Breathtakingly Brilliant

According to some, there is a difference between the crafted prose of literary fiction and the plot-centred page-turner of commercial fiction. In The Women by S.E.Lynes, you get to have both.

Samantha Frayn’s youth and vulnerability make her easy prey for a man like Peter Bridges – a well-respected professor who uses his experience and sophistication to dazzle her inexperienced eyes. Reading this as an older woman, alarm bells rang very early on and there were moments that were so intense I could hardly breathe.  Whilst the writing was beautifully crafted – and there were many clever literary and artistic references – at not point did this slow the plot-driven pace which will appeal to the most discerning of psychological thriller fans. From beginning to end, this book had me in its thrall, desperate to know how their relationship was going to play out. As always with an SE Lynes novel, my mind darted down many dead ends trying to predict the ending but I was not expecting how clever it would be. 

Alongside the two central characters, there are a supporting cast of women with their own stories, one of whom moved me so much that I had to put the book down and let my emotions settle before I could continue. This book is important because it lays bare a reality we need to face and shows how easily it can happen.  To paraphrase the famous quote by Edmund Burke, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil (men) is for good men (and women) to do nothing. Ultimately, there is a message in this novel which is more relevant today than it has ever been. Everyone should read this novel and then buy it for their daughters and their sons.

Samantha Frayn never had much confidence in herself but all that changed when she caught the eye of wealthy and sophisticated Peter Bridges. He sweeps her off her feet and after a whirlwind romance, marries her. Right away he begins to transform her into the type of woman he wants her to be, he controls her every move and lets her know when she’s let him down by showing his ferocious temper. Before long Samantha doesn’t know up from down, but she begins to wonder if she is Peter’s first project. What could have happened to the others?

Susie Lynes is one of these authors that as soon as their book becomes available, it shoots straight to the top of your tbr list.  I have loved all of her books, and this one is just as good as the others.  All of her books are original, clever and relevant and I would highly recommend them.
Here, Samantha is dazzled by the interest shown in her by Peter, a professor at her university.  He is the epitome of charm, intelligence and sophistication and can show her a lifestyle which she could previously only dream of.  However, warning bells begin ringing extremely loudly for the reader, if not for Samantha, and we wonder what on earth she is getting herself into!  
I don't want to say too much about the storyline as I'm wary about giving away too much of the plot and of the themes involved.  I will just say this is very authentically written, very true to life and extremely relevant.  I literally could not stop reading this book.

Since finishing this book, I've been trying to think of what to write about it. The two words that popped into my mind were: mounting dread. I read The Women with a building sense of dread, with a desperate, breathless need to find out what happened next. I'm not going to talk much about the content of this book - just read it! - but instead I'm going to focus on the context, those hidden layers. For I have another 3 words to describe The Women - absolutely bloody brilliant. 

In the wake of the Me Too movement, we are seeing more and more women writing their stories, demanding to be heard. I am one of those women. And so when I read another story by another woman, I immediately feel a connection with them. I was drawn into the story of Samantha and Peter, warning bells ringing in my ears from the very start. I wanted to grab her and shake her and take her away from harm. Who hasn't had a friend they've tried to help, who has plunged headfirst into a relationship which set your alarm bells ringing? I certainly have, and so I could relate very well to Aisha and Jenny, and their endeavour. 

Lynes' sense of humour, which you'll be well acquainted with if you follow her on social media, shines through the pages, lifting an otherwise dark story with some well-timed laughs. For The Women is dark. Yes it's pacy and twisty and everything else you want in a thriller, but it is also true, and that is what lends it such darkness. As the author states in her letter at the end, she doesn't know any women who haven't, at the very least, experienced something that made them feel uncomfortable. I don't either. So when a story like this comes along, a story that involves multiple women, across generations, class, race, etc., it is a story that we know in our hearts, and one we need to keep sharing with the world until it disappears altogether.

And later, much later, the feeling she had the night she moved in with Peter will come back to her. She will remember how ninety-nine per cent of her felt so happy, so exhilarated, so in love. She will remember a much smaller feeling, a tiny one per cent in her gut. And she will remember pushing that feeling aside… 

When Samantha first meets Peter, he takes her breath away. He is older, charming, sophisticated and represents everything she hoped she would find when she left her rural life in Yorkshire behind to come to London. 

But when their whirlwind affair turns into normal domestic life, Samantha begins to fear that all is not well. Following the birth of their baby, she feels trapped and isolated, with Peter’s behaviour seeming increasingly selfish and controlling. 

When Samantha starts to receive sinister notes – threats and suggestions that her life with Peter could be placing her in danger – she realises she needs to look back into Peter’s past to find the answers to her questions – and that she may not be the first woman to become his victim… 

You can tell the truth about your life, but someone needs to be listening. Someone needs to trust you. And someone needs to save you in time. 

*****

Well. What can I say.... 24 hours after getting a copy of the book, I've only gone and finished it!!!! 

Ms Lynes has done it yet again. I absolutely LOVED this book. 

This is a story of a seemingly perfect man. Well mannered, academic, cultured, good looking, wanting to build a safe life for his admittedly younger girlfriend and their baby. Sounds perfect. Right? Well.... that's for you to find out.

As I have said, time and time again, the author writes with beauty and elegance and I find myself completely submerged in her books, and quite often, i come up gasping for air, having quite forgotten to breathe. Her books are never formulaic, you never have that feeling of 'this story feels familiar',  and that is what makes her such a special author.