T. R. Richmond

When I finished this book and logged into Goodreads to leave my review, I was shocked to see the low rating. I almost wondered if I had somehow built the book up to be more than it was, but after taking a day away from it I can say, without a doubt, this was a phenomenal book. Easily a 4.5 star book for me, but it may just be one of those books that you either love or you hate.

Alice has passed away, she is gone, and her death may not be solved any time soon. Her family and friends, while in show more mourning, are not the ones who really know her best anymore. Dr. Jeremy Cooke has made Alice's life his newest project. He is piecing her life back together, using her diary, shared information, passing communication, and voice mails to understand the women that people didn't really know. As truths are unfolded, he finds something even more shocking, something unexpected.

What She Left is a mystery, did Alice commit suicide, did she fall, did someone murder her? Who was Alice really anyway? We open the book to a winning writing entry about what's in a name. We glimpse into the young mind of Alice, who she thinks she is and who she may not be at all. In this brief, 1000 word entry, Alice comes to life and she can be anyone you want her to be. She's an enigmatic woman; she's brilliantly smart, haunted by a depression of sorts she calls IT, and what starts as drinking has turned into a sampling of other drugs. She uses words in the fight against criminals, answers questions in an odd sort of way, and has three men in her life that know her in very different ways. She was a beautiful character to read, both from her POV and from the POV of the other people in her life. You see, this isn't a normal prose novel, it is written from several POVs in the form of diary entries, blog posts, letters, forum postings, emails, and news articles. We don't ever really know Alice, except from her words, but we know her family, her friends, her passing acquaintances, and we know the man who's studying her after death. Dr. Cooke is what you expect him to be, an aging academic who never reached his full potential. Who's life crossed Alice's in way it never should have, but left such an impression on him. It was a lot like reading from the perspective of someone who felt they'd lost the one, the one that got away, but with no romance. I enjoyed his letters and how he told stories of his past, his current interactions, and his writing style for the book her is releasing to the world about Alice.

At times, this book was hard to follow, the 380 pages started to feel like they were 500. At times it was uncomfortable, boring, or too much unrelated to the story, but it all comes together at the end. I found myself skimming pages at times, then had to go back and read to understand. The fragments of Alice's life are just that, fragments. As a reader it is impossibly hard to read this book and not really know the character, but to only feel the emotions in the words from those who knew her. There are also some parts of the book that are tough to read, the relationships aren't pretty, Alice's spiral and struggle with IT definitely isn't pretty, but it all was just a shadow of who she really was, a person the reader can never really know.

I took a lot away from this book, but mostly I ended this book with an understanding that it wasn't really a story about Alice at all, but a glimpse into how life is for a twenty-five year old and how easily her life was recreated through words. It is a look into the human condition and how much our use of media puts our life out there for anyone. I loved that the main story teller, Dr. Cooke, who writes in letters to a pen pal, tells his side of the story from the eyes of an elder who doesn't use media the same was as the younger generation does. He sees where they have overshared on blogs, that words are deleted, that communication is easily found when you look. Over the course of the novel, we start to truly see Alice, to understand her life, and even begin to see what happened to her on the fateful night when she died. I loved the modern take on the epistolary style writing and the gradual character formation we get from those who knew Alice. I liked that I didn't really know all the characters that well until the very end, I liked the slow increase of characters sharing information about their relationship with Alice, and I really liked how we finally find out all the truths.

I purchased the audio version today, I am really looking forward to starting this one over from a new perspective. Plus, Emilia Clarke is the voice of Alice and I cannot wait for that.

I would like to thank Netgalley for providing an ARC of What She Left in exchange for my honest review.
For more of my reviews and personal thoughts, visit my blog Carlene Inspired. show less

I was intrigued by the premise of T.R. Richmond's new book, What She Left.

Alice Salmon's sudden death shocks those who knew and loved her. She couldn't possibly have jumped from that bridge, could she? She must have been pushed, right? Or maybe it was just an absolutely horrific accident?
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One of Alice's former professors, Jeremy Cooke, decides to piece together Alice's life, using her diaries, social media posts, texts, playlists and anecdotes from those closest to her. But really - why show more would he want to do this? Well, old Cookie has his own set of secrets. And those who profess to have known and loved Alice also have secrets that they prefer stay hidden.

