel.
6. After all that... after Hannah nearly gets drowned and Elvie rescues her and they get chased back to the house and they hide in a weird under-floor recess and then she has to sneak into a taxi and make her own way to London in the middle of the night, having just escaped being murdered after her husband abandoned her in the countryside, you're telling me that not only Hannah still gave Will an ultimatum, but that they actually reconciled and went on to adopt a child?? I would've crawled back to London on my hands and knees just to kill my husband with my own two hands, never mind adopting a child with him!!
Would I read more from this author: After this? No.
Would I recommend it: No.
January 1, 2015
Hannah and Will have sold up their flat in London to move to a massive mansion in Suffolk. They have pinned all their hopes and dreams on everything being perfect here, as they work towards a future that’s been years in the making.
Hannah is the main narrator for their story, and through her passages you begin to see that there’s something slightly off about their move to the country. There’s continual talk of “Barbara” coming to visit. Hannah has a redecorating schedule that needs to be adhered to, and everything needs to be ready for when Barabara comes in two weeks.
The mysterious Barabara is an unknown entity for half of the novel. You can certainly attempt an educated guess about what her relationship is with the couple. There’s mentions here and there of a terrible trauma in their lives and that Barabara is involved in order to move them forward in life.
Will is still working in London for the time being, and he’s depicted as a ladies man. This however is hard to understand, because from the moment Hannah describes him, he seems more temperamental than that, as she points out that there’s different ways of reasoning with Will, depending on if he’s ‘Adult Will’ or ‘Child Will’. He seems to drink quite significantly and this appears to create some strain on their marriage – you wonder if he has been abusive to Hannah, and hence the sea change?
As Will heads off to London in a sullen mood, Hannah stays behind to get the house ready for Barbara. As she goes about cleaning some odd things begin happening… Fridges left open, Donkeys braying in the middle of the night, shadows and items being misplaced. You wonder what exactly is going on, and if it’s happening at all, or is it in Hannah’s somewhat feverish imagination?
The locals don’t appear to help much with this confusing narrative. Dax is monosybillic, and Madeline is a crazy butch woman with a rifle, who Hannah decides not to confront about the abuse she’s seen – at least not until Barabara comes to visit.
The novel has an air of tension around it throughout the book. It certainly feels like at any given moment, a few of the characters could snap and go crazy, but they manage to keep their sanity in check right until the very end, as you attempt to solve the various mysteries that have popped up.
An enjoyable read, if you’re able to look past Hannah’s maniacal cleaning and obessions over Barbara.
Hannah is the main narrator for their story, and through her passages you begin to see that there’s something slightly off about their move to the country. There’s continual talk of “Barbara” coming to visit. Hannah has a redecorating schedule that needs to be adhered to, and everything needs to be ready for when Barabara comes in two weeks.
The mysterious Barabara is an unknown entity for half of the novel. You can certainly attempt an educated guess about what her relationship is with the couple. There’s mentions here and there of a terrible trauma in their lives and that Barabara is involved in order to move them forward in life.
Will is still working in London for the time being, and he’s depicted as a ladies man. This however is hard to understand, because from the moment Hannah describes him, he seems more temperamental than that, as she points out that there’s different ways of reasoning with Will, depending on if he’s ‘Adult Will’ or ‘Child Will’. He seems to drink quite significantly and this appears to create some strain on their marriage – you wonder if he has been abusive to Hannah, and hence the sea change?
As Will heads off to London in a sullen mood, Hannah stays behind to get the house ready for Barbara. As she goes about cleaning some odd things begin happening… Fridges left open, Donkeys braying in the middle of the night, shadows and items being misplaced. You wonder what exactly is going on, and if it’s happening at all, or is it in Hannah’s somewhat feverish imagination?
The locals don’t appear to help much with this confusing narrative. Dax is monosybillic, and Madeline is a crazy butch woman with a rifle, who Hannah decides not to confront about the abuse she’s seen – at least not until Barabara comes to visit.
The novel has an air of tension around it throughout the book. It certainly feels like at any given moment, a few of the characters could snap and go crazy, but they manage to keep their sanity in check right until the very end, as you attempt to solve the various mysteries that have popped up.
An enjoyable read, if you’re able to look past Hannah’s maniacal cleaning and obessions over Barbara.
