Haven't They Grown by Sophie Hannah

 

Hardback: 328 pages

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Publisher: January 23, 2020 by Hodder & Stoughton

Source:  Tywyn Public Library

First Sentences: Here we are in the wrong place: Wyddial Lane. It's a private road, as the sign unsubtly proclaims in letters larger than those spelling out it's name, in a village called Hemingford Abbots.

Favourite Quote: “If we never make any changes that scare us at first, we end up missing out.”

Review Quote: 'Complex and sinister' Observer

My Opinion: It has been quite a few years since I last read any of Sophie Hannah’s novels. Actually, it was this author that led me to first read the genre, psychological thrillers, one I had previously tended to avoid. Glad I picked this one up at the library recently, drawn in by the original sounding storyline, it came home with me plus her latest novel to read in a few weeks time.

The protagonist Beth has discovered that something very strange is going on in the life of an ex friend of hers. As she still cares about this person, she decides to investigate and is drawn into a web of deception.  Beth becomes obsessed and although at times it all feels a little too crazy the story is well developed and the characters all well portrayed.

A disturbing story of emotional manipulation and one to recommend to readers of thrillers.  Remember though it is fiction that you are reading for pleasure and if it seems implausible to you good, as this is not a sequence of events you would ever want to come across in real life.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

All Beth has to do is drive her son to his Under-14s away match, watch him play, and bring him home.

Just because she knows her ex-best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn't mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that, and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn't seen Flora for twelve years. She doesn't want to see her today, or ever again.

But she can't resist. She parks outside the open gates of Newnham House, watches from across the road as Flora and her children Thomas and Emily step out of the car. Except... There's something terribly wrong. Flora looks the same, only older. As Beth would have expected. It's the children. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then.

They are still five and three. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt - Hilary hears Flora call them by their names - but they haven't changed at all.

They are no taller, no older... Why haven't they grown?

Author Profile:         

Courtesy of Amazon Profile 

Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling crime fiction writer whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Her crime novels have been translated into 49 languages and published in 51 countries. Her psychological thriller The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the 2013 UK National Book Awards. In 2014 and 2016, Sophie published The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket, the first new Hercule Poirot mysteries since Agatha Christie's death, both of which were national and international bestsellers. She went on to publish a third, The Mystery of Three Quarters in 2018 which was an instant bestseller, and her fourth Poirot novel, The Killings at Kingfisher Hill will be published in August 2020. Sophie helped to create a Master’s Degree in Crime and Thriller Writing at the University of Cambridge, for which she is the main teacher and Course Director. She is also the founder of the Dream Author Coaching Programme for writers which launched in September 2019.

Sophie is also an award-winning, bestselling poet, and her poetry is studied at GCSE level across the UK. She has co-written two murder mystery musicals with composer Annette Armitage: The Mystery of Mr. E and Work Experience. She has written a self-help book called How To Hold a Grudge: From Resentment to Contentment - The Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life, and hosts the How to Hold a Grudge podcast.

Sophie lives with her husband, children and dog in Cambridge, where she is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Amazon Author Page   Sophie Hannah Author Facebook Page  Instagram Profile

Twitter Profile   Sophie Hannah Official Author Website