Into the Darkest Corner
A Novel
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- 5,49 €
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- 5,49 €
Publisher Description
Catherine Bailey has been enjoying the single life long enough to know a catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell.
But what begins as flattering attentiveness and passionate sex turns into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon learns there is a darker side to Lee. His increasingly erratic, controlling behaviour becomes frightening, but no one believes her when she shares her fears. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.
Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—compulsively checks the locks and doors in her apartment, trusting no one. But when an attractive upstairs neighbour, Stuart, comes into her life, Cathy dares to hope that happiness and love may still be possible . . . until she receives a phone call informing her of Lee’s impending release. Soon after, Cathy thinks she catches a glimpse of the former best friend who testified against her in the trial; she begins to return home to find objects subtly rearranged in her apartment, one of Lee’s old tricks. Convinced she is back in her former lover’s sights, Cathy prepares to wrestle with the demons of her past for the last time.
Utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, Into the Darkest corner is an ingeniously structured and plotted tour de force of suspense that marks the arrival of a major new talent.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Haynes's first novel, a harrowing psychological thriller, charts one woman's life on two different time paths as they gradually converge into a frightening whole. The Catherine Bailey we meet in 2003 was fun loving and liked going out with her friends in Lancaster. The Cathy Bailey we see in 2007, a frightened obsessive-compulsive, has difficulty leaving her London flat for work or talking to neighboring tenants. In 2003, Catherine meets handsome, charming Lee Brightman, who gradually isolates her and controls every aspect of her life, despite her increasingly desperate attempts to escape him. Their story develops in excruciating detail until 2005, when circumstances contrive to give her a respite from Lee. Meanwhile in 2007, Cathy meets fellow tenant Stuart Richardson, a psychologist who befriends her and helps her to begin a fragile recovery. When Cathy learns that Lee could re-enter her life, she fears the horror will start anew. This is a terrifying and convincing portrayal of an abusive relationship and a damaged woman's heroic attempts to recover from it.
