Oh my goodness what a roller-coaster of a read this book was! Filled with lies, betrayal and heart-stopping moments 'Keep Her Quiet' will have you gripped from the get go.

Jenny has given birth to the baby she has always wanted, though her husband Leo is harbouring a secret from her and knows the baby can't be his, two days earlier Hannah has also given birth though tragedy strikes for Hannah when she accidentally smothers her baby in her sleep. She is then thrust into Leo's path that night when grief shes her running from the house clutching her baby only to be hit by Leo's car! 

That incident set a ball rolling that would change Jenny and Hannah's lives and it was all spurred on by Leo! Every mothers worst nightmare comes true for Hannah when her baby dies, but for Jenny it is potentially far worse - she wakes up to find her baby is missing! 

The reader is privy to all the details and as the story goes on and we fast forward 16 years later you just cant imagine where Curtis is going to take the story - you knew it was either going to be all fluffy happy happy or grim, and boy was it heart-stopping grim at some parts! I honestly couldn't stop reading as I was hooked line and sinker on the edge of my seat with each page!

Keep Her Quiet was a real page turning thriller that I would definitely recommend! I cant go on without potentially spoiling it for you, but suffice to say you will not be disappointed.

5 star

The story begins in 1989 with what can I only imagine would be every mother's worst nightmare, the loss of a child which is something our two central characters Hannah and Jenny experience although under very different circumstances. Pregnancy and the birth of a child should be one of the happiest times of their lives but teenager Hannah has had to cope with everything on her own since being shunned by her family, whereas Jenny may as well be alone whilst pregnant as husband Leo didn't want a child and he's not exactly thrilled by the news. Both women experience the highs and lows of childbirth and loss in the matter of days and the actions of one will have an impact on both of them for years to come.

The story is narrated from the viewpoints of the multiple characters which enables us to see what is going on, more often than not the reader is more aware of the facts than the other characters, and it really gives us an insight into their lives. Although I thought the whole premise of the plot sounded intriguing, as to how far would you go when you're in the midst of grief and unimaginable pain, I also thought it seemed a bit too far-fetched and extreme. I couldn't believe how quickly life changed for them all following one fateful event which saw the paths of these two families collide with devastating consequences.

What can I say about Leo, well nothing positive at all, he really was an odious character from the offset. Yes his wife may have manipulated him into a situation that he's been more than vocal about, but really he was so quick to accept his villain role when he went along with a plan that would save him trouble in the long run but would cause her immense pain and loss for years to come. I'm not saying that what Jenny did to get pregnant in the first place was right but her actions were well-intentioned whereas his were just plain selfish and reckless.

My opinions on Jenny and Hannah swung back and forth. I really wanted to shake Jenny at times and tell her to open her eyes and see what was before her, was she really so blinkered? She was a strong woman who put her energies into help others who have been through similar experiences but yet she really couldn't see the truth about her own husband. And then there's teenager Hannah who was a naive and not very worldly young woman who found herself cast out on her own when she brought shame on her family. I know she was scared and alone but I honestly couldn't believe what I was reading and how cold she seemed to be when it came to the events of that fateful night. As much as I felt for her loss, I thought she was extremely selfish putting her needs ahead of those of Jenny and her daughter.

Fast forward to 2005 and it's been 16 years since their daughter Sophie was abducted, renewed media interest brings about the chance for them to appeal directly to their daughter who might be watching the appeal. Once again it showed the selfishness of Leo that he's using the media interest for his own purposes with the launch of his next book. But it also brings us full circle to teenager Zoe who has been home-schooled for most of her life and kept in the dark in a way with the lack of TV, internet and social media. If it wasn't for school bullies making an odd comment to her about her potentially being Sophie, she wouldn't have even had any doubts about who she really was. Is she ready for what she might uncover?

And this is where I really can't say much more without giving away any spoilers but it's fair to say that just when I thought I knew where everything was heading, I was thrown off track which is testimony to the skilled writing of the author. She really puts her characters through the wringer even though you might have to suspend belief a little.

This is normally when I would say I'm looking forward to reading whatever book you have in store for us next but just remembered I still have The Night You Left waiting for me on my Kindle so I'll hopefully get around to reading this sooner rather than later.

I am totally speechless and completely breathless after reading Keep Her Quiet and not just because it was the book I was reading on the exercise bike. It's the one book that has made me disappointed about stopping exercising! I thought The Night You Left was brilliant but Keep Her Quiet is breathtakingly outstanding; Emma Curtis has really outdone herself this time.

