Unreliable Narrator
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jul 14, 2026
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"Unreliable Narrator is clever, beautifully written and next-level creepy. I loved it to death." —Lisa Jewell, bestselling author of Don't Let Him In
A new twisted psychological thriller from the author of Imperfect Women—now a #1 hit Apple TV show!
It's his story. But it's her life.
When twenty-three-year-old Hope Jenkins arrives at the isolated, otherworldly Shadowlands estate, she’s certain her life is finally about to begin.
Hope is eager to spend her summer assisting the up-and-coming literary star Ambrose “Rosie” Glencourt, but at Shadowlands, art and danger blur into one. Rosie and his enigmatic wife, Delia, preside over a circle of glittering guests with morals as questionable as their wealth. Hope is transfixed—by their beauty, their brilliance, and by Tom, the elusive young man who resides on the sprawling property and has captured Hope’s heart for the very first time. Hope quickly realizes she’s willing to do anything to secure her place among them—even if it ends in fatal disaster.
Ten years later, Hope lives in self-imposed exile. She has no family, no friends, and no future . . .until she opens Rosie’s runaway bestseller and discovers it’s an almost exact retelling of her story: the work, the sex, and the gunshot that ended it all. It is everything Hope swore to keep hidden, dragged out onto center stage. But this time, Hope isn’t going to stay quiet.
Riveting, compulsively readable, and surprisingly tender, Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall explores revenge, obsession, and the dangerous stories we tell to survive.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hall (One of the Good Guys) shines in this wily thriller about the fraught relationship between a popular author and his assistant. Hope Jenkins, a 23-year-old aspiring writer, hopes that serving as live-in secretary for novelist Ambrose "Rosie" Glencourt at his Somerset home will jump-start her career. It doesn't hurt that the job also offers distance from her recent affair with a married man in London. Soon, however, she grows uncomfortable: Hope's predecessor, Sara, left abruptly, possibly after sleeping with Rosie, and Rosie proudly displays a nude portrait of his wife, Delia, in their study. Tragedy strikes during Hope's tenure, and a decade later, she is stunned when Rosie publishes a roman à clef about the events titled The Ruined Girl, which becomes a national bestseller. That Rosie has taken his version of events to the public infuriates Hope, and leads her to consider going to the police with her own version. Hall's striking prose (upon reading Rosie's book, Hope, "like a cannibal, began to feed on her own words") and memorable characters enhance a sophisticated plot that never goes quite where readers expect. This is a rewarding page-turner.
