The Night Visitor
the gripping and enticing thriller from the author of Magpie Lane
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3.9 • 47 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
'Vivid, memorable and menacing' C.L. Taylor
'Compulsive' 5* reader review
She knows your secrets. And she'll make you pay.
As high-flying TV presenter and historian Olivia Sweetman stands before an adoring crowd at the launch of her new bestseller she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into lies and if the truth comes out she'll lose everything.
Only one person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward housekeeper of a Sussex manor who has become Olivia's unofficial research assistant. But Vivian has secrets too, and as the relationship between the women grows more and more tangled, a bizarre act of violence changes everything . . .
Perfect for fans of Little Fires Everywhere, Lie With Me and He Said She Said.
PRAISE FOR THE NIGHT VISITOR:
'WONDERFUL' - Clare Mackintosh, author of Let Me Lie
'INSIDIOUS' - Guardian
'BRILLIANT' - Fiona Barton, author of The Child
'PROPULSIVE' - Metro
'INGENIOUS' - Sabine Durrant, author of Lie With Me
'SINISTER' - Red
'MENACING' - C.L. Taylor, author of The Fear
'FANTASTIC' - Sunday Mirror
'ELEGANT' - Joanna Cannon, author of Three Things about Elsie
'GRIPPING' - The Literary Review
'UNRELENTING' - Mick Herron, author of Spook Street
'ENTHRALLING' - Heat
'FASCINATING' - Linda Green, author of When My Eyes Were Closed
'INTELLIGENT' - Good Housekeeping
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This moody, meticulously plotted suspense novel from Atkins (The Other Child) opens at a launch party held at London's Hunterian Museum for history professor Olivia Sweetman, who's celebrating the release of her scandalous new biography of one of Britain's first female surgeons, Annabel Burley. The book is already a bestseller, so Olivia should be on top of the world; instead, she's furious with her husband for some unspecified betrayal, anxious regarding an overcoat-clad figure lurking at the back of the room, and terrified that her research assistant, socially maladjusted sexagenarian Vivian Tester, will reveal "the truth" about what Olivia has done. Flash back two months. Chapters from Olivia's perspective are interspersed with journal entries by Vivian, painting a detailed portrait of the women's complicated relationship while chronicling the events precipitating and then succeeding Olivia's launch night angst. Evocative writing heightens the sense of impending doom created by the tale's structure, keenly rendered characters enrich Atkins' exploration of the pettier aspects of human nature, and the book's harrowing conclusion gratifies without feeling pat.
Customer Reviews
An intriguing read
Powerful, exciting and deep.