“It was on the busy, dirty Anerley Road in South London that the man hit me.”
The Body Lies
By Jo Baker
Source: Advance review copy
The unnamed narrator is an author and writing professor on a walk the evening she’s assaulted. After time passes and an opportunity to leave London behind she decides to leave the city and take her three-year-old son with her to teach creative writing at a university in a small remote town.
Her husband stays behind and they decide that they’ll see each other on weekends for the foreseeable future. All she wants to do is get away from the hubbub of the city and continue to mend after the trauma. She may have expected a calmer life but she faces some challenges with the university and soon enough with one of her students.
The writing that Nicolas turns in is frightening her and his actions are starting to cross a line. Is she always going to be fearful or is she blowing things out of proportion due to what she experienced?
I think one of the issues some reviewers have had with this book is that the book was heavily marketed as psychological suspense. Is it a thriller? While I feel like there is a strong sense of foreboding it wasn’t quite a thriller for me. I wasn’t on pins and needles to find out what happened next but I found the way the author focused more on the aftermath was all the more compelling. I think if you are a fan of thrillers but maybe would like to read something with a fresh take on the genre this could be the book for you.
Oh, I’ve read about those same remarks from some reviewers too. I suppose each reader has different expectations. I’m curious about this one though so I might read it at some point.
It sounds like an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
I will have to look for this book.
I’ve read about this one too and have been on the fence regarding reading it. Am I crazy or does my dislike of the cover shot influence me? I don’t like that cover. It’s disturbing somehow. Ha! However, if I read it on my Kindle, I won’t see the cover much. Maybe that’s the way to go. 😉
I tried this one and abandoned it. The foreboding was not what I was looking for at the time as I was dealing with anxiety. It may be a little strange, but suspense and foreboding operate differently for me.
I haven’t read too much about this book, so am not familiar with the criticism surround it. It does sound like something I might enjoy though.
Melody – I definitely was expecting something a bit different at first too but in the end I did enjoy it.
Isabel – You are so right! I was watching the SUV ones with my mom this weekend. Yikes.
Kay – Oh I totally understand not picking up a book because of the cover. It’s a bit weird isn’t it? I read it on my Kindle too so I didn’t have to see it 🙂
Jen Mullen – That makes sense! If I’m dealing with anxiety the last thing I want to read is probably a book like this one.
Literary Feline – If you see any of the reviews on Amazon (lots of spoilers though) you will get a good idea as to why readers felt the book was really off. I get it but it was probably good I hadn’t read to many of those ahead of the book.