A novel of obsessive desire, of relationship 'issues' caused by events in childhood. It is unputdownable, well written with the stories weaving smoothly together. The central character completely loses her grip on reality - all horribly credible. It is rare, I feel, to have a female holding a male hostage, something I've not come across before. Not only is this fresh and very exciting, it also builds with terrific tension. A first-class read.
One winter's afternoon, Sonia opens the door of her beautiful riverside home to fifteen-year-old Jez, the nephew of a family friend. He's come to borrow some music. Sonia invites him in and soon decides that she isn't going to let him leave.
As Sonia's desire to keep Jez hidden and protected from the outside world becomes all the more overpowering, she is haunted by memories of an intense teenage relationship, which gradually reveal a terrifying truth. The River House, Sonia's home since childhood, holds secrets within its walls. And outside, on the shores of the Thames, new ones are coming in on the tide...
'It's such a thrill to read a book as deliciously dark and richly evocative as Tideline. From the first page to its shocking finale it draws you into its world and won't let go. A wonderful debut... I took Tideline on my travels, thinking it would last me a couple of weeks. Two days later I'd finished it, having stayed up all night, and was telling everyone I met they had got to read it. Brilliantly written and totally gripping. I loved it' S J Watson, author of BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP
'TIDELINE is very clever and very chilling, and the surprises keep on coming until the very end... It is incredible that such a gripping thriller can also be so compassionate in its dealings with its characters' Julia Crouch, author of CUCKOO
'A gripping account of a woman on the edge, who commits appalling crimes and offers them up in a tone of quietly rational domesticity' NJ Cooper
Author
About Penny Hancock
After several years in London, Penny Hancock now lives in Cambridge with her husband and three children. She is a part-time primary school teacher at a speech and language school and has travelled extensively as a language teacher. This is her first novel.