It's a mother's worst nightmare to lose a child and Jenny and Hannah lose their babies within days of each other, in very different circumstances. Jenny's husband, Leo, never wanted children but Jenny's biological clock was ticking and she's delighted to find herself pregnant with Sophie. Hannah was cast out of her community when it was discovered she was pregnant, with the father of her baby denying all knowledge. It'll be tough as a single mother but she will love Zoe with all her heart.

It's in the blurb so it's not a spoiler to say that Zoe dies at only a few days old so Hannah steals Sophie and brings her up as Zoe. On Sophie's 16th birthday, the media interest is reignited so Jenny and Leo make another appeal for their daughter to come forward. Leo is an author, so any publicity helps him to sell more books, especially when he wrangles the release dates to coincide with their appeals for Sophie. What a selfish man! Selfish doesn't even begin to cover it! I'm saying no more for fear of spoiling the story.

Perfectly plotted, completely gripping and totally addictive, Keep Her Quiet is an absolutely superb psychological thriller. I'll definitely be recommending this one for a long time to come.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Absolutely loved this!

I've read Emma Curtis' other books and she never disappoints but I think this is her best yet. Tense, gripping, twisty and totally unputdownable. Highly recommended.

She's just fab!

*TRIGGER WARNINGS – child death, kidnapping, violence, murder, ostracization*

I read The Night You Left by Emma Curtis in 2019, and I absolutely loved it, so I was instantly excited when I heard about Keep Her Quiet. I couldn’t wait to read it, and it certainly didn’t disappoint when I did.

This is one of those stories that I really don’t want to say too much about because I don’t want to give anything away for those of you who haven’t read it yet, but it is so good that I want to to tell everyone about it, and I could go on and on for ages! I’m going to try to keep this review as spoiler-free as I possibly can, but I’m sorry if I slip up along the way.

Keep Her Quiet has a very interesting start that really grips you, and leaves you desperate to read more. You can feel from the very beginning that this is going to build in to a brilliant story, and I can confirm that from there, it just gets better and better!

I really feel for Jenny throughout the story. Yes, she made a mistake, but she didn’t deserve even half of what she then had to deal with. What she has to go through is any parent’s worst nightmare, and as a parent myself, her pain really gripped hold of me, and tore at my heart. If I was in her position, I honestly have no idea how I would carry on. She may consider herself to be weak, but in reality, she is the complete opposite of that.

Despite her awful crime, I actually felt so sorry for Hannah too. She was in a huge amount of pain herself, and to feel that much pain at such a young age, with absolutely no support network is unimaginable. She was just a child, and she was scared, and hurting. No-one would be able to think straight in her situation, and she was certainly not in a fit state of mind to be making life changing decisions. That is no excuse for what she did, but she definitely can’t be so heavily blamed for it either.

Leo is just a terrible human being. He may have been hurt, but not enough to warrant his actions, no amount of hurt can make what he did okay. The only person he thinks or cares about is himself, and he may tell himself that he is doing things for others to make himself feel better, but the reality is that the only person he’s doing it for is him. He’s completely selfish, and would do anything it takes to get what he wants. Jenny deserved so much better.

I really enjoyed the different time frames that the story focuses on, and seeing the different ways that each character’s lives have been impacted by the initial events. For Hannah in particular, I really enjoyed the character growth. She made a mistake as a child, which she couldn’t undo, but she grew in to a respectable woman, who truly did love and care for others, and would do anything for the people she loved.

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the ending. The last half an hour of reading time is so action packed and explosive, it has you on the edge of your seat. Everything was tied up so nicely too, with no questions left unanswered, it really was the perfect ending.

The storyline is absolutely insane, but that is what makes this book so good, because it is not only insane, but also very believable. I absolutely devoured this book, and I can guarantee that you won’t be able to put it down either. This is definitely my favourite Emma Curtis book that I have read, and easily my favourite book of the year so far!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, and Transworld Publishing, for providing me with an ARC copy, in exchange for an honest review.

I give Keep Her Quiet a very easy 5 star rating!

Leo’s wife has just given birth to a baby girl. Leo knows that it’s not his baby.
He meets Hannah who is devastated that her new born baby has just died and they make a pact that will have far reaching consequences.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

A real page-turner.

This is the story of two totally different women who have both just had their new baby girl. Jenny is married to Leo, an aspiring author, she works hard and finances her husband’s efforts to become successful. However, the one thing Leo will not agree to is a baby, his father Ben’s ambition was also to be a writer, but this was thwarted when a child came along. This affected him so much that he eventually committed suicide. Leo is so determined not to follow in his father’s footsteps so unbeknown to Jenny he has had a vasectomy. Jenny is so desperate that on one of her business trips she has a one night stand and becomes pregnant thinking that Leo will come round to the idea and anyway it most probably is his?