T.R. Richmond has us suspecting each and every player as their connections and interactions with Alice are revealed through Prof. Cooke's research. We come to know Alice through other's eyes - and my perception of who she was changed with every character. Alice's own diaries reveal a confused young woman whom I didn't like very much. Old Cookie has the most to say - and he is by far the most disturbing character. His letters to a dead friend are quite disturbing as he details his past - and present - thinking and actions. Quite honestly, I didn't find any of the characters sympathetic or likeable; and therefore hard to engage with.

But with each additional piece of information revealed, my opinion changed on what really happened - and who Alice really was. Richmond employs a non linear timeline to unfold What She Left - readers will have to note the date at the top of each entry to keep things straight.

What She Left was told in a clever fashion, with a twist or two tucked in at the end. What She Left was a good debut novel, but comparisons to Gone Girl may be a tad ambitious. show less

What She Left is probably one of the most original, unique books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. This is the story of Alice Salmon; she’s a young, talented journalist who was just found drowned in a lake near her University. Jeremy Cooke, one of Alison’s former professors decides to put together a book about her life; a compilation of interviews, letters, journal entries, blog and social media posts. It’s this format in which the story is written that gives it an utterly show more fascinating, documentary style feel. I really loved reading it this way and enjoyed that each entry wasn’t listed chronologically. Instead, they jumped back and forth in Alison’s life timeline, certainly kept me on my toes! As different perspectives and clues were revealed, I had to continually check and see when the entry happened in Alison’s life. That may sound confusing, but you’ll understand what I mean if you read it!

The police, of course, have ruled Alice’s death a suicide but it quickly becomes clear that anyone who was close to Alice believed she was incapable of something like that. As Professor Cooke gathers more information, a clear picture starts to appear of a very troubled girl. Yet you can’t help but be fascinated by Alice and her life, leading you to ask yourself and want answers to “how did Alice really die?”

Again, I really enjoyed this book and loved its unique style and format, a great psychological character study that I couldn’t tear myself away from. I think it will definitely “hit home” with anyone that uses social media on a regular basis, especially readers who grew up with it as a common part of life. This book serves as a good, yet somewhat scary reminder to us all that everything we put out on the internet really does stay forever! I did not guess what really happened to Alice until very late and for me, that’s always a sign of a well done thriller. Look forward to reading more from this author.

**I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin UK, in exchange for my honest review** show less

With hindsight quite a tortuous read, and yet the book constitutes an interesting experiment. The book is about Alice, who drowned one night, aged mid-twenties, assumed drunk. The key Q that keeps the suspense going is, who did it? Did Alice accidentally drop in the water? Was she pushed by someone? Did she commit suicide? The narrative is told by a number of voices using different media – blog entries, e-mails, letters to dead friends, newspaper reports, diary entries, SMS messages, lists show more of favourite music, etc. In that sense the novel constitutes an experiment reflecting on the modern day traces we leave of our lives (hence the title?). The key voices in the story are that of Prof Cooke, an adulterous anthropology professor in old age, who may or may not have been Alice’s father (he had an extramarital affair with Liz, Alice’s mother, when Liz was a student). Cooke engages in a novel way of science – documenting Alice’s life after her life was taken… There is Alice’s best friend Megan who willingly participates in Cookie’s project, exposing her young and frail body to this creep in the process; There is Luke Addison, the boyfriend of Alice, who had been dumped because of a fling early on in their relationship. Alice has just indicated by mail how much she would love to re-engage with him after a two month communication lock-out, but for some reason this mail only reaches Luke after her passing away in that fatal night. And then there is a number of other potential killers whose voices are not heard in the book, but about whose existence we hear indirectly – there is a creep on the internet, who supposedly is the guy Alice helped put into prison with her crime investigating journalism. So it’s a whodunit, but the pace and the writing is tedious and not quite acute. Of course the idea is brilliant – allowing the writer to present different voices and a multitude of perspectives. But it never really caught on. It was a matter of slugging on till the end, which contained a twist that was unpredictable, because some information had been withheld until the very last. That I found irksome. It is like talking the reader into a cul-de-sac with a set of characters and suddenly one of the characters turns out to be superman and takes off. I felt duped by someone who does not (yet) master the game, introducing a new rule at the end, making you lose. This leaves me with only one possible reaction at the end; ok, wtf! show less