The prologue paints a vivid picture of a house fire, of the naked female narrator escaping, of falling over a dead body and just getting out. It is very dramatic. She, Helen, runs, she rents a dilapidated house in Yorkshire, she hides. The nosey villagers contain a recently retired journalist. He becomes intrigues and then obsessed by Helen. He needs to unearth her story. This is strong stuff. A psychological thriller of some note, compulsive, dramatic and hypnotic. Helen was a war photographer and the strength of this tale is in illustrating the damage that such a job can do to the human soul. It is very frightening, very well told. Highly recommended. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
When someone is under your skin, there is only so far you can run...She can run. But can she hide? Helen Graham is a new arrival in a tiny Yorkshire village, renting dilapidated Wildfell Hall. The villagers are intensely curious - what makes her so jumpy and why is she so evasive? Their interest is Helen's worst nightmare. Looking over her shoulder every day, she tries to piece together her past before it can catch up with her. With everything she knows in fragments, from her marriage to her career as a war photographer, how can she work out who to trust and what to believe? Most days she can barely remember who she is...
'Superbly executed, with a creeping sense of dread that builds to an explosive finish' Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go
'Wildly gripping and unputdownable. This is a brilliant book' Marian Keyes
'Vivid, atmospheric... I loved curling up with it' Renee Knight, author of Disclaimer
'Gripping and thoughtful' Cathy Rentzenbrink, The Bookseller
Author
About Sam Baker
Sam Baker grew up in Hampshire and after a degree in politics at Birmingham University became a journalist. She has edited some of the UK’s biggest magazines and was Editor in Chief of Red for six years. In 2015 she co-founded The Pool, the online platform that makes inspiring and original content for busy women.
Sam is married to the novelist Jon Courtenay Grimwood and lives in Winchester.
