The Girlfriend
By
Michelle Frances
Purchase here
A girl. A boy. His mother. And the lie she'll wish she'd never told.
The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances is a gripping and chilling debut psychological thriller, based on the fall-out following an unforgiveable lie. It looks at the potentially charged relationship between girlfriend, boyfriend and his mother, which most women can identify with, and locates it in an extreme but believable setting.
Laura has it all. A successful career, a long marriage to a rich husband, and a twenty-three year-old son, Daniel, who is kind, handsome, and talented. Then Daniel meets Cherry. Cherry is young, beautiful and smart but she hasn't had the same opportunities as Daniel. And she wants Laura's life.
Cherry comes to the family wide-eyed and wants to be welcomed with open arms, but Laura suspects she's not all that she seems.
When tragedy strikes, an unforgiveable lie is told. It is an act of desperation, but the fall-out will change their lives forever.
Wow! Straight away I was hooked. I began reading this book at about 5am after waking up during the hot and sticky weather and by 9am I was almost done. The book popped up as a recommendation for me and I am so pleased I bought it.
Being the Mum of a nearly 23 year old man who is my only child/son I could relate to Laura. Try as I might to get along with any potential future girlfriends, I know deep down I'll be suspicious of any woman my son brings home - sorry Glen!.
Laura's life is her son. Her husband has been having an affair for years and Laura lives for the times Daniel comes home from University. Laura has her own TV production company and a best friend Isabelle and along with Daniel that is it. They live an extremely comfortable life in South Kensington and have a swimming pool built underneath the house.
Cherry comes from a poor area in Croydon. Ashamed of her Mother - Wendy - a Checkout Manager in a supermarket. Cherry wants more, she did well at school and gained excellent grades in her A-Levels, but couldn't afford to go to University. She learnt French and other languages through language courses on the Internet to better herself. The internet became her friend and through that - along with a few embellishments to her CV - she landed a job as a trainee estate agent at a top agency in South Kensington. Now she was mixing with the right sort of people, now she could become something better than a Checkout Manager from Croydon. Then Daniel walked into her office and into her life looking for flats to buy.
Laura tries her hardest with Cherry. Laura had lost a baby girl in the past and hoped that Cherry may be a potential replacement daughter. She welcomes Cherry into the family, but after a disasterous holiday at the family villa in St Tropez Laura finds out that Cherry isn't trustworthy. Her first mistake was letting Cherry know she was on to her.
I really enjoyed this book. Michelle Frances describes the tension and the mood perfectly and her writing pushes you on devouring the book whole.
Highly recommended 5*
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