BOOK SYNOPSIS
When we were young, Sarah and I did a terrible thing – but it was only me who paid the price. Now, just when I thought no one from my old life would ever find me, a note is slid under my door: I haven’t forgotten. I haven’t forgiven. FOUND YOU.
My best friend Sarah and I used to spend all our time in a place we called the Doll House. It was just an old, abandoned cottage in the woods behind our house but it was heaven to us. Until one of our games went wrong. And someone ended up dead.
It was an accident, or at least Sarah told me it was. But when I tried to tell the police that I wasn’t involved, they didn’t believe me. When the Doll House Girls were splashed across the newspapers, it was my face they showed under the headlines. I’m the one who stood trial.
Now, twenty years on, I’ve made a new life with a new identity. I have a wonderful husband, Carl, and Jacob, our adorable son. Despite everything in my past, I’m happy.
Then the first note arrives. FOUND YOU. Soon other threats start coming, and the person behind them is clear they’d be willing to hurt my family – to hurt Jacob – to get to me. I know who they are. And I know what they’re capable of. The other doll… The girl who got away with murder.
A totally addictive page-turner packed with heart-stopping twists, if you love Lisa Jewell, Rachel Abbott and The Silent Patient you’ll love I’ll Never Tell.
the chapters that are set in the present day are voiced from the perspective of Alessia who was married to Carl and they had a three year old son called Jacob. The couple had a happy marriage and Alessia was determined to ensure that Jacob would have a childhood that was the complete opposite to her own horrific upbringing. But Alessia had a secret, something that she hadn't shared with either Carl or her best friend Harriet and was terrified that if it was ever revealed would shatter her perfect life into tiny little pieces. When she was twelve years old and known as Emma-Jayne, she was arrested and charged with murder. Vilified by the press and disowned by her own mother, the traumatised little girl insisted that she was innocent and that her best friend Sarah had committed the crime but nobody believed her and became known as one of the Doll House Girls. Alessia had done everything within her power to move on from her tragic past and live a normal life but as we all know, your past has a very bad habit of catching up with you and she is shocked when she receives a note from someone who obviously knows about the events from her past. As the champaign of terror escalated, Alissia struggled to keep a hold on her sanity as confusing memories from her past resurfaced and she became convinced that Sarah was the person behind the campaign against her and that young Jacob was in danger. But if Sarah was her tormentor then how had she found her and why had she suddenly resurfaced after so many years had passed?
Alessia was a complex character and there was times when I doubted the reliability of her narrative and the trustworthiness of her character. After learning about the tragic and shocking events from her past, it wasn't difficult to understand her lack of trust in other people and why she was so terrified about Carl learning the truth about her background. To All intents and purposes, the couple appeared to have a strong marriage and Carl obviously adored his wife but was their relationship strong enough to survive the revelations from the past? Was Carl the loving husband he appeared to be of happens in many psychological thrillers was there more to his character than met the eye? I really liked Alissia's loyal best friend Harriet, a astute and intelligent policewoman who genuinely cared about her friends wellbeing despite the fact that she had known Carl before he met Alissa.
The chapters that were set in the past gave the reader an insight into Alissa/Emma-Jayne's lonely and tragic childhood. In a week when it has been revealed that another poor, innocent soul has been seriously let down by the very people who were supposed to love and care for him as well as the authorities once again ignored numerous warnings that a child was in danger,this is a very topical story. It's a sad fact of reality that despite saying that we live in enlightened times victims of abuse are still being woefully and very often tragically let down by the very people who are supposed to help and protect them. They roll out the same old excuses and insist that lessons will be learned but nothing ever changes and tragic cases of abuse and neglect keep happening. Emma-Jayne was a traumatised, sad and lonely little girl whose only companion was another abused little girl called Sarah, the question was, were any parts of Emma-Jayne's narrative actually the true versions of events? Why did everyone insist that Sarah didn't exist? Was she actually real, a figment of Emma-Jayne's imagination or was poor Emma-Jayne more broken than many of the adults realised? What was the significance of the tatty old doll that Emma-Jayne clung onto like a liferaft and still had in her possession as a adult? What dark secrets were hiding within the walls of the abandoned cottage that Emma-Jayne and Sarah had used as their secret den?
Omg,wow...just wow, I really enjoyed this fast paced,dark,intense,addictive and incredibly well written psychological thriller. The plot covers some hard hitting,realistic and relatable issues but the story is not overly graphic and the author has written about her subjects with understanding and sensitivity. The book doesn't have a large cast of characters but the individuals who do appear are well rounded and realistic. I haven't read any of this author's books before and I would happily read another of her stories in the future. A captivating thriller about the fallibility of the human mind and very very highly recommended.
AUTHOR BIO
Born in Cuckfield, West Sussex, Casey Kelleher grew up as an avid reader and a huge fan of author Martina Cole.
Whilst working as a beauty therapist and bringing up her three children together with her Husband, Casey penned her debut novel Rotten to the Core. Its success meant that she could give up her day job and concentrate on writing full time.
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