After the Wedding by Laura Elliot
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 18th March 2022
Published: 24th March 2022
★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded down)
DESCRIPTION:
Everyone said she was the prettiest flower girl. But now her dress lies on the floor. It’s wet and torn, her shoes are lost. ‘Tell us what happened to you?’ her daddy sobs. Christine shakes her head. All she can remember are the red rose petals scattering like drops of blood spilling to the ground.
When Christine Lewis was a little girl, she witnessed something terrible at a wedding and buried it so deep in her memory, she managed to forget it ever happened.
Years later, Jessica Newman walks into the successful advertising agency Christine runs with her husband. Jessica is beautiful and excellent at her job but her presence triggers disturbing memories for Christine. Fragments of the wedding are starting to flicker in her mind and an unexplainable ball of dread begins to form in Christine’s stomach. Jessica is slowly beginning to destroy Christine’s marriage and her business. Why can’t anyone else see it?
Christine and Jessica’s lives were connected long before they set eyes on one another. But in unlocking the mystery of what happened at the wedding all those years ago, is Christine prepared for the truth she’s about to find?
An absolutely gripping and emotional page-turner packed with suspense that will have you completely hooked. Fans of Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Sally Hepworth will be gripped by After the Wedding.
EXTRACT:
PROLOGUE
Everyone said Christine was the prettiest flower girl ever. More beautiful even than the bride but, shush, that was a secret, a finger to their lips when they told her. She looked like a princess, with sparkly shoes and a lacy, purple dress with petticoats. Now, her flower-girl dress lies on the floor. It’s wet and torn, and her shoes are lost.
‘Tell us – what happened to you?’ They keep asking her the same question over and over. They don’t say cross words about her dress, even though it’s ruined from the river. Instead, they tell her: ‘You fell into the river, Christine, darling, but you’re safe now with Mammy and Daddy.’
The doctor gives her an injection. It hurts but not for long. He says she now has the cleanest lungs in all of Dorset. He puts ointment on the big cut on her forehead and tells her to stay away from rivers in future.
‘Where did you go?’ Daddy asks her again. Tell us… tell us…tell us. His forehead is wrinkly and there’s red all around his eyes. Mammy’s cheeks are black from the mascara and she’s no longer wearing her floppy wedding hat.
Sharon comes into the bedroom and says, ‘Oh, my lambkin, what a fright you gave us.’ She has taken off her wedding dress and is wearing a yellow one with ruffles that flounce. She doesn’t look happy anymore. Not the way she did when Christine was scattering petals all along the aisle to make a carpet of love for her to walk over…
If you are intrigued and want to read more, you can grab your copy of AFTER THE WEDDING by clicking the link for Amazon above.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Laura Elliot is an Irish novelist who writes psychological thrillers and lives in Dublin, Ireland. Her novels are: The Thorn Girl, The Wife Before Me, Guilty, Sleep Sister, The Betrayal, Fragile Lies, Stolen Child and The Prodigal Sister. Her latest novel,
The Tinderbox is due for release in December 2020. AKA June Considine, she had written twelve books for children and young adults. She has worked as a journalist and magazine editor.
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