June 8, 2015
The Hidden Girl
From the very start it could be said that the problems Hannah and Will encounter on their moving day are bad omens. No signposts, branches ‘clasped in the middle like witches nails’ blocking out the light, featureless land, flat mud and even their house looks different, more neglected and dirty. But Hannah is determined; no amount of damp and locked doors will stop her from making this house into a home and she has only two weeks to do it in. As mystery upon mystery and strange happening upon strange happening occurs Hannah’s plans keep being set back and the one goal she had in sight begins to feel unobtainable. Left alone in the big house whilst Will returns to London, shut off with no plumbing, jobs needing to be done, odd neighbours, braying donkeys and an intruder, Hannah finds a local handyman to help her but as he becomes over-familiar and her neighbours increasingly unfriendly and as things continue to go missing or happen in her house Hannah gets the uncomfortable feeling that something is not quite right with her new idyllic world.
This book truly catches the imagination and keeps the pages turning. There is an atmospheric build up, a combination of the description and the hints that there is something going on that only Hannah and the reader are unaware of. It is very easy to picture in one’s head the neglected and grubby Tornley Hall, where piles of rubbish merge into vagrants and books move, food disappears and shadows skulk in dark corners and locked rooms.....
Add to this the contrast of Will in London leading his normal life which is where we learn what Hannah’s big concern is and why she is so determined to make a home in two weeks and we see the cracks that underpin their marriage which then adds to the tension of the book and brings into question Hannah’s stability; is she becoming slightly derailed by the pressure she has put herself under or is there really something sinister at Tornley Hall?
It is a book that keeps you guessing until the end but for all the sinister goings- on there is an element of humour and also of emotion in this book. Hannah and Will’s relationship and the issues within are very real and dealt with appropriately whilst the more sinister characters cover dark secrets which will have the reader shuddering in horror.
With thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC of this book.
From the very start it could be said that the problems Hannah and Will encounter on their moving day are bad omens. No signposts, branches ‘clasped in the middle like witches nails’ blocking out the light, featureless land, flat mud and even their house looks different, more neglected and dirty. But Hannah is determined; no amount of damp and locked doors will stop her from making this house into a home and she has only two weeks to do it in. As mystery upon mystery and strange happening upon strange happening occurs Hannah’s plans keep being set back and the one goal she had in sight begins to feel unobtainable. Left alone in the big house whilst Will returns to London, shut off with no plumbing, jobs needing to be done, odd neighbours, braying donkeys and an intruder, Hannah finds a local handyman to help her but as he becomes over-familiar and her neighbours increasingly unfriendly and as things continue to go missing or happen in her house Hannah gets the uncomfortable feeling that something is not quite right with her new idyllic world.
This book truly catches the imagination and keeps the pages turning. There is an atmospheric build up, a combination of the description and the hints that there is something going on that only Hannah and the reader are unaware of. It is very easy to picture in one’s head the neglected and grubby Tornley Hall, where piles of rubbish merge into vagrants and books move, food disappears and shadows skulk in dark corners and locked rooms.....
Add to this the contrast of Will in London leading his normal life which is where we learn what Hannah’s big concern is and why she is so determined to make a home in two weeks and we see the cracks that underpin their marriage which then adds to the tension of the book and brings into question Hannah’s stability; is she becoming slightly derailed by the pressure she has put herself under or is there really something sinister at Tornley Hall?
It is a book that keeps you guessing until the end but for all the sinister goings- on there is an element of humour and also of emotion in this book. Hannah and Will’s relationship and the issues within are very real and dealt with appropriately whilst the more sinister characters cover dark secrets which will have the reader shuddering in horror.
With thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC of this book.
August 20, 2014
4.0 out of 5 stars -- Well-paced psychological thriller that kept me glued to the pages!
Hannah and Will Riley vacate busy London and move to Suffolk to renovate a large old house there in preparation for a social worker's (Barbara) visit in just 2 weeks. They hope to be approved as adoptive parents since they've been unsuccessful at having their own despite years of treatment. When they arrive on the weekend, they find that Tornley Hall is in worse shape than they imagined and Hannah sets off in a frenzy of painting and decorating to get the place in shape. Will, a musician, eager to get back to work in London -- and the reader senses he's a bit resentful after all -- helps half-hardheartedly and then leaves early Monday morning while Hannah, who used to be a crusading rights advocate who jetted all over the world, is left on her own in this quiet, isolated countryside. Within hours, Tornley is blanketed in a freak snowstorm, the boiler goes out, and Hannah finds she has no internet WiFi nor can her cell phone get any bars for service. In addition, Will is stranded in London and can't get home for days. Things don't seem to be going too well in Hannah and Will's relationship.
