It then switched narrative to Eve who works in the local gallery and is the one to bring some warmth into Jess’s life and plenty of ideas on restoring their new home. The change of narration gave a new perspective but it also created a loss of the creepy tension that was so prevalent at the start. Jess also became questionable and I would be hoarse if I had kept shouting at her.

What a spine tingling, hair raising beaut of a book. The first few chapters set this book up beautifully, playing into the readers mind and fears, using nature to exacerbate what is already there. You can imagine looking out into the night and feeling the fear. We have all been there. As adults, we rationalise that the likelihood of something or someone being out there is minimal, but what if there is? The narrator’s father most likely belongs to a tradition of men who do not believe that their wives are their equal. It’s not that that they might not love their wives but at no stage are they ever treated as being equals. If anything there appears to be a gender imbalance between the narrator’s father and his mother. Something again which would have been common place at the time the story was set. The narrator’s mother spends the majority of her time in the house while it is left to the men to milk the cows and work the land. Despite any gender imbalance that might exist the narrator’s mother is still happy to live and work on the farm. She believes her place is beside her husband regardless of the fact that he may not necessarily treat her as she should be treated. It is also interesting that Jim never sees any sense of imbalance between his parents. He is just happy to spend time with his mother. Something that is easier than working the land with his father. Unfortunately, it was spoiled a bit by the repetitive writing and the unlikeable characters. Jess was the absolute worst – whiny, self-centered and naive – and her marriage to Pete made little sense as he also came across as an utter d-bag. I also didn’t get why Jess ever became friends with Eve. She was lonely and desperate – I understand that much – but surely if your husband and your new friend who you’ve only known for a couple of weeks started behaving so inappropriately right in front of you on the very first meeting, you’d cut that off? The children were also very irritating. In fact, the only character I did like was Graham the renovator, largely because he seemed to be the only one who spoke any sense and got himself outta there asap.

This is a creepy and. unsettling read. What do you know about the people who lived in the house that you've just bought? Jess and Pete move from London to the countryside. They have bought a large rambling house in urgent need of some repairs and with outhouses/barns that need doing up so they can rent them out. However, from the moment they arrive at the house and wait for the removal lorry to arrive Jess has reservations about the house. She has a bad feeling about the place and is convinced they are being watched. The writing was gripping and tapped in to some of my fears. It was cleverly written from two different perspectives. So many different things happened, but they all tied up well. The writing was clear and kept me interested throughout. This should be a twisty psychological thriller. Sadly, the title rather gives the game away. There is some tension right at the end, and the intrigue of how it al fits together, but the big reveal at the half way point will not surprise anyone.

Also Pete’s motivations, towards the end, didn’t convince me at all and he never really came alive as a character. Jess and her husband need a new start. So when the chance to buy a rambling old house in the Suffolk countryside comes up, they leap at it. When the Depression is on them, the father finds the farm to be less profitable and he considers the prospect of setting it and moving. He stays on, not because any special love he feels for the land but because he has invested money and labor on it. One day a group of Maoris visit the farm. They carry with them, in a litter, an old man. They say that, the old man, a tribe elder was born on the hills behind the farm when the land belonged to the Maoris. He wishes now, when he is close to death, to see the place of his birth once again. The father is thoroughly perplexed but Jim is understanding and offers them the greenstone adzes which he believes belonged to the tribe. The Maoris depart to the hills with the old man. Jim goes with them. Sometime during the night the old man dies and his people bury him on the mountain. Jim comes home with an account of how the Maoris lived in the area until the whites came in and defeated them. But they still consider this land to be their home. The father now begins to comprehend what land means to some people.

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That said, I absolutely cannot fault the way in which the reader is drawn into the perspective of Jess and Eve, and the way that Charlotte Northedge controls the viewpoints to layer the interweaving strands of the story and build up the suspense whilst also leaving the major revelations for the very final chapters. Whilst the characters didn’t invite my empathy, I was still drawn into their respective stories and stayed with them to the end, which is testament to a tale well told! Northedge drops hints for the reader about what has gone wrong in the marriage but readers have to wait to get the whole story and enjoy guessing what may have prompted the move. Tony L. Clark holding a photo of George Floyd among protestors in front of the Cup Food Store where George Floyd was killed.  On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its verdict in Brown v. Board of Education, ruling unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment’s mandate of equal protection of the laws of the U.S. Constitution to any person within its jurisdiction. Oliver Brown, the lead plaintiff in the case, was one of almost 200 people from five different states who had joined related NAACP cases brought before the Supreme Court since 1938.