Haven't They Grown by Sophie Hannah
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 6th April 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 23rd January 2020)
★★★★ 4 stars
This is my first Sophie Hannah book and what a ride! HAVEN'T THEY GROWN is one seriously crazy story. Sure, it may be a little unrealistic...but then, aren't most thrillers?! It's still a page turner that is incredibly addictive.
Have you ever wondered about a friend you've lost touch with over the years? And in the age of social media, you scour Facebook, Twitter, Instagram...but none of them have the answers you are seeking. What would you do? Would you drive by their house and park down the street for a glimpse to see what has become of them?
Beth and Flora used to be the closest of friends. They met at university, they got married and their children were roughly the same age. But when Flora's husband Lewis inherited some money from a long lost relative, the family moved away.
Now it has been 12 years since they lost contact...and Beth has been thinking about her once closest friend.
On a whim, after dropping her son at his soccer match, Beth decides to drive by the last address she had for Flora and parks up opposite taking in the house and the high walls surrounding it. When a silver Range Rover drives through the automatic gates, Beth cannot believe what she sees. Her once best friend Flora, looking a little older, but it is her. Then she coos to the passengers in the backseat and Beth is puzzled. Surely, you would not talk to teenagers, as Flora's children would now be, in the same baby voice reserved for toddlers? But then the passengers climb out...and Beth is shocked.
Flora's children, 5 year old Thomas and 3 year old Emily, look EXACTLY as they did the last time she saw them...twelve years ago. This can't be right. So why haven't they grown?
Beth is certain they are the same children. She heard Flora call to them - they have the same names - and they look exactly the same. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily were 5 and 3...and today, they are still 5 and 3. Beth is confused. And where is Georgina, who just 4 months old when she saw them? She would be 12 now.
When she confides in her husband Dom, he tells her that Lewis and Flora moved to America some years back...according to his LinkedIn account...for some big job offer. And sure enough, when Beth stalks their social media pages, they are very much living in Florida and the Thomas and Emily she knew are now 17 and 15. But why is there no mention of Flora? Or Georgina?
Beth sets out to uncover the truth of what has become of her friend and why their children haven't appeared to have aged. But she comes up against some resistance when she returns to the house to speak to the neighbours, only to discover that a couple by the time of Kevin and Jeanette Cater live there now with their two young children. But Beth is certain it was Flora she had seen...and she definitely appeared to live there.
Then she sees Flora in the street near the school. Flora freezes...before turning around and running away. Beth can't understand her behaviour. She ascertains that Flora had to have parked her car somewhere nearby so Beth went in search of the silver Range Rover she had seen her friend alight from just days before. When she does, it is open so she waits inside for Flora to return. Only the owner isn't Flora. She claims to be Jeanette Cater and it was her car. But this woman was foreign...Ukranian? Russian?
Something isn't right and Beth begins to feel concerned for her former friend and the young children that are so obviously hers.
From Cambridgeshire to Florida to Corfu, HAVEN'T THEY GROWN is a twisty than twistier thriller that will have you questioning the sanity of those involved. Is Beth delusional? Did she really see Flora, Thomas and Emily? Or is the woman Beth believes to be Flora all that she seems? And what about Lewis? He seems jovial enough when Beth spoke to him but what is he hiding beneath that charismatic veneer? And what about the children? Surely Thomas and Emily are teenagers now...so who are these 3 and 5 year olds living on that quiet lane? So many questions and yet Beth cannot seem to get any answers.
I liked Beth, though she was a tad obsessive and who would really go to the lengths she went to just to find out what had happened to Flora? But still, she is very likable and her relationship with Dom is a good one. So often in thrillers, the husband just doesn't "get" the wife's obsession and arguments are rife as they disagree over the slightest thing. But not here. Dom is incredibly supportive even when he urges her to stop. He listens to her and he hears her and still he supports her. They are both likable characters. But the standout one for me is their 15 year old daughter Zannah (Suzannah). I adored her! And I don't generally enjoy teenage characters...but Zan is something else. She is funny, perceptive, intuitive and incredibly smart. She should have been revising and studying for her GCSEs but she was soon drawn into Beth's obsession and was a great support to her mother's investigations. I felt sorry for Flora as she is so obviously afraid of something. Lewis is a narcissistic self absorbed character that you will love to hate.
Suspenseful and peppered with humour, HAVEN'T THEY GROWN is a rollercoaster ride with so many twists and a little wit thrown in here and there right up to the dramatic conclusion. There are so many twists it seems somewhat convoluted in parts and maybe a little implausible but it is still one hell of a ride.
It may be far-fetched, it may be ridiculously convoluted and it may be unbelievable...but HAVEN'T THEY GROWN is extremely fast paced and ends up being an addictive page turner, as you find yourself questioning just exactly what is going on. You are guaranteed to devour this one in record time!
Unique, original and brilliantly clever, I thoroughly enjoyed HAVEN'T THE GROWN that left me thinking "What the...?" by the the end.
My first by Sophie Hannah but not my last!
I would like to thank #SophieHannah, #NetGalley and #HodderAndStoughton for an ARC of #HaventTheyGrown in exchange for an honest review.
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