Hannah is 17, a devout Jehovah’s Witness who has been raped by Michael Brady, one of the leaders and the father of her best friend, and has become pregnant. She is cast out by her family and friends as no one will believe that one of the leaders of their community could have done such a thing.

Hannah manages to set up home in a dilapidated cottage in the middle of nowhere. Still, the first night she is alone with her new baby, Zoe, she accidentally smothers her in the night Desperate she runs out into the road clutching her dead baby only to be knocked over by Leo. He has left his wife in the hospital with their new-born daughter, Sophie, to sort out a problem in his small cottage nearby. Hannah suddenly realises that she can blame Leo for the death of her daughter, especially when she smells alcohol on his breath. When he then mentions his own new-born daughter, Hannah decides that she can blackmail Leo into giving his own daughter to her. Little does she know that Leo is not opposed to this idea as he knows the baby is not his.

This is the set up for all the twists and turns that follow. We jump forward 16 years. Sophie, now known as Zoe has been brought up by Hannah as her own but due to poverty and the concepts of the Jehovah’s which Hannah has never been able to completely give up, is unhappy at school and yearns to do well in her exams to escape her mundane life.

Jenny, meanwhile, has never recovered from the loss of her child and every year she and Leo do a TV interview appealing for anything that could lead to her recovery. Leo now a successful author goes along with all the deception, knowing full well what has happened to Sophie. It is only when Zoe’s jeering schoolmates see the latest appeal and jokingly suggest that the boring Zoe could, in fact, be Sophie that Zoe begins to investigate and discovers the truth.

What happens next is full of twists and turns and kept me turning the pages to discover how everything will be resolved. This was an exceptionally good story, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

Dexter

Elite Book Group received a copy of the book to review

My thanks to Random House Transworld Publishers/Black Swan for inviting me to read an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Keep Her Quiet’ by Emma Curtis in exchange for an honest review. It is available now as ebook and will be released in paperback and audiobook editions on 17 September.

I learned a new term today, associated with this kind of psychological thriller, ‘grip-lit’. It certainly fits.

In 1989, when Jenny gives birth to the baby that she’s always wanted, she is ecstatic but her husband, Leo, knows that the baby can’t be his. He leaves the hospital feeling betrayed, heading for his bolt hole in Kent, driving too fast during a bad storm. Whisky was also involved.

Elsewhere, a vulnerable teenager, Hannah, wakes to find her newborn lifeless. Crazed with grief and clutching the body, she stumbles out into the night. Their paths cross in a dramatic fashion, changing not only their lives but those of Jenny and her baby.

Still, this is not just about a fractured marriage but about Zoe, who at sixteen begins to wonder who she really is and why her mother, Hannah, has isolated her from the wider world.

I hope that this is enough of a teaser as this is the kind of thriller that I believe is best read ‘cold’ for maximum enjoyment.

The novel opens in 1989, moving to 2005 and then 2007. As is often the style in psychological thrillers, the narrative viewpoints shift between its various characters: Jenny, Leo, and Hannah, with Zoe later contributing her thoughts. Zoe and Jenny narrate their chapters.

This was a novel that certainly delivered on its promise and was very twisty, though in a manner that I would describe as organic rather than feeling as if they were merely twists for twists sake.

In Leo, Curtis delivers a character that is easy to hate. He is an incredibly selfish man-baby, who doesn’t deserve Jenny. Leo had aspirations to be a writer and expects Jenny to support him. Indeed, it seems that her coming from a comfortable background and being a highly paid professional was the main attraction for him. Jenny herself did seem oblivious to his nature. Perhaps she liked being in control of the money?

Anyway, this was a cracking good read, perfect to lose yourself in for a while.

I've read a few of Emma Curtis' books before but Keep Her Quiet is definitely a sign of the author at her best. I loved that I had no idea what to expect the whole way through and I was itching to read on.
 
The premise of Keep Her Quiet is relatively simple, but in reality, the plot is much more complex than it first seems. The novel is full of surprises, secrets and twists and I was excited to discover what they were, and was willing the characters to uncover the lies that affected their lives as well. From the outset, the tension is relentless. There is no chance of reading a few chapters of calm or having a few pages to collect yourself and this was one of my favourite aspects of the book. 

Each chapter is narrated by a different character and this gives the reader the opportunity to see what's really going on (often before the other characters). I loved the way this created a wonderfully tense atmosphere. The characters are all very well developed and they all evoked strong feelings in me; anger, frustration, sadness and hope - all at different times. I loved being able to connect with the characters and feel totally involved in their lives. 

