The Woman in my Home by Kerry Fisher
Genre: Contemporary fiction, Domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 13th May 2022
Published: 20th May 2022
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
I was starting to believe it might be my turn for the fairy tale. A man who adored me, someone to return to at the end of the day and to share my life with. And Rebecca. Capable, reliable Rebecca who could help me to manage my busy home…
Finally, Cath has met someone: a man she loves, Robin, and who adores her in return. And after years of managing fine on her own, running a successful business, raising her son, and caring for her elderly mother, she feels she deserves some happiness. And who better to provide it than charming, fun-loving Robin?
She expected everyone to be delighted for her. But her friends and family are suspicious of Robin. And Rebecca, a desperate single mother who Cath has hired as a live-in housekeeper, doesn’t trust him either. He’s too slick, he’s too perfect and it all happened too fast… how well does Cath really know him?
Cath is used to taking care of herself; she’s nobody’s fool. But when things start to go wrong in the house that’s been her haven for all these years, she’s forced to ask herself whether the man she loves is really what he seems… And having let Rebecca in to every part of her life, is Cath ready to face the secrets she might find there?
From the Amazon charts bestselling author of The Silent Wife and The Woman I Was Before, The Woman in My Home is a gripping read about family secrets and lies. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.
MY THOUGHTS:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Kerry Fisher's thrilling THE WOMAN IN MY HOME.
I've read a few books by Kerry Fisher but none of them had captured my heart like my first read by her "The Mother I Could Have Been"...until this one. To be honest, I'm not a huge contemporary women's fiction fan but slip in a little mystery or thriller aspect and you'll have me eating out of your hand. There wasn't a huge mystery to this one as we could see exactly what was happening even if some couldn't...but it certainly had that domestic thriller aspect I love. Provoking just the right amount of emotion, I have also wanted to smack some sense into a few characters whilst happily cheering alongside other. I'll say it now...Dolly was my favourite.
I wasn't entirely sure why it was titled THE WOMAN IN MY HOME until about halfway through when the author revealed a huge twist that changed how the reader looked at them...and the bigger picture. Even I, who is rarely hoodwinked, didn't see what one coming.
At fifty-seven years old, Cath has found love again after some thirty years as a single mum and living alone in her sprawling gated mansion complete with pool and tennis court. Having kicked out her womanising husband who found younger women far more attractive, Cath then turned her life around from nothing to a successful businesswoman that proved to be very lucrative indeed. But a time comes in a woman's life when she has made sacrifice after sacrifice so that her child never went without and now said child is thirtysomething and married with his own landscaping business, when she craves that companionship that has been missing from her life since her philandering husband walked out.
Enter Robin. He's handsome, charismatic, easy going and best of all, he loves Cath. Wealthy and charming in equal measure, he is perfect and everything she never thought she could want or hope for again. But is he really?
Thirtysomething Rebecca thought her life was perfect until her husband decided to guarantee the house she was still paying a mortgage on for loans he was taking out for some get-rich-quick schemes. All without telling her. So their marriage over, she packed up what was left of her life with her two young children and kipped on her heavily pregnant sister's settee for the foreseeable. Unfortunately while hubby was living the life of riley by the seaside with his parents, Rebecca was fast wearing out her welcome with her children in a cramped house preparing for a new baby.
After dropping Megan and Eddie at school, Rebecca traipse from business to business looking for any vacancy that will enable her to secure a roof over their heads and put food on the table without relying on her sister and husband's dwindling patience. She then wanders into the affluent Hetherington Close where she meets elderly Dolly struggling with a wheelie bin. The two women get talking and before long, Rebecca discovers that the beautiful house she has just been admiring belongs to Dolly's daughter Cath who owns and run a successful recruitment agency. Not wanting to farewell this kindly old grandmother-type, Rebecca offers to drive Dolly home where she admires her overgrown garden afterwhich she offers to help her get the garden into order for which Dolly agrees to pay her.
When Dolly has an accident resulting in a broken ankle, she moves into Cath's house where Rebecca follows and ends up as a cleaner-cum-housekeeper living in the run-down tennis pavillion in the backyard. Of course, Rebecca is desperate and undoubtedly grateful for Cath's generosity. Over the course of the following weeks, Rebecca is privy to Cath and Robin's growing closeness although aware of son Sandy's reticence of the man.
When some of Dolly's precious jewellery goes missing from her house, Robin is quick to point the finger at Rebecca...after all, she is essentially homeless relying on Cath's good nature without a penny to her name. But Rebecca insists she didn't take the items despite having plenty of opportunity to steal them.
And then Robin's property development threatens to grind to a halt and his ex-wife is upping the stakes delaying the divorce and sale of their marital home. Despite Robin's pleas, she appears to be out for as much as she can swindle out of him putting him in a quandary...particularly as he and Cath intend to marry in just a couple of months' time.
Until one morning, there is a surprise visit that will set the ball in motion to turn everything on its head, revealing a twist I didn't see coming!
THE WOMAN IN MY HOME is a complex tale of secrets, lies, manipulation and betrayal. There is mystery, tension and even better, an unreliable narrator you don't know whether to believe them or not. Riddled with red herrings and misconceptions, the author deftly guides us up blind alleys for the ride of our lives. Her storytelling is compelling, her narrative sharp and witty - especially with Dolly and some of Rebecca's quips.
The story unfolds through Cath and Rebecca's eyes which gives the reader two very different perspectives and circumstances. It is humbling to note that Cath never forgot her beginnings or how difficult it was to rise above her husband's mistakes to make a life for herself and son Sandy. So she was very understanding of Rebecca's predicament despite Robin's constant probing that they know nothing about her.
Well paced with a plethora of secrets woven within, THE WOMAN IN MY HOME does explore a very different side to life with desperation, loneliness and homelessness along with secrecy, lies and deception. And while this type of story is not unique, the way in which Kerry Fisher has portrayed it is quite original.
And then there was the ending. It wasn't what I expected...but it highlighted the reality and left readers with a sense of wondering. Although I don't normally like loose ends, this one dangled like a promise of what was to come. It's up to us to decide, I guess.
I thoroughly enjoyed THE WOMAN IN MY HOME and didn't want my time with Rebecca, Cath, Dolly or Sandy to end. A delightful read that I thoroughly recommend.
I would like to thank #KerryFisher, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheWomanInMyHome in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Other than reading and writing, Kerry loves cooking, entertaining, wine and friends. Though she admits to be being not very groomed and a bit messy.
She now lives in Surrey with her very tolerant husband, with an intermittent empty nest as her two young adult children come and go.
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