Hannah is alone without heat, hot water and human contact. The house is creepy and the reader feels a sense of menace when household items are moved around, doors are locked, keys can't be found, and other unusual things happen. Hannah feels that someone is watching her. In an attempt to continue her frantic pace of work, she tries to engage the locals to help out at Tornley Hall and finds that they are very strange indeed. Things become more tense as the day of Barbara's visit comes near and suddenly, Hannah is fearing for her life as she tries to solve a decades old mystery and right a serious wrong.
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would! Recommended to anyone who loves stories about creepy things going on in old houses and small towns. Bet you can't wait to get to know these neighbors!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the e-book ARC to review.
Hannah and Will Riley vacate busy London and move to Suffolk to renovate a large old house there in preparation for a social worker's (Barbara) visit in just 2 weeks. They hope to be approved as adoptive parents since they've been unsuccessful at having their own despite years of treatment. When they arrive on the weekend, they find that Tornley Hall is in worse shape than they imagined and Hannah sets off in a frenzy of painting and decorating to get the place in shape. Will, a musician, eager to get back to work in London -- and the reader senses he's a bit resentful after all -- helps half-hardheartedly and then leaves early Monday morning while Hannah, who used to be a crusading rights advocate who jetted all over the world, is left on her own in this quiet, isolated countryside. Within hours, Tornley is blanketed in a freak snowstorm, the boiler goes out, and Hannah finds she has no internet WiFi nor can her cell phone get any bars for service. In addition, Will is stranded in London and can't get home for days. Things don't seem to be going too well in Hannah and Will's relationship.
Hannah is alone without heat, hot water and human contact. The house is creepy and the reader feels a sense of menace when household items are moved around, doors are locked, keys can't be found, and other unusual things happen. Hannah feels that someone is watching her. In an attempt to continue her frantic pace of work, she tries to engage the locals to help out at Tornley Hall and finds that they are very strange indeed. Things become more tense as the day of Barbara's visit comes near and suddenly, Hannah is fearing for her life as she tries to solve a decades old mystery and right a serious wrong.
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would! Recommended to anyone who loves stories about creepy things going on in old houses and small towns. Bet you can't wait to get to know these neighbors!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the e-book ARC to review.
September 26, 2015
Spoiler alert: While Barbara is mentioned as coming in two weeks, who she is and why she is coming to their home becomes obvious long before her arrival. If you want don’t want to know about that, skip the next paragraph.
Life should have been simple. After years of unsuccessful fertility treatments and not being given a boy they wanted to adopt, Hannah (mostly) and Will decide to change their lives so they would have a better chance at being selected to adopt a child.
Hannah quit her job, a journalist covering trouble spots in the world, the sold their London home and moved two hours away to the county, bought a larger home on a large lot, and began to fix it up so that it would look welcoming and homey.
Things quickly begin to go wrong as Hannah frantically establishes a schedule of what has to be done when to get the house ready within the time limit. Will has specific jobs to do but has to return to London during the week for his job in the song writing industry. A terrible snow storm closes off all the transportation and Will’s not able to get back for several days.
Hannah, meanwhile, cannot keep to her schedule because she isn’t able to access some of the rooms, the utilities don’t always work, and things keep moving around in the house. The neighbors she meets range from strange to nasty but one of the strange ones proves to be very helpful in doing the repairs.
Along with her work on the remodeling, she tries to learn more about the house, the people who lived there, and her new neighbors
The tension keeps building as Hannah and Will’s relationship changes partly because he’s not there to help her.
Most of the characters are unusual, to put it kindly. One of them, Elvie, is particularly interesting and plays an important part in the book. Will’s relationship with his cousin is not totally explained.
The writing is good and moves along but the story could have been shorter without losing any of the suspense or action.
Life should have been simple. After years of unsuccessful fertility treatments and not being given a boy they wanted to adopt, Hannah (mostly) and Will decide to change their lives so they would have a better chance at being selected to adopt a child.
Hannah quit her job, a journalist covering trouble spots in the world, the sold their London home and moved two hours away to the county, bought a larger home on a large lot, and began to fix it up so that it would look welcoming and homey.
Things quickly begin to go wrong as Hannah frantically establishes a schedule of what has to be done when to get the house ready within the time limit. Will has specific jobs to do but has to return to London during the week for his job in the song writing industry. A terrible snow storm closes off all the transportation and Will’s not able to get back for several days.
