"What We Did" by Christobel Kent.
My first time reading that author.

Bridget's past comes back to her as a man, her old music teacher, enters her dress shop with a young girl... There goes her happy life... Secrets from the past can't stay in the past forever... She thought she could be strong, she wouldn't have to face him again, or would she? She didn't know he would end up at her husband's university...

Warning : deals with child abuse.

3.5 stars. I liked it.
Well written, a little slow at times, well developped story. Keeps the reader interested in wanting to know what happened in the past and how it affects life today.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for the ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

Review shared online on NetGalley, Goodreads, Twitter...

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Crichton Books, and Christobel Kent for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

My rating is actually 2.5 stars, but since there aren't half stars I always round up.

Like:
- The relationship between the sisters
- The mystery of what will happen next throughout the whole story
- The day to day life working in a clothing store

Love: -

Dislike:
- The flippancy the sisters have over serious topics
- Despite all the drama and action, most of the time I was bored
- All the triggers

Wish that:
-I related to the main character more, but then again based on some of her actions maybe it’s better that I don’t relate

Overall, not the book for me due to multiple reasons. Despite the promising plot, the story lacked much.

What We Did by Christobel Kent was the first book that I have read by this author that I have heard so much about. I was really looking forward to reading this one but unfortunately for me it did not live up to expectations. I found it to be very slow paced and long with characters that I just could not relate to. The story was good, although it covers some tough issues.

Bridget has been hiding a secret from everybody in her life, including her husband. She has moved on with her life until one day her past comes back to haunt her. Her childhood music teacher walks into her small dress shop with a young girl on his arm and she is transported back to her youth and the things that he put her through. He will not leave her alone, continuing to taunt her, until one day he pushes too far and she snaps. Her life is then changed again forever and she is holding onto more secrets. A twisted story of secrets and childhood abuse, which at times is hard to read.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Girous, Sarah Cricton Books for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

What We Did by Christobel Kent is a recommended psychological study with some aspects of a thriller.

Bridget Webster has kept the abuse the occurred in her past a secret from everyone and keeps a tight control over her emotions and reactions. Now she's happily married to Matt and they have a teenage son, Finn. Matt works in IT at Rose Hill University and she owns a women's clothing boutique in town. When her childhood violin teacher, Anthony Carmichael, shows up in her shop with a young teen he wants to buy a dress for, Bridget can barely keep her emotions under control. When Carmichael later returns, having recognized Bridget after all these years, the resulting actions seem inevitable and require even more subterfuge on Bridget's part. Then Bridget's sister Carrie shows up and becomes involved in the situation.

At the same time reporter Gillian "Gill" Lawson has come to town to secretly seek out Carmichael. She has been following him for years with the certainty that he is a long-time pedophile who has somehow escaped being caught and she wants to finally bring an end to his secret reign of terror. She recognizes Bridget as someone who may have been one of his early victims, but having a reporter snooping around is not what Bridget needs right now.

This is a slow-paced novel that creates suspense through Bridget slowly revealing more information and insight about the secrets in her past and why that would lead her to currently do what she did. Although there is a violent reaction which leads to a pro-long period of trying to cover up the results of her action, the incident loses its shocking power due to the extended coverage of the story line. After this point any suspense or tension is created through Gill's investigation and how odd both Bridget and Matt are acting. The ending is a surprise that I didn't see coming.

What We Did, while it has its moments when it is in the territory of a thriller, is at heart more of a character study. As Bridget reveals more information about her past and the inner torment she endures, empathy for her will increase. Based on what is revealed in her backstory, one does wonder why a case as severe and emotionally fraught as hers didn't come to the attention of others earlier. The scenes between her and Matt when they both are leaving a plethora of things unsaid also create tension.

The writing is certainly good. As I mentioned, the pro-longed cover-up and the many things left unsaid by all the characters results in depleting much of the immediacy of the tension and suspense. The exception is the ending when an increased pace and sense of urgency amplifies the tension and all the plot elements come together.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/01/what-we-did.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2691307559
https://www.librarything.com/work/21971969/reviews/164972929
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/1089563569937661952

Christobel Kent's new novel is a compelling read. Kent's protagonist is a British woman, Bridget, who owns an upscale dress shop in a town near a Rose Hill University where her husband, Matt, works. She lives a quiet, peaceful life with her husband and son, Finn. Matt is a caring, loving man, head of the IT department. Their lives are stable, and they seem content.

For Bridget everything changes in a moment when a man and a young girl enter the shop. The girl is looking for a dress for a piano recital. Bridget's mind explodes at the sight of the man, Anthony Carmichael, her old piano teacher. She hates this old man and never thought she would have to see him again.

The book immediately takes a turn and becomes a suspenseful thriller. I wanted Bridget to get her normal life back, but it didn't seem possible given her actions. The characters surrounding her could help if she shared her secret, but that was the worst torment of all. She thought her husband would have nothing to do with her if he knew her secrets.

I enjoyed this novel and hope it does well when it is published in the USA in February.

I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

The word I'd use to describe this book is definitely "shocking." It was an insanely bumpy ride with tons of twists and turns, and I enjoyed it very much!

