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.
MY REVIEW:
Having read two books by this author previously and thoroughly enjoying them, I was geared up for another intriguing and addictive read. But AFTER THE WEDDING is far different from what I expected. It's marketed as a psychological thriller though I think that is a little misleading. Although it certainly does have aspects of a thriller, the first part of the story is anything but. In fact, I grew so impatient by Christine's outbursts and jealousies as well as Jessica's blatant behaviour I was tempted to toss the book down. Where was the thriller aspect, I wondered? Then little by little, we are given glimpses of it as Christine's repressed memories of her past trauma begin to resurface in a haze of wine, vodka and hypnosis. Is it any wonder Richard failed to believe her?
The premise was also misleading in the sense that readers expected the aftermath of Christine's apparent trauma after the wedding (hence the title) that we actually thought that was what we were getting. Apart from the snippet in the Prologue introducing us to the events after the wedding and Christine's subsequent rescue from the river, the story then launches into the life and times of Christine thirty years later married to Richard Stone and co-running their advertising agency, Foundation Stone. I was drowning in the ins and outs of advertising as well as Christine's obvious yet inexplicable discomfort surrounding their new copywriter, Jessica Newman. The woman made her uncomfortable, fearful and made her skin crawl. But why, was anyone's guess. Almost half the book lead us through Christine's erratic thoughts and memories and down the rabbit hole of hypnosis where she uncovered the repressed memory that preceded her being pulled from the river when she was five years old "after the wedding". What then follows is her behaviour which is equally erratic thus creating the divide between herself and Richard, who fails to believe her rants and accusations.
When Christine was five years old she was flower girl at her aunt's wedding at the historically listed Castle Rillingham in Rillingham-on-the-weir in Dorset. As the only child in attendance, she soon grew bored and looked for ways to amuse herself. She was drawn to the blood red roses blooming in the gardens and was gruffly chastised for crushing the heads of them, leading her to make her escape through a doorway and over a stile to the woods that lay beyond. After that, Christine has no memory of what happened beyond the pressure on her chest as she vomited up water after being pulled from the river. What happened to her? How did she end up in the river? It is these questions she seeks answers to through Elaine, a hypnotherapist her friend Amy recommended. But what she uncovers throws her world into even more turmoil in the wake of losing her business and her marriage.
Divided into four parts, the second part begins with Jessica's narrative through which we get her side to the part she played in the grand scheme of things. Jessica's memories are not all that they appear to be which leaves her questioning those roots. But not enough to believe Christine's rants, who is clearly drunken and delusional.
What is clear, by all accounts, is that Christine feels threatened by Jessica almost from the first moment she meets her though she has no idea why. But it's when she goes digging into the past that she discovers they have more in common than either woman would believe. But how is Christine's past and Jessica's presence linked? What connects them, if anything? Is what Christine remembers real or is she just paranoid?
What promised to be an intriguing dig into a traumatic past connecting them to the present, ended up being too long and a little erratic at times. It was difficult to remain interested when Christine went off tangent, it was little wonder Richard had such a hard time believing her. There were aspects to the tale that kept me reading but there was so much in between the beginning and the end that just felt too cumbersome and long-winded. I predicted all the reveals which weren't really twists anyway but rather just unfolded that way.
The most confusing aspect to this book is the alternate narratives, which I love but in this case leaves readers a little puzzled as to their perspectives when they switch from Christine to Jessica without any indication as to whose narrative we are reading. The book begins clearly from Christine's narrative in the first part, then by the time part two begins it is very obviously Jessica, as clearly stated. But then we move into Parts three and four and the perspectives continue to change without any clear direction as to who is narrating them. I had to keep going back to see who it was meant to be. For alternating viewpoints, each chapter should be clearly headlined as who is narrating it to save confusion. I'm used to alternating narratives, but even I found this a little baffling (and irritating) at times.
None of the characters were very likeable. I hated Jessica and I grew impatient with Christine and Richard was just a little too weak (?) and Samuel was just positively loathsome. Although I did like Ryan. Probably the only one I did like. But I doubt any of them will remain with me.
The ending was satisfactory but that was about it. It wasn't great or outstanding, but it was good enough. I didn't hate AFTER THE WEDDING but I didn't love it either. The book certainly had potential, and I know Laura Elliot can deliver exciting thrillers, but AFTER THE WEDDING just didn't meet my expectations.
Overall, this was on OK thriller but not a great one.
I would like to thank #LauraElliot, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #AfterTheWedding in exchange for an honest review.
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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