Book Synopsis:
Helen has it all…
Daniel is the perfect husband.
Rory is the perfect brother.
Serena is the perfect sister-in-law.
And Rachel? Rachel is the perfect nightmare.
When Helen, finally pregnant after years of tragedy, attends her first antenatal class, she is expecting her loving architect husband to arrive soon after, along with her confident, charming brother Rory and his pregnant wife, the effortlessly beautiful Serena. What she is not expecting is Rachel.
Extroverted, brash, unsettling single mother-to-be Rachel, who just wants to be Helen’s friend. Who just wants to get know Helen and her friends and her family. Who just wants to know everything about them. Every little secret…
Masterfully plotted and utterly addictive, Greenwich Park is a dark, compelling look at motherhood, friendships, privilege and the secrets we keep to protect ourselves.
My Review:
Greenwich Park was a compelling and taut thriller which will be hard to review as I don’t want to give anything away.
The story centers mainly around two expectant couples and an interesting lady called Rachel who Helen befriends in antinatal classes. The mention of pregnancy and anti natal classes always makes me anxious so I was immediately on edge from the beginning of this book. It becomes obvious from the start that nothing is as perfect as Helen thinks which I thought very intriguing. I found I had to keep reading to find out what happens.
The story is told from each of the characters point of view which allows the reader to get to know more about them. I enjoyed slowly learning more about them and their past as the story goes on. None of the characters are particularly likeable and I found I didn’t warm to any of them through the book. I felt maybe slightly sorry for Helen at times but she also annoyed me with her niavity and clinginess. I felt like giving her a shake at times as she just didn’t seem to be getting what was going on.
The tension in the book slowly creeps up as the story goes on until I found it impossible to put the book down. There are definitely some odd things going on and I think I thought of every scenario in my head as I tried to unravel what was happening. There are quite a few false leads, especially towards the end which I always enjoyed and I definitely didn’t guess the ending which is always a sign of a well plotted book. The ending was very well done and I liked the way it ended. One particular bit had me cheering as I was so pleased things had ended up that way. I did have a few questions about what happened but I think if the author has tried to answer everything it would have seemed too perfect.
This is the author’s debut novel and I’d definitely be interested in reading more from her in the future.
Huge thanks to Bloomsbury for my copy of this book via netgalley.
About The Author:
Katherine Faulkner, an award-winning journalist, studied History at Cambridge. She has worked as an investigative reporter and an editor and was formerly the joint Head of News at The Times (London). She lives in London, where she grew up, with her husband and two daughters. Greenwich Park is her first novel.
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