The night she moves in with Peter, she’s so happy, so exhilarated, so in love. Later, she will remember a much smaller feeling, a tiny one percent in her gut. And she will remember pushing that feeling aside…
Samantha Frayn doesn’t know why Peter Bridges picks her – a nobody with bitten fingernails and a troubled childhood behind her – but she falls quickly. He’s older, charming, likes fine wine and French films, and his beautiful home has real art on its walls.
Peter transforms Samantha’s life in an instant. He sees the better version of herself – the one she’s always wanted to be. It’s only normal that there’s a little friction, when she moves in, over domestic matters like where things are kept, or the proper times to eat, sleep and shower. She’s lucky to be with someone who can help her find a new job, move on from childish friends, and speak with greater sophistication.
But as Samantha notices, more and more, Peter’s temper, she starts to wonder if there might be consequences to breaking the rules of the world he has so quickly built around her.
And then she receives an anonymous note that makes her ask: is she the first woman to feel trapped by Peter? Is she being paranoid, manipulated, or could she be in danger?
You can tell the truth about your life, but someone needs to be listening. Someone needs to trust you. And someone needs to save you from the man you thought you loved.
The Women by S E Lynes was published on 20 May 2019 by Bookoutre. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review and who invited me to take place on this Blog Tour.
I started out writing a long long review of The Women; there's so much to say and to discuss. Characters and themes to take apart and examine. Underlying themes to discover and think about.
I may have said too much though and I've now scaled this back a bit. None of you want to read a dissertation about the book, you just want to know if I like it, and if you should buy it. Well, yes ... and yes.
The story opens in Rome, on a sweltering day, thronged with tourists. Samantha and Peter are on honeymoon with their small daughter Emily. What should be an exciting and happy time is marred by Peter's reluctance to embrace the tourist traps of the city; and the heat and the crowds. It's a great introduction and perfectly sets the scene.
The author then takes us back a couple of years and we discover how Samantha and Peter met. There's a big age-gap between them. Samantha was a fairly innocent student at University, a little in awe of her surroundings and peers, having been brought up in Yorkshire on a farm. Peter was an esteemed university lecturer; admired by women, a flashy dresser who drove around in a vintage Porsche.
When Peter actually noticed Samantha, and then took her back to his sumptuous home, she was in awe; not really believing that he could be interested in her.
Right from the beginning of their relationship, I had a very strong gut feeling about Peter. There's one sentence that he says; the morning after their first night together, when Samantha texts her room mate to let her know where she is. Alarm bells rang ... loud and strong.
The reader becomes the third person in their relationship as we join them when Samantha moves in with him, and then has a baby. We are there when Peter arranges for Samantha to teach a Creative Writing class, and when she discovers the frightening and mystifying notes in her paperwork. Notes that imply that Peter may not be everything that he claims to be.
The Women is a complex and intelligently woven story by an author who gets right under the skin of her readers. The characters and the plot lingered in my head for days after I finished reading it.
The development of Peter's character is carefully done; such an insidious person; a man who has spent a lifetime gradually and carefully causing hurt.
Samantha is naive and in love with the thought of being in love. However, she's bright and sparky an despite her initial eagerness to please, she does question her life.
Dramatic and thrilling with an explosive and extremely clever ending, I was gripped by this clever, nuanced psychological thriller. Superb and highly recommended by me.
Amazon best selling author of 'intelligent and haunting' psychological thrillers VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE PACT and THE PROPOSAL. THE WOMEN out for pre-order NOW. S E Lynes is a writer, tutor and mentor. Formerly a BBC producer, she has lived in France, Spain, Scotland, Italy, and now lives in Greater London with her husband, three kids and her dog, Lola.
After the birth of her third child, she completed an MA in creative writing from Kingston University. Her critically acclaimed debut, VALENTINA, was published by Blackbird Digital Books in July 2016. Her second novel, MOTHER was published by Bookouture in 2017, followed by THE PACT and THE PROPOSAL in 2018. In August 2018, VALENTINA was published in a new edition by Bookouture.
Susie Lynes has also published two children's books in Italy: Il Leopardo Lampo and La Coccodrilla Ingamba, both available at Amazon.it
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