Can You See Her? By S.E. Lynes
Genre: Psychological thriller, domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 21st August 2020
Published: 22nd April 2020
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
Rachel doesn’t understand how her life has changed so completely. When she was younger, heads would turn when she walked into a room. Her children needed her; her husband adored her.
But somehow the years wore that all away. She was so busy raising her children, looking after her parents… She can barely remember the woman she used to be, the one whose husband told her she was out of his league. The woman she is now just does the laundry and makes the dinner, and can walk into a room without anyone knowing she’s there.
She knows that she hated feeling invisible. She knows that she thought: what would it take for you to see me again?
And now she’s worried that she did something terrible. Because she’s sitting in a room, being asked whether she killed someone.
When no-one is watching, you can get away with anything…
Can You See Her? is an utterly compelling and unputdownable psychological thriller, about how far you can push a woman before she will break. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, A.J. Finn and The Silent Patient.
MY REVIEW:
"There are things I don't know. But I know people are dead, I know I killed them and I know it all started the day I realised I was invisible."
Rachel Edwards is invisible. Well, she thinks she is. When she was younger, heads would turn when she walked into a room. Her husband Mark had always said she was out of his league. And she had great relationships with her two beautiful children, Keiron and Katie.
So when did Rachel become "invisible"?
With Keiron away at uni and Katie taking a gap year, Rachel's life consists of working at the pub and the caretaker of her family at home. When daughter Katie has her 18th birthday party of "just 10 friends" which then turned into at least twenty, Rachel walks into the room and realises everyone is totally oblivious to her presence. She's past her prime, heads no longer turn, she's no one.
She's become invisible.
Her husband of 27 years doesn't even look at her anymore, barely even speaks to her. Katie spends most of her time in her room, deaf to her mother's voice...unless food is involved. But neither of them can be arsed to set the table, warm the plates, hang the washing or even flip the switch to turn on the heating while she's out getting fish and chips for tea. No, those tasks are left completely up to her as she is simply the wife and mother, the caretaker for her now unappreciative family.
Becoming obsessed with the spate of knife attacks happening near her home, Rachel begins a scrapbook or sort with clippings of all the victims and their stories. In the hope that she can approach their MP to get the police to do more about these crimes in the area. And yet...she's invisible. Maybe she should take matters into her own hands? After all, she's invisible...
And if she was invisible, if no one else can see her, she could get away with murder. Couldn't she?
Then Rachel starts taking walks at night with their dog Archie and meets people she feels she identifies with and can understand them. She feels their pain and makes connections with them. At last she is not invisible. Not to these people at least. But then these people are found dead or badly injured within a few minutes of meeting her...and Rachel wonders, did she do this?
Now Rachel is in a locked room with forensic psychiatrist Amanda "blue eyes" Frost, detailing all that her life has become and the crimes she has no memory of committing...and yet she must have. Police question her husband Mark, daughter Katie, best friend Lisa and new neighbour Ingrid as they try to determine what is really going on.
It was evident that Rachel was struggling. But was it her sanity? Was she unstable? Or was it just menopause? The internal anger and rage she would feel as her family paid her no attention and basically just took her for granted. And then to make matters worse she began to suspect Mark of having an affair with...Ingrid? Lisa? Or both? How could Mark do this to her? How could Lisa?After all, she knows she is no longer the beauty she once was but to ditch her for the floaty blonde piece next door or her best friend...how could they? Or was Rachel just delusional and imagining things?
Of course there is so much more, much much more to this story that I have barely touched the surface. CAN YOU SEE HER? is an original and thought provoking slow burning psychological thriller about feelings of self worth, jealousy, revenge and menopause. With a touch of humour peppered throughout Rachel' narrative. I laughed when her husband Mark referred to her mood being down to her "hormonal whatsits".
CAN YOU SEE HER? is primarily narrated by Rachel in her sessions with the forensic psychiatrist - both in dialogue and the thoughts she doesn't openly share. There are alternating chapters throughout in the form of police interview excerpts with Mark, Katie, Lisa and Ingrid as slowly a picture begins to build of what may or may not have happened.
But nothing will prepare you for the shocking triple twist ending that is quite outstanding that not even I saw coming...on any count! It was sheer brilliance on Susie Lynes' part that makes this truly emotive tale such an intriguing read that, despite the slow burn, I could not put down.
My third book by Lynes, CAN YOU SEE HER? is thought provoking, emotive and even heartbreaking as each twist is revealed. Sheer brilliance.
I would like to thank #SELynes, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #CanYouSeeHer in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After graduating from Leeds University, Susie Lynes lived in London before moving to Aberdeen to be with her husband. In Aberdeen, she worked as a Radio Producer at the BBC before moving with her husband and two young children to Rome, where she lived for five years (that sounds amazing). There, she began to write while her children attended nursery. After the birth of her third child and upon her return to the UK, she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University. She combines writing with teaching at Richmond Adult Community College and bringing up her three children in Teddington, Middlesex. She is the author of critically acclaimed psychological thriller, VALENTINA, published by Blackbird books. MOTHER, her follow up, was published by Bookouture in November 2017 then THE PACT, THE PROPOSAL, THE WOMEN, THE LIES WE HIDE and, in April 2020, CAN YOU SEE HER?
Formerly a BBC producer, she turned to novel writing after the birth of her third child.
After her MA in Creative Writing, she became a Creative Writing Tutor at Richmond Adult Community College and now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing. She has also published three children's books in Italy.
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