Pretty Baby
-
-
4.1 • 56 Ratings
-
-
- £2.99
Publisher Description
A chance encounter
She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can't get the girl out of her head…
An act of kindness
Heidi has always been charitable but her family are horrified when she returns home with a young woman named Willow and her baby in tow. Dishevelled and homeless, this girl could be a criminal – or worse. But despite the family's objections, Heidi offers them refuge.
A tangled web of lies
As Willow begins to get back on her feet, disturbing clues into her past starts to emerge. Now Heidi must question if her motives for helping the stranger are unselfish or rooted in her own failures.
Praise for Pretty Baby
‘Pretty Baby is almost hypnotic and anything but predictable…This book will give insomniacs a compelling reason to sit up all night.’ – Kirkus
Praise for The Good Girl
Selected as one of the Top Ten General Fiction Books of 2014 by Bookbag.co.uk
'A twisty, roller coaster ride of a debut. Fans of Gone Girl will embrace this equally evocative tale' - Lisa Gardner
‘A sensational climax seals the deal’ ‘I hesitate to use that terrible cliché ‘page-turner’, but this powerful debut thriller is just that. It grabs you from the moment it starts’ - Daily Mail
'Pulse pounding' - Heather Gudenkauf
'Sensational' - Metro
'One of the trickiest, cleverest, most rewarding human interest crime tales of this year.' - Top 100 Amazon reviewer Katharine Kirby
'Kubica’s powerful debut will encourage comparisons to Gone Girl…[but] this girl has heart' - Publishers Weekly starred review
‘Memorable and riveting’ - Lovereading.co.uk
‘As a debut, this is a stunning, well-written novel – Kubica is an author to watch.’ – We Love This Book
‘This psychological thriller gets right under your skin and leaves its mark. A tremendous read’ - The Sun
‘A complex tale of deceit, jealousy, fear and love played out against the bustling, bright lights of Chicago … a stunning debut’ - Crimethrillergirl.com
‘If you love a dark mystery, The Good Girl will keep you entranced from the very first page to the end. Likened to the bestselling Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, this psychological thriller looks set to be a blockbuster – and it’s only Kubica’s first novel! … I can’t wait for more from this talented writer’ - Peterborough Evening Telegraph
About the author
Mary Kubica holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and American Literature from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She lives near Chicago with her husband and two children.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Chicago-based author Mary Kubica follows up her bestselling psychological thriller, The Good Girl, with another keep-you-guessing story. Pretty Baby fits the bill of domestic noir—it’s the story of a strained marriage and small encounters that take on a sinister sheen. Investment banker Chris was initially drawn to his wife, Heidi, because of her “bleeding heart”, but these days her tenderheartedness and desire for connection are a turn-off to both him and their teenage daughter, Zoe. As Heidi becomes obsessed with helping a homeless teen mother with a dark past, Kubica rattles our nerves by shifting perspectives and revealing key information in dribs and drabs.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kubica follows her acclaimed debut, 2014's The Good Girl, with a superb psychological thriller. Heidi Wood's husband, Chris, and 12-year-old daughter, Zoe, are used to her rants about recycling, poverty, and literacy, as well as her endless, depressing stories about the immigrants and refugees she meets through the Chicago nonprofit for which she works. But her family didn't expect Heidi to invite homeless teen Willow Greer and her infant, Ruby, to live with them. Heidi, whose dreams of a large family ended when she had a hysterectomy to save her life, becomes obsessed with Willow and especially Ruby, even as her marriage frays and she ignores Zoe. Afraid that Willow could be violent, Chris tries to find out her background and whether Ruby is even her baby. A series of flashbacks shift among the points of view of Heidi, Chris, and Willow as this heartbreaking tale about obsession, foster care, and the debilitating effects of unacknowledged grief builds to a stunning conclusion. 10-city author tour.
Customer Reviews
Amazing!
Such A Good Read; Toke 2 Days to Read It! Couldn't put it Down!
Very good reading
Good book. This one and The Good girl are two brilliant books. Look forward to seeing them on the big screen
Two thumbs up!
This book draws you in without seeming to try too hard. It is well written, the characters are relatable, and I feel the ending leaves the reader satisfied.
I have one negative comment about the spelling mistakes or, more accurately, the inconsistency with the spelling of character names. Only two or three but enough to find a bit annoying. It's like an unexpected bump in an otherwise smooth road. But this is more down to poor proofreading. It does not affect the wonderfully written story.