Title: Her Name Was Rose
Expected publication: 28 June 2018
My Rating: 🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
When Emily lets a stranger step out in front of her, she
never imagines that split second will change her life. But after Emily watches
a car plough into the young mother – killing her instantly – she finds herself
unable to move on.
And then she makes a decision she can never take back.
Because Rose had everything Emily had ever dreamed of. A beautiful, loving family, a great job and a stunning home. And now Rose’s husband misses his wife, and their son needs a mother. Why couldn’t Emily fill that space?
But as Emily is about to discover, no one’s life is perfect … and not everything is as it seems.
And then she makes a decision she can never take back.
Because Rose had everything Emily had ever dreamed of. A beautiful, loving family, a great job and a stunning home. And now Rose’s husband misses his wife, and their son needs a mother. Why couldn’t Emily fill that space?
But as Emily is about to discover, no one’s life is perfect … and not everything is as it seems.
My musings:
Emily, a lonely young woman who has been trying to make a
new start after a nasty relationship break-up, finds herself struggling with
demons from her past when she becomes an unwilling spectator to a woman’s fatal
hit and run accident. Guilt-stricken, she remembers how she prompted the victim
to step out in front of her, only to see her being brutally mown down. With dread,
she is wondering: was Emily the intended victim? Has she unwittingly sent the
young woman to her death? Unable to put her doubts to rest, she looks for the
victim’s profile on facebook – a perfect mother, a happy young wife. Everything
Emily has ever wanted for herself. In a fit of longing for this perfect life,
she applies for the dead woman’s old job, and discovers that it is not all that
difficult to slip into someone else’s life ....
Her Name Was Rose starts off with a hidden sense of danger
and menace that had me instantly hooked, and I was keen to find out more about
Emily’s fate. The premise of someone slipping into a dead woman’s shoes sounded
very intriguing, and I was keen to see how the author would play this.
I soon discovered that Emily was in many ways an
infuriating, tormented characters (I am not completely sure whether I mean this
in a good or a bad way). As a person who possesses at least what you can call
rudimentary self-preservation skills (ok, not counting the times I precariously
clamber around on slippery rocks to get that perfect bookstagram photo), I
found it very difficult to understand Emily’s decision making processes (or
lack thereof). This is a character who stumbles from one stupid decision to
another, never taking pause to think and evaluate, even as her despairing
friends and family advise caution. If it had been down to natural selection,
Emily would not have made it to adulthood. The author did try to make Emily out
to be a troubled soul, seeking refuge in sedatives and alcohol, falling apart
under pressure and rushing into decisions that would get her into trouble. The
concept of normal people finding themselves in extraordinary situations makes
for a good premise for a thriller, but I felt that Emily’s dark side needed a
bit more depth to make her character more credible and better fit the mould of
unreliable narrator she is supposed to present.
I read a lot of psychological thrillers and like them best
dark and twisty, messing with my mind. According to the author, she is new to
the thriller genre, which is perhaps why some aspects of the story read more
like a relationship drama to me, making me long for a bit more suspense and
mystery. Without coming across too critical or a smart-arse (I’m trying for
constructive feedback), these were the elements that did not work so well for
me:
SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK
*) Too much being revealed too son, i.e. in the form of
Rose’s diary, which gave away those very elements that would have created doubt
in my mind as to the truthfulness of the main players. I am finding more and
more that diary entries in mysteries rarely work for me, as there is a fine art
to making them credible. If we had not had Rose’s POV to the time leading up to
her death, there would have been mystery. As it was, all roles were defined
very early on, leaving few surprises in store.
*) Threads that started off promising and mysterious, but
ultimately didn’t go anywhere: eg Emily initially thought that Rose's accident
was an attempt to kill Emily. However, this undercurrent of danger to Emily
just petered out along the way and unfortunately never lived up to its full
potential (which I thought it had).
*) Unconvincing red herrings: whilst Emily has a few
suspicions as to who was behind Rose’s death, there was little doubt as to the
“goodies” and “baddies” in this story – also largely due to Rose’s diary giving
things away too early. I would have liked for some characters to be less
predictable, which would have added to the mystery.
Enough said. This is my very personal opinion and may not be an issue for other readers at all. Allan writes
well, and addresses some very topical themes in her novel, such as mental
illness, domestic violence, bereavement etc, which come to play in various
parts of the story. Fans of the author’s earlier work or readers who enjoy a
character driven drama will undoubtedly enjoy this story of dysfunctional
relationships, but those (like me) who crave dark psychological suspense may
find themselves a little bit unsatisfied. However, this was a fast and entertaining
read, and I will definitely keep my eyes out for the author’s future books to
see whether she fully crosses over to the “dark side”.
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