Suzanne Bugler

This is a very dark story of childhood cruelty and the dawning realisation of the emptiness of the 'perfect life'. The narrator, Laura, has everything. Perfect children, lawyer husband, glamorous mummy friends, and a cocoon on the so-called desirable life of an upper middle class Middlesex village. But Laura had spent her childhood tormenting Heddy Partridge, who wasn't thin, wasn't blonde, wasn't clever, but just wanted to join in.

I wanted to dislike Laura, and in fact, oftentimes i did, show more especially as she relates some of the horrific and cruel things she did to Heddy when she was a child. But the author has Laura come to a dawning realisation that the life she is living is shallow, critical and altogether false, and as she develops, so does your empathy. As an adult, Heddy is suddenly back in her life, although in tragic circumstances. She's had a terrible breakdown and is in a psychiatric hospital. It is from here that Laura starts to find her own humanity again.

The ending of this novel is particularly dark - at the end, no-one is really absolved of their guilt, responsibility for what they did in the past, and current choices. Their only choice is to face it, and live with it. show less

I am fascinated by the psychology of book spines - that tiny bit of surface area facing the potential reader in a bookshop, which has to harness all the tools at its disposal - colour, font, texture - alongside the title and the author’s name, to call out to the customer and let them know this is the book for them. It’s like a language that readers learn without knowing it. For example subconsciously I know to avoid books with silvery lettering or certain fonts. I don’t know why, I show more just do. And this book nearly had me fooled. I only picked it up out of desperation, since there are so few sources of reading matter during the lockdown. I had it pegged as something safe and sugary, a few degrees north of Mills and Boon. Purely down to the font and the colour of the lettering on the spine. It wasn’t like that at all.

This is a book that covers bullying in a way I haven’t encountered in literature before. It’s written from the point of view of one of the bullies, and it isn’t about a syrupy seeing of the light. It deals with the way that we seek safety through membership of groups where we align ourselves against those not deemed good enough to be members. And how easy it is to find yourself out in the cold and what that feels like. And deciding that maybe it is better to stay there. I loved every minute of this beautifully written and thought provoking book. show less

I was a bit unsure about starting this book, because I wasn't sure if it would really be my kind of thing. However, after only the first page, I was completely captivated.

It was so refreshing and different to read from the point of view of a character who is terribly flawed, yet still be able to empathize with her. Laura is living in a world of French classes for toddlers and play-dates only with the ''right kind'' of children.

She thinks she has left her past behind her, until the mother of show more a girl she bullied horribly phones her and asks her to help get her daughter- Heddy- out of a psychiatric hospital. Laura knows she contributed to Heddy's breakdown, yet only agrees to help in order to get Heddy out of her life for good. The story that follows was completely compelling and I loved every second of it. Laura really grows as a character, and I found the stories of her past very intriguing- even if they were a little disturbing.

I loved every minute of this book and would recommend it to anybody. show less

Laura Hamley is living her perfect life in her perfect home, with her perfect husband, friends and children. However, there is something dark under the surface of her life and when Mrs Partridge, the mother of a girl named Heddy who Laura bullied at school, rings her up asking for her help, it brings it all back and Laura's perfect life starts to fall apart.

This is a fantastic read. It flows so well and I read it really quickly, but it's got serious undertones, not least of which is the show more consequences of our own actions. It's quite an uncomfortable read at times too, as we learn of the nature of Laura's bullying of Heddy, and it did make me cringe to read those parts. But it also highlights how important it can be to some people to be part of the 'in crowd', both in childhood and adulthood.

This is a book I would definitely recommend, particularly if you like psychological thrillers. show less