A great thriller by Christobel Kent with a twisted, riveting conclusion and well-developed characters. Well worth the read!!

This one was a slow, simmering burn of a novel. Initially, I was hesitant about the synopsis, as it seemed to lay the story out so cleanly that there would be no surprises. Boy, was I wrong. Not only was the situation interesting at face value, the mystery beneath the story was so shocking and surprising to me, I never saw it coming. Great, fast-paced read!

I’d like to thank Farrar, Straus & Giroux and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘What We Did’ by Christobel Kent in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Bridget has a loving husband Matt and a teenage son Finn who she adores. She owns a small independent ladies’ clothing shop which she works hard to keep going and is well-respected in her community. One morning a gentleman walks into her shop to buy a dress for the young girl accompanying him and Bridget realises immediately it’s her former violin teacher, Anthony Carmichael, a predatory paedophile who many years ago groomed and abused her, and he has with him a girl she’s convinced is also being groomed. When Carmichael returns later, tells Bridget he recognises her and threatens to expose her online, she realises she can’t let him walk away and takes matters into her own hands. A journalist, Gillian Lawson, arrives in town on a mission to locate Carmichael and discover the truth and Bridget must find a way to deal with the consequences of her actions without her past being revealed.
‘What We Did’ is an absorbing psychological thriller that had me involved from the beginning. The character of Bridget was dealt with sympathetically and the description of the repellent Carmichael had me wanting to join forces with her. There were additional storylines involving Finn and his online girlfriend Phoebe, and her assistant Laura with her odious husband, which added to the chain of events. My only criticism would be that parts of the story were stretched out for a bit longer than necessary, otherwise I found it a gripping novel with a chilling and exciting conclusion that I enjoyed reading.

This book wasn't great for me. It just felt super long, and dragged out. It was just not satisfying.

I liked the main character, Bridget, however could not really understand why she did what she did. There was not a build up and the book really did not explain the resolution well enough from before. The way it was handled seemed really ridiculous in some ways and also made the book seem to be forced rather than natural. I finished this book, but really didn't enjoy it much. Thanks for the ARC, Net Galley.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of What We Did in exchange for an honest review.

On the face of it Bridget has got it all, a loving husband an adoring son a successful business in a nice university town and for good measure a wayward little sister. Her carefully constructed world falls apart the day her former violin tutor walks in with one of his female pupils to buy her a dress.

This book becomes a suspenseful story of secrets and lies as Bridget's world begins unraveling. The author is able to draw you in to the absolute terror Bridget feels about facing her past and the consequences of her actions in the present. Read this book for a good story a bit long at times but an enjoyable read

Isabel, Isabel: in the deep dark she remembered the girl’s innocence, her admiration, her glee at being special, it blazed. Bridget had been special once, as she frowned down at her instrument, the instrument burnished and warm from her touch, trying, trying, trying, her heart in her mouth. Him watching her, impatient.

Bridget’s world is on the verge of collapse all due to the return of her former music teacher Anthony Carmichael. Every soiled memory she has buried from that horrible time rises to the surface when he comes into her dress shop with a pretty, eager young girl named Isabel. Suddenly, the life she has been living is ripped from beneath her feet, is it possible to run, to move from the threat of him? The possessive, guiding way he was touching that little girl, the intimacy is like poison in Bridget’s veins. She should stop him, she should speak up but she is frozen in fear.

The days move on, she collects her senses and begins to relax into her daily routine sure that as a ‘visiting professor’ he won’t be around for long. Until she discovers he will be at the University her own husband works at, for much longer than she hoped. 2 years, if they can keep him, and the school is ‘lucky to have him.’ There is Isabelle, so much the same as Bridget once was, trusting, talented, open to the attention and charm of an adult. Though Bridget is no longer a child, everything about Carmichael brings chills, fear into the very cells of her being. Closer, closer he advances and then she snaps, from there an even bigger secret takes hold, but can she carry on as if nothing happened?

Bridget goes from sheltering her shameful past, which many sexually abused children feel responsible for, to hiding a criminal act. Then the story descends into a nightmare about her own son, who is keeping secrets about his own new relationship. There is also Gillian Lawson, who is looking for Dr. Carmichael, as she is digging into the past and alive with the chase of a story. She knows too that Bridget is a link, and with her husband working as the computer officer at Rose Hill, she has a way to reach her. Too, what of the husband, Matt? Is he a ‘genuinely nice man’, or is he the type to marry victims, to further abuse them? How much of a coincidence, she wonders, is it for Carmichael to end up where his former student’s husband works? It just figures a journalists is chasing truth when Bridget has something the size of…. Carmichael to hide.

