Whoa, what a story! This convoluted tale of menace and madness centers on what happened inside a Chelsea mansion at Sixteen Cheyne Walk, SW3. Once upon a time, the lovely home was occupied by the wealthy Henry and Martina Lamb and their two children, Henry and Lucy and they all enjoyed the things that money can buy and were big on the local social scene. All that changed when Birdie Dunlop-Evans and her partner, Justin Redding, arrived one day. They were the first to move into the house.
Lucy is a single mother with two young children earning a scrappy existence by busking on the Côte d'Azur. She has left an abusive husband and has no means to get to London when the notification appears on her nearly dead smartphone, "The baby is 25." Lucy is desperate to return.
Henry was 11-years-old when Birdie and Justin came. "They lived with us for more than five years and they turned everything very, very dark. My sister and I had to learn how to survive. And when I was sixteen, and my sister was fourteen, the baby came."
Libby is "the baby" and she comes into inheritance when she turns 25 after growing up in the care of an adopted family. She lives in St. Albans and works as a kitchen designer. She gets the message from a solicitor that she has inherited the house. Of course she goes to see it and eventually learns the sorry saga of what happened there. NO SPOILERS.
The narrative shifts between the points and view of Libby, Lucy and Henry and goes back and forth in time. At first extremely confusing, it finally gets easier to figure out who everyone is, how they are related, and to sift between the versions to get the truth. It's quite the shocker of a tale! Definitely one that you don't want to know too much about before you begin reading. But once you do, it will be very hard to put it down. I wasn't too sure where it was all going but it does come together and is quite a sensational drama. I can't say too much more so as to avoid giving anything away.
Again, the synopsis isn't quite accurate.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books/Simon & Schuster for the e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - Domestic drama, mystery, cult
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