Published By: HQ
Publication Date: 21st September 2017
I.S.B.N.: 9781848455122
Format: Paperback (also available as an ebook)
Price: £7.99
Blurb
First comes the invitation…
Something makes Stella click ‘yes’ to attending her school reunion.
Followed by the affair…
It’s been fifteen years since Stella and George last saw each other. Their relationship may have ended badly, but there’s still an undeniable spark between them.
Then
the consequences…
But, once someone gets you back, what if they never let you go again?
My Review
Inspired by the 1944 film Gaslight, the author brings us a psychological thriller set in London, and a tale of a relationship between two wealthy business people that goes disastrously wrong.
During their school reunion, George and Ness meet up with Stella after 15 years. They’ve all done very well for themselves, but there’s a lot of history between the three. George and Stella were inseparable from babyhood, until at 18 Stella became pregnant. Scared, George ran into the arms of Ness. Stella had an abortion and tried to get on with her life. She starts a catering company which flourishes. George and Ness eventually marry; George becomes a top advertising executive, Ness enjoys a life of luxury.
Fast forward fifteen years; Stella hasn’t thought about George in a decade until the invitation to the school reunion. George hasn’t stopped thinking about her. They’re drawn into an affair together. The affair becomes public and Ness throws George out. He moves in with Stella. At this point it all starts to go wrong for George. Stella wants a life in the country, a modernised barn conversion. George liked the city, but if he had to live in the country he wanted a higgledy-piggledy old house, like the one he had with Ness in Richmond.
They find a perfect house, perfect for Stella at least, and move to the country. It’s more than they can afford, but they can borrow the money from that charity they’re raising funds for. It’ll be alright…
It took my a bit to get into this novel but once I did I read half the book in one sitting and the second half a day or two later. I needed a break from the frustrating narrative. I admit I had a peek at the last few chapters after the first sitting (halfway through the book), because I had to know what was happening! The ending was rather shocking; I hadn’t worked it out at all, until I peeked. I’d thought maybe Stella would engineer financial disaster and imprisonment for George after his betrayal both at 18 and 33, but no, that’s not what happens at all.
I wasn’t compelled to finish this book by the writing; I finished it because I had to get this review written. The book is a good update of the Gaslight story, and the main characters are interesting. Stella and George are entirely unreliable narrators, they aren’t telling the reader the truth, so the outcome is unexpected.
I liked the book. it was okay. I probably won’t reread it, though.
3/5
Everything Is Better With Dragons 