The strength of the novel is in the emotional state Bridget’s abuser returning into her life puts her in. That a wife, mother, competently running her own dress shop can turn into a terrified wreck after having a run in with the man who sexually abused her, many years after it happened can explain just how debilatating sexual abuse is. Her instinct is to uproot her life, which of course is not plausible, but that thought alone conveys just a drop of the fear and remnants of damage one person can wreak in another’s life. The fact she hasn’t told her husband anything, ever, that it’s remained bottled up inside of her all this time speaks volumes for how abusers walk away unscathed. The adult always has an edge, knows how to make a child believe that every viloation is mutual desire, and he/she is just as much to blame. If a child has a special talent, or is hungry for attention, how much easier it is for the abuser to manipulate them, to have access, to learn the family dynamics and use it against the child. I was expecting to see Carmichael exposed, to see him stripped for once of his power, publicly tarred as would seem just, but this was a completely different novel. What a strange turn. Not to say he doesn’t get punished but not what I expected. The ‘grooming’ is bigger than just Carmichael. I’ve read quite a few books that explore this very issue, one good thing is straight away there is no romanticized storyline. In fact, he turns your stomach from the very start. I sometimes felt all over the place, and the things that happen after the big moment between Bridget and Carmichael, which is very early in the novel, seem a bit hard to pull off, but truth is stranger than fiction and having a sister whose norm is chaos can come in handy, at least for Bridget.

Publication Date: February 5, 2019

Fararr, Straus and Giroux

Bridget has built a happy life with a wonderful husband and teenage son along with a successful dress shop. Then one day, teacher and professor Anthony Carmichael walks into her store with a student. Bridget recognizes him as her childhood tormentor, the man who sexually assaulted her over and over again. And she recognizes that the girl with Carmichael is being groomed as his next victim. This is a look at the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse is not a vigilante story, but a story about a woman learning to cope with a horrific past

Bridget childhood trauma is a secret she keeps from every one even her husband .A secret till the day her stalker her abuser walks back into her life walks into a store with a child , achild the same age Bridget was when he stalked and abused her.A chilling thriller with twists and turns that will shock and keep you turning the pages.#netgalley #what wedid #Fsg

First off, a big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

About the plot - A team of pedophiles is back in Bridget's life from her childhood, threatening her family and at least one other young girl in the community. Her husband works at the local college with one of the men and becomes unwittingly involved as a journalist nudges him into her search for proof. The book started off predictably with the main pedophile accidentally murdered, but turned into a tangle as the plot wound and unwound with repercussions and events throughout the novel. It kept me interested but also disappointed at times as I felt like more could have happened.

A good example is outside of Carmichael's house when a man was behind Bridget all of a sudden. It ended up being a benign event but the author makes us wait through another point of view chapter before revealing what had happened, and here I was thinking that she was going to get either abducted or rescued from another pedophile! This happened more than once. The transitions between past and present were confusing at times too, I understand that was how Bridget's mind flashed back and forth but sometimes I didn't know what was happening and had to read the page again. Overall though it kept me engaged through the novel.

That covers the writing style as well. As far as the characters: I ended up liking Gill a lot more than I thought I would, although I found myself skimming her point of view chapters. Her life didn't interest me at all and she just seemed to add length to the book. Finn and Laura are the innocent characters that drive home the point that abuse can appear in all forms, to anyone. The characters were pretty neutral to me but I ended up feeling bad for most of them. Matt was my favorite, just a guy trying to do the right thing.

Overall I am sticking with 3 stars. I ended up loving how she tied everything together at the end, even if it took a while to get there. It looked like the characters were going to be able to move on and rebuild their lives in a healthier manner. The book was a decent suspense/thriller, and I would recommend to anyone who likes that kind of suspenseful fiction.

I omitted the summary but my full review can be found on my blog at:
https://onenursereader.wixsite.com/onereadingnurse-1/home/what-we-did-by-christobel-kent

What We Did is a suspenseful drama. Bridget is an interesting character with a difficult past. The antagonist in the story is a stalker from Bridget’s past. I enjoyed the story from the beginning to end.

I was given an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one just didn't grab me. I've enjoyed a lot of this author's books in the past, but the characters just merged together, the plot didn't really keep me in suspense, and I was just eager to get through it and onto the next book

Bridget has carefully built a nice quiet life after a terrible childhood. She has a loving husband, Matt, a sweet teenage son, Finn and her own dress shop. Into this dress shop walks the source of all her pain. Anthony Carmichael is a well-respected music professor and teacher. He was also Bridget's abuser, and is grooming a new student, Isabel.
Bridget’s childhood trauma is a secret from everyone she knows. I expected What We Did to be a cat and mouse game between her and Carmichael. Instead, it zeroes in on what the abuse has done to Bridget and how it informs her actions. Christobel Kent shows that there are good men, like her family, as well as terrible men like Carmichael.

He stole her childhood . . . she’ll take his future

Bridget has a secret—one she keeps from everyone, even her husband. One that threatens to explode when her childhood music teacher, Carmichael, walks into her dress shop. With him is a young girl on the cusp of adulthood, fresh-faced and pretty. She reminds Bridget of herself at that age, naïve and vulnerable.

Bridget wants him away—away from her, away from that girl. But Carmichael won’t leave her alone, won’t stop stalking her. And Bridget’s not a little girl anymore. When he pushes her too far, she snaps. But what she thought was a decisive act only unravels more insidious threats from which no one is safe, not even her family.

What We Did by Christobel Kent had real emotion and a great story line along with revenge. This is the kind of plot I look for in a book! Very well written, kept me captivated until the end.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC
Pub Date: 05 Feb 2019