I’m excited to share my review of We All Begin As Strangers which is published in paperback today. I really enjoyed this book and it was one of my favourite reads of 2017.
We All Begin As Strangers is available to buy in ebook and paperback here.
Book Blurb:
HOW WELL DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS?
In the English village of Heathcote the temperature – and the sense of unease – is rising.
It started with small things – a perfume bottle being moved, a photograph left behind in someone’s house. But now Anna is missing.
As the search for Anna gathers pace, suspicions grow and secrets are revealed. Surely one of the villagers can’t be responsible? But then can you ever really know what’s going on behind closed doors…
My Review:
Residents of a small village are alarmed to hear of some break-ins being reported in their village. Quickly nicknamed ‘the fox’ the intruder initially doesn’t appear to take anything, just entering people’s houses to seemingly look around. Then one of the villagers, a sweet girl called Anna, goes missing. Convinced that the fox has taken her the residents are determined to try and find out who the fox is and why he took Anna. As tension builds and accusations fly the villagers are soon forced to realise how little they know each other and how many secrets each of them are hiding.
The author does a great job of setting the scene for this novel. You really get the feeling of being in a small village with everyone having known each other since school and therefore thinking they know everything about one another. The sense of claustrophobia is increased by the descriptions of the village being hemmed in by trees and the hot weather.
The story is told from the point of view of four residence from the village. Each of them are outcasts in there own way and all have secrets that they are hiding. I really emphasized with all of them and felt sorry for them when their secrets were revealed. I liked that they were all so normal, everyday characters that you might find in any village. The fact that they weren’t perfect and all had faults made them seem more real and i could relate to them a lot more. The author adopts a fly-on-the-wall type approach to describing their lives which made for fascinating reading. It really felt like you were there experiencing everything alongside them. The tension in the book is gradually increased as the story progresses and the secrets of the villagers are discovered. The foxes remaining undiscovered also adds to this tension as neighbours start to accuse each other of being the intruder. This makes the book hard to put down as you want to continue reading to find out what happens next.
I thought the ending was brilliant! It took me completely by surprise and I have continued to think about it long after I have finished the book. The meaning behind it is quite poignant and should perhaps be something all of us could try and change in are lives.
This is Harriet Cummings debut novel and I look forward to reading more from her. Thank you to Ben Wills, Orion publishing and Harriet Cummings for the proof copy of this book.
About The Author:
Harriet Cummings is a freelance writer with a background in history of art and gender studies. She enjoys writing scripts and has had work performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as independent venues around London. While studying at Faber Academy she threw herself into her first novel and hasn’t looked back since. She lives in Leamington Spa with her husband and springer spaniel. We All Begin as Strangers is her debut novel.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
This is very intriguing, glad you enjoyed it right up to the end.
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Thank you, I really enjoyed it xx
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Sounds brilliant! Love the review.
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Thank you lovely I thought it was a great read! Xc
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I read it too Jo. Such a different read..
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It was good wasn’t it? Not what I was expecting x
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