Her

Author(s): Harriet Lane

Contemporary

You don't remember her--but she remembers you.


 


Two different women; two different worlds. On the face of it, Emma and Nina have very little in common. Isolated and exhausted by early motherhood, Emma finds her confidence is fading fast. Nina is sophisticated and assured, a successful artist who seems to have it all under control. And yet, when the two women meet, they are irresistibly drawn to each other. As the friendship develops, as Emma gratefully invites Nina into her life, it emerges that someone is playing games-and the stakes could not be higher.


 


What, exactly, does Nina see in Emma? What does she want? And how far will she go in pursuit of it?


 


A gripping novel about friendship and identity, about the wild hopes and worst fears of parenthood, about the small and easily forgotten moments that come to define a life, Her is unputdownable-compelling and hauntingly discomfiting.

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Another taut, tense psychological thriller from the author of the acclaimed 2012 debut novel Alys, Always... A compelling revenge drama that will make you think twice about getting too chummy with the neighbours. -- Sebastian Shakespeare TATLER Harriet Lane's first novel Alys, Always was widely praised for combining sharply observed everyday life with something a lot more sinister. Her second now pulls off the same trick with equal aplomb... The result is a novel that becomes increasingly - and at times excruciatingly - tense as it approaches its devastating final chapter READERS DIGEST With a forensic eye for domestic detail, Lane sets up a riveting series of vicious snares SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE Her is another psychological thriller, every bit as compulsive as the first one... The menace here is the sort that lurks right at the edge of consciousness - something unsettling that you can't quite put your finger on, that builds and builds until the last chapter by which time I was holding my breath. Don't miss. -- Alice O'Keeffe THE BOOKSELLER 'Book of the Month' The exquisitely sinister psychological thriller that is going to take us all by storm this summer, Harriet Lane's Her, has a Notes on a Scandal-type relationship between an exhausted young mother and her rich sophisticated neighbour. -- Amanda Craig THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Harriet Lane's Alys Always was one of the most memorable fictional debuts of recent years, a seemingly simple story that discovered subtle ways to unsettle, and which found elegant, disturbing insights into familiar English obsessions with class and status. Lane's new book, Her, due in June, promises to be this year's unmissable summer novel. Among Lane's antecedents is the pin-sharp prose of Patricia Highsmith -- Tim Adams THE OBSERVER A fabulously creepy thriller from the author of Alys, Always. Nina recognises Emma on the street from 20 years ago, but doesn't reveal this, and Emma treats Nina as a new friend. But what happens when it comes out that Nina remembers? -- Viv Groskop RED magazine Her is a superbly taut, intensely gripping domestic drama... The tension is held beautifully throughout in this excellent second novel from a writer clearly at the top of her game DIVA This spare, tense psychological thriller opens when a wealthy woman finds a struggling young mother's purse in the street of the London suburb they live in. Returning the purse marks the start of an unlikely friendship HARPER'S BAZAAR Driving the plot are the reciprocal forces of revenge and provocation: we want to know what Nina will do next and what Emma has done to deserve it. Lane inspires a terrible dread as Nina's threat looms larger, combined with a slender hope that Emma might realize the danger in time. Lane also intrigues her readers with the puzzle of Emma's past... a fine mistress of suspense. -- Emily Rhodes TLS Struggling young mum Emma is grateful when her glamorous neighbour Nina befriends her. What Emma doesn't realise is that Nina recognises her from the past and has a score to settle. In HER, Harriet Lane keeps the reader on the edge until the last page. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING Struggling mother of two Emma doesn't recognise Nina, but Nina recognises her. She infiltrates her way into Emma's life gaining her trust. But what is it that she wants? The story is told by both women, with an underlying tension that builds and builds until the last horrifying scene. I loved this slow-burning tale of revenge. -- Fanny Blake WOMAN & HOME Emma struggles with life's demands when Nina breezes into her world and makes it better - but what does she really want? This tense page-turner will make you look at kindly strangers with suspicion! PRIMA A sharply observed relationship with a sinister plot line of hand-in-the-mouth proportions... psychologically nuanced novel... Lane excels at everyday detail. Emma's total absorption by motherhood is rendered with beautifully stinging observations METRO Harriet Lane's debut, the subtly unsettling Alys Always, was a chilling psychological drama of power privilege and manipulation. In this, her equally compulsive follow-up, similar sinister shenanigans are spun out in Lane's elegant, poetic prose... Unlike conventional thrillers, the perverse pleasure of this compelling novel is not a big reveal but the pin-sharp unpicking of personality -- Eithne Farry SUNDAY EXPRESS Harriet Lane is a deft conjurer of menacing middle class scenarios, and her second novel, a taut revenge drama with a shattering endgame i NEWSPAPER tautly written psychological thriller... there is