The Younger Woman by Mandy Byatt
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 25th March 2023
Published: 2nd February 2023
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
The unputdownable new thriller from Mandy Byatt that will leave you reeling after the final twist…
She knows him better than anyone.
She doesn’t know him at all…
Lottie and Nick once had a dream marriage, but a series of failed IVF attempts has left Lottie feeling insecure, and her paranoia is further stoked by the arrival of a new starter at Nick’s firm. Tasha is the spitting image of a younger, more attractive Lottie, and Nick is paying her a lot of attention…
But then Lottie discovers she’s pregnant. A surprise getaway to their country cottage to celebrate Nick’s birthday will provide the perfect backdrop to give him the news and start to heal the rifts in their relationship.
Then, on the eve of Nick’s birthday, Lottie goes into the cellar, and what she finds makes her question everything. Because there, in the corner of the cellar, is the body of a young woman.
A young woman who looks just like Lottie…
A gripping, suspenseful thriller with a killer twist you won’t see coming! Perfect for fans of Adele Parks and Liane Moriarty.
MY THOUGHTS:
"You shouldn't play around with people..."
What a delightful tension-filled twisted thriller THE YOUNGER WOMAN is! And definitely not what I expected at all. The author has cleverly constructed a complex plot that will have even seasoned readers like me fooled with each turn of the page, leaving us more stunned than Nick with Lottie's anniversary surprise.
Forty-somethings Nick and Lottie are off to Fairview, his parent's holiday cottage (which is anything but a cottage, I might add), to celebrate their tenth anniversary and Nick's birthday the following day. After several years of failed IVF attempts and their desperation to have a child, nothing has worked and Lottie's biological clock is ticking. But now Lottie has a big surprise for Nick...however, she is in for an even bigger surprise of her own.
Filled with excitement at Lottie's news, Nick braves the lashing rain and heads to the village for some champers. But an hour later and he still hasn't returned and Lottie is getting worried. Even more so when the storm cuts the lights in the cottage and she must use her mobile phone's flashlight (with its failing battery) to brave the cellar and its feisty inhabitants of the rodent kind in search of the fuse box (and hoping it is just a tripped switch). Of course she clocks a bottle of champagne on the shelf down there, but Nick claimed not to have known where the key to the cellar was. Yet Lottie found it on his own key fob. Strange? Or had he forgotten about it?
When she tries to retrieve the bottle, she unintentionally discovers the body of a young woman. A woman with red hair, like her own. Like Nick's new PA. Surely not?
Lottie's head is filled with questions. All those text messages; all those late nights "at the office"; his moodiness and snappiness; the lies she has uncovered and questioned him about...all of this and more. How did she get here? Why is she here? Did Nick meet her here? Were they having an affair?
But nothing will prepare Lottie for the answers when they are eventually revealed. Skeletons buried so deep, uncovering the lies and deception as the secrets of the past begin to resurface. And at the end of it all...what does it mean for Nick, Lottie and the baby they so desperately wanted?
With a handful of characters, a cleverly woven plot and a twisted tale that will keep you guessing who to believe and who not to, THE YOUNGER WOMAN is a psychological thriller that will have you second guessing everything. Even the characters all seem a little untrustworthy. One in particular is just deviously nasty. But the story as a whole is just really well-plotted and by the end you will be left pondering what exactly you've just read. Because it will make you second guess how you perceived everything. Not confusing, when really you think about it, just complex and very cleverly done.
THE YOUNGER WOMAN was nothing like I expected and I enjoyed every minute of it! Figuring out the twists and reveals never spoils the story for me, but when you get one that comes along and still has the ability to surprise and shock you, then you know you have a winner! I love the complexity of the story and its subplots that when I look back at it and see just how cleverly the author has woven the tale, I am just so impressed I'm speechless.
Overall, a thoroughly twisted tale and an enjoyable psychological thriller with plenty of tension and an abundance of secrets that are so cleverly hidden not even the seasoned reader will pick them!
I would like to thank #MandyByatt, #Netgalley and #AvonBooks for an ARC of #TheYoungerWoman in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Mandy has been shortlisted in the Gransnet/HQ novel competition and Woman & Home short story competition as well as longlisted in the HWA/Sharpe Books Unpublished Novel Award and Orange Pathé screenwriting competition. She was also a winner of a Radio 5 Live monologue competition. Just Another Liar was her debut novel, The Younger Woman is her second.
Mandy's love of writing led to a day-job in marketing and a night-job in novel writing. She lives in Cheshire and is currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, whilst working in marketing communications.
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