The Woman Upstairs (previously titled "Your Guilty Lies") by Ruth Heald
Genre: Psyhcological thriller
Read: 17th September 2019
(release date: 10th September 2019)
★★★★★ 5 stars
WOW! Still reeling from the moment I read the final chapter, THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS by Ruth Heald is a book I devoured easily in just over 24 hours. It is addictive, unputdownable and oh so twisted. Ruth had me hooked from the beginning that I quickly became invested in the lives of Katie and her twins.
Throughout the story there is an undercurrent of danger with a real sense of foreboding that had me waiting with baited breath wondering what was going to come next. And as readers, although we know something bad is going to happen, we are powerless to stop it as we are immersed into the storyline and absorbing every page. When I tweeted my thoughts upon finishing, Ruth told me she "wanted to capture that feeling you get in horror movies...when you know the heroine is walking into a trap, but you can't stop her!" And boy, did she succeed!
The story begins with Katie who is shocked to learn that she is pregnant...and even moreso when she discovers she's having twin girls. However, her relationship with Ian, the father, was only ever a casual thing and not all that serious...until now. Despite this unexpected turn of events, Ian is delighted and supportive and eager to start their family. As a property developer, Ian's business acquires houses in need of some work before renovating them and then selling them on at a profit. It is one of these houses that Ian has set aside for them to move into in an affluent part of London.
But when Katie arrives to move in, the house is nothing she expected. It is completely derelict, rat-infested, damp and uninhabitable. Heavily pregnant by this stage, Katie knows she can't stay there. She tries ringing Ian but the calls go unanswered. She calls her best friend with whom, up until now, she had flat-shared with. But Amy is distracted with a new tenant moving in and thinks Katie is just nervous about the move. Even Katie's mother refuses to help, unable to believe the house would be that bad. In the end, Katie has no one left to help and resigns herself to spending the night on the damp mattress on the upstairs bedroom floor.
When Ian arrives, he is as shocked as she is at the state of disrepair the house is in. Full of apologies, he moves Katie into a hotel and sets to work on renovating the house into some kind of living standard. It isn't long before an entire new state of the art kitchen is intalled as well as a new bathroom. The living room and two bedrooms upstairs are also painted with new furniture and fresh carpet, leaving the rest of the house to be completed as and when. Ian also thought Katie would like to choose the colours for the nursery so left that untouched. Katie is speechless. The house is beautiful. Filled with happiness and a surge of love for Ian, Katie new that this was the start of a new life together with their twins.
But soon, Katie becomes increasingly worried with Ian spending so much time at work, leaving her in the house on her own...with all its creaks and groans. Sometimes she even thinks she hears someone on the stairs or music playing...but soon dismisses the thought as being just nerves. As the time of the birth approaches, Katie asks Amy to be her birth partner in the event that Ian is unavailable and as her best friend, Amy is thrilled.
When Paula befriends Katie, she appears to be something of a saviour. Professing to be a doula, an expert trained in childbirth and infant care, she offers to help Katie in exchange for room and board. Katie is relieved to have her there, especially when Ian spends so much time at work, to help ease her fears as the birth approaches. But soon after at the baby shower Amy, a little drunk from the festivities, falls down the stairs and breaks her leg. Now laid up, Amy is unable to be Katie's birth partner should the need arise.
But then Ian is called away urgently on business in Thailand. A huge deal is going through for a string of hotels that could secure the business and set them up for life. With the due date so close, Katie is terrified he won't be there but Ian promises he will be only be gone a week and will be back by the time the girls arrive.
However, it soon becomes clear that Ian is unreachable when Katie tries calling and texting him. And then she goes into labour. Fearing it is too soon and that something is wrong, she tries Ian again. But to no avail. Thank goodness Paula is there to help support her, as it's clear she cannot depend on Ian, and she proves to be a tower of strength for Katie. Then as the twins come into this world, baby Alice's entry was smooth sailing while baby Frances' was traumatic. And by the end of it all, Katie is exhausted. Thankfully, she has Paula who been a Godsend. Or has she?
It soon becomes evident that Paula not only has taken over Katie's care but also that of her twins, moving into the master bedroom with the twins sleeping in their cots beside her while Katie has the spare room. Paula claims this is because Katie needs her rest after such a traumatic birth. I was angered on Katie's behalf at this because they were her babies - she had every right to be with them during their first days in the world. And what's with taking over the master bedroom while Katie was relegated to the damp spare? Alarm bells were ringing loud and clear for me but Katie was seemingly oblivious to them.
Then when Ian returns, Katie is so furious with him and refuses to believe his claims that he got the first flight back as soon as he got her messages, which apparently only just came in. How could that be? She had called him over and over and sent him message after message - but he has no other defence than that they never arrived till now.
It soon becomes clear that nothing is at it seems. But Katie is vulnerable and isolated with no one else available to help. She certainly couldn't rely on Ian. All she had was Paula. So with the upheaval and confusion that comes with being a new mum, as well as the distressing experience of such a traumatic birth, and now sleep deprivation puts Katie in the ideal position to be gas-lighted and manipulated. And so, Katie becomes more and more dependent on Paula.
As all the lies slowly start to unravel, Katie discovers that these very lies have put her and her babies in danger. So who can she trust? Ian? Paula? Her family? Herself? She didn't know anymore.
But one thing is for sure, she could not foresee how everything was going to end...Could you?
Told in dual timelines with frightening flashbacks to a scared unknown child, THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS is cleverly plotted, disturbing and twisted in more ways than one. And I loved every second of it! Although I could see what was happening, I was twisting myself in knots unable to warn Katie. I found myself wondering how she could trust someone so blindly without really knowing anything about them.
Honestly, I had most of the reveals figured out before I'd reached halfway but that didn't deter me. I love trying to piece everything together and then seeing if I'm right by the end...and in this case, I was pretty much bang on. Despite this, THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS was still a chilling atmospheric thriller so disturbing it will leave you wondering who you can trust.
THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS was my second read by Ruth Heald and just as brilliant and as chilling as her first. I can't wait to see what twisted plot she comes up with next!
It goes without saying that I highly recommend this book! Grab yourself a copy...you know you want to.
I would like to thank #RuthHeald, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheWomanUpstairs in exchange for an honest review.
