Little Friends

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A tour de force of suburban dramatis personae from the incomparable Jane Shemilt.

Mainly because of the innate emotional intelligence that is distilled into every sentence and every page of her wonderfully constructed novels, Jane Shemilt has long been one of my favourite authors. "Little Friends" has this in abundance with the hidden secrets of its dramatis persona constituting the petri dish of suburbia that is recognisable the world over. You will need to be patient with "Little Friends", however, because it does take a few chapters to get into, but once you do the pay-off is immense. This a psychological thriller of hidden depths - multi-layered and dripping with tension and suspense. It involves three disparate couples and the tangled interplay of relations that is at the core of "Little Friends". All have secrets, all want them to remain hidden. It takes a tragedy for these secrets to begin unravelling and when they do... boom. The story is told from the perspectives of the three mothers - Eve, Melissa and Grace who with their own unique voices, beautifully written by Shemilt, reveal the dark throbbing heart of family life in suburbia. Whilst this makes for uncomfortable reading, at times, it is all the more rewarding as a reading experience for forcing us to think about the reality of what goes on behind the closed doors of our neighbours in their innocuous looking houses. Jane Shemilt does this with skill and sensitivity - never embellishing for the sake of the added drama that is sometimes the pitfall of many authors of this genre. No, this is a story of dark uncomfortable truths. Truths that will live long in your memory after you have read the last page of this superior novel.

Dark, twisty and poignantly realistic in its portrayal of the tangled interplay of human relations.

Summary:
Their children are friends first. They hit it off immediately, as kids do. And so the parents are forced to get to know each other. Three wildly different couples. Three marriages, floundering.
There are barbecues, dinner parties, a holiday in Greece. An affair begins, resentments flare, and despite it all the three women become closer.
Unnoticed their children run wild. The couples are so busy watching each other that they forget to watch their children. Until tragedy strikes.
But the summer won't be over until our story twists, and twists again, while three families search desperately for answers. Because while they have been looking the other way, evil has crept into their safe little world and every parent's biggest nightmare is about to come true...

An enthralling story about a group of parents that become friends when Eve starts tutoring some of their children who may be dyslexic. They soon start to socialise and the children become friends enjoying playing out together in the garden, they all go away together to Eve’s villa in Greece.

When a tragedy occurs it affects all of the 3 families and we soon realise that what goes on behind their closed doors, does not match with the image they portray on the outside.

The main characters are Eve, Melissa and Grace and we see from their points of view their struggle with everyday life. While their children have been playing happily evil has crept in. You warn you’re children about strangers but what if the dangers are closer to home!!

I was so gripped by this book. I did struggle at first to keep up with who was who and had a list of their children’s names beside me!! But I was so caught up with this book that it did not spoil my enjoyment.

At times dark but written in a beautiful and sensitive way.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Loved this! What a page turner!

As a thriller it certainly lived up to that. Its quite a dark story but kept me fully engaged and wanting more. Very strong characters that flowed through the story and kept me intrigued all the way.

Would highly recommend to all and if you love thrillers then this is an absolute must.

Thank you Penguin Uk and NetGalley.