Hannah, meanwhile, cannot keep to her schedule because she isn’t able to access some of the rooms, the utilities don’t always work, and things keep moving around in the house. The neighbors she meets range from strange to nasty but one of the strange ones proves to be very helpful in doing the repairs.
Along with her work on the remodeling, she tries to learn more about the house, the people who lived there, and her new neighbors
The tension keeps building as Hannah and Will’s relationship changes partly because he’s not there to help her.
Most of the characters are unusual, to put it kindly. One of them, Elvie, is particularly interesting and plays an important part in the book. Will’s relationship with his cousin is not totally explained.
The writing is good and moves along but the story could have been shorter without losing any of the suspense or action.
December 10, 2014
There's something about Louise Millar's style and the subjects she tackles which makes you want to read 'just another chapter, just a few more pages' - very moreish. However, I did find Hannah's obsession for everything to be just perfect for the mysterious Barbara to be a bit over-the-top. After all, all she had to do was phone and postpone the visit, especially with the recent move, the snowstorms and lack of broadband etc. Still, Millar does unreasonable protagonists rather well. The couple's marital breakdown is handled with subtlety, candour and great little insights into how people behave and talk. The gradual reveal of the full extent of their problems and past disappointments were also well done.
There was a sense of menace and creepiness about the house, but the donkey story seemed to turn this into a comedy. And I didn't quite buy the second strand of the story - but the author very cleverly kept us wondering if it was a ghost story, a cover-up for murder or a conspiracy possibly involving her own family.
There was a sense of menace and creepiness about the house, but the donkey story seemed to turn this into a comedy. And I didn't quite buy the second strand of the story - but the author very cleverly kept us wondering if it was a ghost story, a cover-up for murder or a conspiracy possibly involving her own family.
April 23, 2014
Even though it is not said- you sense something is off with Hannah and Will; as if there is some sort of sadness they are alluding to. Their damaged relationship trickles down into everything they touch; tainting it with a kind of residual misery.
Hannah creates and atmosphere of tension as she tries to complete the house on a unobtainable time frame.
A snow storm isolates Hannah and she becomes increasingly hyper- sensitive. Is it her imagination, or are the weird sounds and open cupboards a sinister trick of her imagination or the work of hidden vagrant?
As the snow thaws they meet the other inhabitants of the hamlet; as expected there are all a bit odd.
Elvie, their neighbour and who is suspected to have learning difficulties- attached herself to Hannah.
There are some incredible developments in this taunt psychological drama. I did not see the end coming. I highly recommend The hidden girl.
Hannah creates and atmosphere of tension as she tries to complete the house on a unobtainable time frame.
A snow storm isolates Hannah and she becomes increasingly hyper- sensitive. Is it her imagination, or are the weird sounds and open cupboards a sinister trick of her imagination or the work of hidden vagrant?
As the snow thaws they meet the other inhabitants of the hamlet; as expected there are all a bit odd.
Elvie, their neighbour and who is suspected to have learning difficulties- attached herself to Hannah.
There are some incredible developments in this taunt psychological drama. I did not see the end coming. I highly recommend The hidden girl.
July 19, 2017
So there is this couple. The perfectionist, semi neurotic wife and the lackadaisical musician husband.(Anyone else think Juno)? Couple moves because they want a kid. End of story.
Yeah...no.
Add in a new creepy McMansion, previous mysterious owners, helpful neighbors, a psycho farmer...and a donkey. About a few chapters in I thought I would be chucking the book(Nook) across the room in frustration. Then it got weirder. More intriguing. And tense as hell. Want to know how all the modge podge of characters intertwine.... Read It! I guarantee by the end you will be looking like this.
Yeah...no.
Add in a new creepy McMansion, previous mysterious owners, helpful neighbors, a psycho farmer...and a donkey. About a few chapters in I thought I would be chucking the book(Nook) across the room in frustration. Then it got weirder. More intriguing. And tense as hell. Want to know how all the modge podge of characters intertwine.... Read It! I guarantee by the end you will be looking like this.
June 15, 2014
This book was very enjoyable. There were lots of nice plot twists, and definitely reminiscent of the film "Gaslight " with Ingrid Bergman, although
I would have been happier if I knew that the donkey was O.K.! All in all a good story and very readable. I will look out for this author again.
I would have been happier if I knew that the donkey was O.K.! All in all a good story and very readable. I will look out for this author again.
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