I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn't have prevented it. Could she?

In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever.

Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating. 

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh was published in paperback by Sphere in May 2015.


Yes, I know I'm very late to the party!  I Let You Go, the debut novel from Clare Mackintosh has been absolutely huge. Everyone has read it, everyone has been talking about it. I bought my copy months and months ago and finally, I've actually read it.

Whilst I'd heard all the chatter about this book, I've avoided the reviews, so I didn't have any idea what the story was about, but I had great expectations.

Sitting by the pool, during long, hot days in Corfu was the ideal place to read this one. It's one of those books that you just don't want to stop reading, flipping the pages frantically to see what's going to happen next .... when you are on holiday, you can do just that!

I Let You Go begins with the accident that shapes the whole story. The introductory chapters are quite sedate, but so absorbing. The reader is introduced to Jenna, and to the police team who are tasked with investigating the hit-and-run murder.

It's very difficult to talk about a plot that has so many twists and turns. There may be a few other people out there who haven't yet read I Let You Go, and I really don't want to spoil the story for you. Let's say that this is a very surprising story, with a couple of jaw-dropping moments that actually made me gasp out loud.

The author has very cleverly constructed this novel, with Jenna's voice in the first person and the police story told in the third person, this works extremely well.

A small child, killed in a hit and run accident is sensitive subject matter and the author has bravely tackled this, however, for me, it was the themes that emerge later in the book that I found really disturbing. The devastation and hurt that can happen within a relationship is chillingly described, this is a multi-layered and very clever exposure of a toxic relationship, and the horrifying ripple effects.

Clare Mackintosh's character creation is magnificent and her attention to detail is quite superb.

A gripping, surprising and quite shocking psychological thriller, like most people, I loved it!  The author's second novel, I See You, will be published on 28 July 2016, I can't wait to read it.



Clare Mackintosh spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant and is the founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She now writes full time and lives in the Cotswolds with her husband and their three children.
Clare is the patron of the Silver Star Society, an Oxford-based charity which supports the work carried out in the John Radcliffe Hospital's Silver Star unit, providing special care for mothers with medical complications during pregnancy.

For more information about Clare and her writing, visit www.claremackintosh.com
Find her Author page on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter @claremackint0sh

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