🌊📵⛔ "The Safe Place" ⛔📵🌊 (2020) - Book Review

MY REVIEW

Hardcover: 352 pages

Publisher: Minotaur Books (July 14, 2020)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1250264804

ISBN-13: 978-1250264800

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“Welcome to paradise...will you ever be able to leave?

Emily is a mess.

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.

Emily is desperate.

Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.

Emily is perfect.

Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly.”

Thank you in advance to Bookish First as well as the publisher, Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press, for this advanced review copy. A positive review was not required and all words are my own.

When I saw the description on Bookish First I HAD to get my points balance up and redeem them for this. And, I couldn’t wait to get it. This sounded too good to pass up on.

And, after the “shut-down” went into effect, only certain book publishers were shipping out. Thankfully, St. Martin’s Press and their imprints, were not affected.

Admittedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday life for people. When I got this on April 6^th, I had NO idea how much of this novel would ring true – isolation, no outsiders, no escape. Thankfully some of us can go and do things despite the restrictions. Still – the irony is quite strong with this novel.

Certainly the author couldn’t have conceived that the advanced reader’s copy/edition would come out around that time.

The cover shows a stunning infinity pool with a view of the ocean and lounge chairs to the side. And, after looking at that scene … what could possibly go wrong? After all a place to live, an allowance, a vehicle to drive … who wouldn’t want to have a job like that? It sounds pretty good – even to get away from the internet and social media.

Set in the UK and France – Downes takes the reader on a scary journey with Emily. The numbered chapters are told from Emily and Scott’s POV in third person. There are unnumbered “sections” or chapters that is obviously Nina from a first person POV. This starts from when she met Scott (just after chapter ten) and up until the “startling” reveal at the end of chapter 36.

Trigger warnings might include: kidnapping, childhood trauma, physical abuse.

As it states – Emily is a mess. And, a mess she is. She can’t seem to get a handle on “adulting”. She can’t seem to function – even the basics such as a budget and paying her bills seems to elude her. And, this even causes problems at her temp job. In addition, she wants to act and that isn’t anywhere near the success it should be. She is also at odds with her adoptive parents.

Scott is orchestrating something – and that involves Emily, despite her lack of being able to get a grip on the “adult” life. Scott’s offer is too tempting to pass up though. And, by chapter 11 – Emily thinks she’s landed a decent job.

The mystery surrounding Scott’s wife, Nina and their daughter Aurelia are at the heart of why he chose Emily. According to him, his wife is stressed and lonely due to looking after Aurelia. Scott also mentioned that Aurelia has a medical condition. But, Scott never discloses what exactly the condition is.

Despite the fact of what went on with her employment at Scott’s company – Emily leaps at the chance, not wondering what is going on. Obviously Emily knows she is inadequate at her job and silently questions Scott’s praise of her. Still, she takes the job? There’s strike one already – too good to be true. Strike two was the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). FYI: three strikes and usually you’re out – at least in baseball.

In fact, Scott has chosen Emily before she was fired. That’s already creepy. And, what’s even more creepy is how he manipulates those around her so that he can present this job to her.

Creeped out? Yes, it does get worse …

Emily is flown over to France. She meets Nina and Aurelia. The meeting with Aurelia doesn’t go very well. The child is all but a functional mute and has to cover up herself from head to toe due to a “skin condition”. Strike two – Emily hasn’t questioned this. The meeting doesn’t go quite as planned and there is an incident. Strike four – Emily debated leaving, but … she stays.

Strike four is the weird “no phones” and “no internet”.

There are other incidents/strikes that Emily misses: Aurelia’s aggressive affection, arson, Nina’s breakdown with “intruders”, an accident with Aurelia that prompts yet another psychotic breakdown from Nina. There was about seven (7) strikes/red flags prior to the last incident.

And, it wasn’t until the last incident that Emily out the real truth about Aurelia – that is the great reveal – and the reason behind the secrecy. The plot was unique and interesting. I had a feeling there was more to the story and was proven right about two-thirds (2/3) in. This was where I enjoyed the plot, but I didn’t. That was a hit+/miss- with me. It seemed like an over-done idea, yet it had originality.  It was one of those “love/hate” feelings towards this. I truly enjoyed it, but at the same time, it seems like an “over-done” plot. For those who’ve read it – you might understand what I mean.

With short, quick chapters; this debut suspense holds up quite well. Surprisingly, it was a fairly fast read, and definitely kept my attention. I enjoyed it as I was reading it. This isn’t a “riveting, edge-of-seat” kind of read. But, it is a page-turning read at best. There are no sex scenes, but there is some nudity and implied sexual overtones – with implied consent for an extramarital affair. There is some coarse language.

The characters were well-written, but I couldn’t identify with any of them. The ending wasn’t too climatic, but I would definitely be interested to see what a sequel might look like. I will say I didn’t expect what happened to Scott. That was a “WOW” moment.

The end was a bit too short/quick. I would’ve liked to see the writer expand more on the missing child mentioned in the book as well as the conclusion from that.

Overall this wasn’t a bad effort for a debut writer. And, it definitely makes one re-consider being a “live-in” babysitter.    

Described as “modern gothic feel of Ruth Ware and the morally complex family dynamics of Lisa Jewell”, if you’re a fan of these authors – you might enjoy this. As I’ve never read either author, I can’t adequately compare them.

RATING:

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads (Really liked it)

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub (Okay)

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html) (It was a bit more than okay as I really liked it. Not the worst I’ve read, not the absolute best though)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna Downes was born and raised in Sheffield, UK, but now lives just north of Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children. She worked as an actress before turning her attention to writing and appeared in BBC TV shows such as Eastenders, Casualty, Holby City, and Dalziel and Pascoe, as well as a long-running stage production of "The Dresser" in London's West End. She has degrees from both Manchester University (Drama) and RADA (Acting). She has been published in the Zodiac Literary Review, shortlisted for the Sydney Writers Room Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Margaret River Short Story Competition. The Safe Place was inspired by Anna’s experiences working as a live-in housekeeper on a remote French estate in 2009-10.

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