forensic social observation here. Her London is recognisably real. Both Emma and Nina feel like women you might pass on a leafy Islington street. She has a sharp eye for telling detail... Then the endgame, when it comes, is shattering. THE INDEPENDENT Nina's a control freak, Emma's a mess. What happens when their paths cross - and is it really the first time? Psychological page-turning follow-up to Alys, Always, Ms Lane's best-selling debut GRAZIA Like a fly caught in a spider's web, struggling naive mother Emma is drawn further into sophisticated Nina's life. The ultimate frenemy thriller. NOW When frazzled mum Emma encounters sophisticated Nina, she thinks their meeting is down to chance. But, as this cool, controlled thriller reveals, the truth is far more sinister. With wonderfully fleshed out characters, this is a chilling study in revenge. SUNDAY MIRROR Harriet Lane has created a taut, unnerving thriller in Her that will keep you in its hold until the devastating conclusion... Her is a beautifully put together novel which fans of Deborah Levy's Swimming Home or Helen Walsh's The Lemon Grove will enjoy. WE LOVE THIS BOOK Harriet Lane made a memorable debut in 2012 with novel Alys, Always and her second book is another superb psychological thriller... that slowly unfurls, layer by tantalising layer, in this riveting revenge drama HELLO! As seductive as it is chilling, Her is quality literary fiction meets psychological thriller, the devil of which is in the detail -- Lucy Scholes THE OBSERVER Emma and Nina inhabit very different words. Unknown to Emma, they have met before... Wangling her way into Emma's home is the easy part - but how can Nina ensure she finally gets her revenge for what happened in the past? BELLA Revenge is, of course, a dish traditionally served cold, and that in a toxic nutshell is the theme of Harriet Lane's deliciously unpleasant second novel, in which she makes of that dish a perfectly plated-up thriller, ideally consumed at one sitting... She has a gimlet eye for domestic minutiae and how they betray us... And rarely has any writer so well nailed the ambivalent feelings and frustrations that attend motherhood. Her is an immensely classy thriller which will have you in its grip to the very final pages -- Caroline Sanderson BOOKOXYGEN.COM Harriet Lane, author of Alys, Always, specialises in scheming women. Her new novel of psychological suspense asks how you can tell when your friend is really your enemy... She's a clever creation, this villainess, like a deadly spider waiting to pounce... One unanswered question keeps the reader gripping that seat-edge... The answer and the novel's outcome do not disappoint THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Deliciously nasty, Her belongs to an emerging "women beware women" sub-genre indebted to Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal. Yet it is distinctive in its domesticity and its missing formulaic elements: a violence-free psychological thriller in which the victim doesn't even know there is a threat -- John Dugdale THE SUNDAY TIMES Dual narrators and their different perspectives on the same events create a distinctly sinister and uncomfortable atmosphere in this gripping novel. Sympathies and allegiances shift with each chapter, keeping the reader unsettled, yet hooked... A cautionary tale that could make you re-evaluate those friendships made by the swings -- Victoria Clarke THE LADY If you loved Notes on a Scandal's brand of toxic camaraderie, you'll love this GRAZIA Summer Reads The author is good on atmosphere, observing lifestyles, ratcheting up the tension and keeping her readers guessing CHOICE This unfolding story of a toxic friendship... will have you racing through the chapters. A gripping and thought-provoking psychological thriller. -- Nimmi Maghera-Rakhra THE SUN Lane's writing shines a spotlight on life's domestic flotsam. Lego under the fridge, damp laundry, crumbs in the toy box: these details of middle-class parenthood are picked out in Hitchcockian detail, gathering weight, promising imminent horror. Lane's first book, Alys, Always, was one of the most talked-about thrillers of 2012, a psychological drama exploring deceit and manipulation. Her is another study of spiteful female friendship, unwinding slowly and subtly over a year... Lane's writing is always careful and elegant, loaded with significance and often beautiful -- Charlotte Runcie THE DAILY TELEGRAPH There's a genuinely unsettling gripping tension to it... a book I hugely recommend -- Alex Clark ROBERT ELMS SHOW, BBC LONDON 94.9 A roller coaster of a read... tense and creepy... will linger with you for a long time afterwards NOVELICIOUS Harriet Lane's Alys Always was one of the most memorable fictional debuts of recent years, a seemingly simple story that discovered subtle ways to unsettle, and which found elegant, disturbing insights into familiar English obsessions with class and status. Lane's new book, Her, due in June, promises to be this year's unmissable summer novel. Among Lane's antecedents is the pin-sharp prose of Particia Highsmith -- Tim Adams THE OBSERVER

Before the publication of her debut novel ALYS, ALWAYS, Harriet Lane wrote for the GUARDIAN, the OBSERVER, VOGUE and TATLER. She lives in north London with her husband and two children. www.harrietlane.co.uk

General Fields

  • : 9781780220024
  • : Orion Publishing Group, Limited
  • : Phoenix
  • : 0.242
  • : 01 January 2015
  • : 198mm X 129mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 01 January 2015
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : 256
  • : 823/.92
  • : English
  • : 1
  • : Paperback
  • : Harriet Lane