Book of the dayThrillersReviewPinborough’s twisty psychological thriller culminates with a plot twist worthy of the publisher’s #WTFthatending hashtagThe promotional copy of Sarah Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes comes emblazoned with warnings not to trust the story and exhortations not to “give away that ending”. Thrillers come with a twist – that’s why we love them – and much of the fun of reading the genre comes from trying to second-guess the author. It’s rare to be so challenged before the reading even begins, however – “a tenner says you’ll never guess this ending”, promises the cover – and I begin reading Behind Her Eyes determined to crack what its publisher has labelled #WTFthatending.
Pinborough’s story is told from two perspectives, neither of which we are sure is reliable. There’s Adele, the beautiful, fragile wife of psychiatrist David. She loves her husband – “I will never fall out of love with him. I won’t give that up. I can’t” – and hopes their fresh start in London will mend both the cracks in their marriage and a past about which we get only hints. Then there’s Louise, a single mother who only discovers that the man she meets and kisses in a bar, David, is going to be her new boss when he’s given a tour of her workplace, along with his wife.
Louise is easier to warm to: friendly, kind, hideously embarrassed by her actions but still drawn to David. But she has her own secrets – what are the origins of the night terrors that send her wandering through her home? And why is she getting to know both David and Adele without explaining what she’s doing to both parties? “I don’t want it to stop. That’s the honest, unpleasant truth. I want to have my cake and eat it.” She’s not as straightforward as she seems.
Adele, meanwhile, is more intriguing with every chapter, as her past is slowly revealed, and glimpses of the truth at the heart of her marriage are given (at one point, David is described, brilliantly, as “a walking Agatha fucking Christie plot”). “The past is as ephemeral as the future – it’s all perspective and smoke and mirrors. You can’t pin it down, can you?… The truth is different to different people,” muses Adele.
“Questions, questions, questions,” ponders Louise. “It seems that ever since David and Adele came into my life I’ve been filled with questions. They’re like weeds in water. Every time I think I can swim away another one tangles around my legs to drag me back down.”
Behind Her Eyes is a canny move from Pinborough, the hitherto fantasy/horror/YA novelist jumping aboard the bandwagon for twisty psychological thrillers set in the domestic space. When the first of her twists is revealed, it is fantastically creepy, if not entirely unexpected. The second twist turns the creepy factor up to 11 and is a total wrong-footer. #WTFthatending indeed – the sort that makes you go back to the beginning to check if it all pans out. And it does.
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough is published by HarperCollins (£12.99). To order a copy for £11.40 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99
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