I can't wait to see what this author does next!

Wow!

This book took me on an emotional journey showing how desperation and self-preservation can lead a person to do some crazy things. As a mother, I felt the heartache and grief which Jenny and Hannah were feeling.

I found the characters to be likeable and this leads me to rooting for them and hoping for the best outcome for the story.

There were twists in every chapter and I found myself frantically turning the pages to find out what the next revelation would be. It was thrilling to see how we were going to be led further down the hole into which Leo had dug himself.

My nerves were wrought after this book, as they should be after any good thriller, and the heartwarming ending was the perfect end to a wonderful book.

Fast paced novel from the start with many shock twists throughout. A lot of unlikable characters whose circumstances made for a thrilling read.

Split into two parts that are set sixteen years apart and narrated from the perspectives of Jenny, Leo, Hannah and sixteen year old Zoe this is a captivating tale of how the paths of the lives of a mother and her child were operated and sent in different directions due to the actions of a selfish, narcissistic man and a obviously damaged young girl. And the shocking consequences when their paths reconnected and the lies and deceptions from the past started to unravel in the present day. Hannah's upbringing was very secluded and she had just been through a very traumatic experience before she first encountered Leo which raised the question, did she actually have the mental capacity to understand how shocking her actions and demands were? It was also kind of ironic that sixteen years later Hannah was forcing Zoe to live in circumstances that were not too dissimilar to her own upbringing just because she didn't want Zoe to uncover the truth about her abduction and true parentage. Hannah seemed to have forgotten the saying, you can never outrun your past, it will always find a way to catch up with you. I really wanted Zoe to be reunited with her poor mother Jenny who had been distraught when her daughter disappeared. Despite the deceptive way that Sophie was conceived, I couldn't help feeling a lot of sympathy for Jenny especially after Sophie disappeared but I seriously couldn't understand why she stayed with obnoxious, freeloader Leo. He was a really unlikable character for various reasons but once the past started to catch up with him just how far was he prepared to go to prevent the truth from coming out and ruining the career and image he had worked so hard (and spent Jenny's money) to cultivate? And how much of his behaviour was also influenced by his upbringing?

This is a captivating, tightly plotted thriller that hooks the reader in from the first page and plays with the reader's emotions causing you to experience a wide range of feelings about the various, mainly flawed characters. It's a well written tale of secrets deceptions, manipulation,lies, consequences and repercussions. It's a very enjoyable read and very highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book and will give it a huge thumbs up. With a great story line and excellent main characters - I would highly recommend this book.

WOW WOW WOW !!!! Gripping from the start with so many twists that I had no idea how all the ends could ever be tied up. This is one of the best books I have read this year. Highly recommended and worth more than five stars

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Random House UK - Transworld Publishers, for the ARC.

Oh, I really enjoyed this psychological thriller; totally engrossing.

It's 1989 in London and Jenny and Leo Creasey head for St Thomas's Hospital where Jenny gives birth to baby Sophie. Jenny has a secret - she knows the baby probably isn't Leo's and convinces herself he would never find out, except Leo also has his own secret which convinces him he couldn't possibly be the father. However, being a struggling writer and content to keep the status quo by having Jenny support him, he'll accept the situation for his benefit. Jenny owns her late grandmother's cottage in Kent which Leo alone uses for his writing several days a week and when his father-in-law phones him at the hospital to let him know there has been some storm damage at the cottage Leo, with some relief, leaves Jenny and Sophie to drive down to inspect it.
Two days earlier 17yr-old Hannah had given birth to her daughter Zoe in Kent. Heavily supported by Social Services and scared her baby would be taken into care if they knew she was totally alone with no family support, she is determined to be a good mother. But tragedy strikes as she inadvertently suffocates Zoe in bed. Hysterically, with Zoe in her arms, Hannah runs from her house into the path of Leo's car - he having drunk half a bottle of whisky and driving too fast to avoid her totally. Hannah accuses Leo of killing her baby.
Neither Hannah nor Leo want the Police involved so they concoct a plan that satisfies both their needs at that time.
It is now very difficult to actually tell you any more of this deliciously complex plot; told from the points of view of Jenny, Leo and Hannah from 1989, 16 years later to 2005 and then 2007. There are lots of twists and turns, suspense and heart-stopping moments. Completely un-put-downable!

An absolutely thrilling family/psychological thriller!
Well written, tightly plotted and the type of book that you GENUINELY cannot put down.
I read this through the night in more or less one sitting, so enthralled was I by the characters and circumstances,.
Hannah is a Jehovah' Witness and just 17 years old when her community turn against her thanks to the abusive actions of an elder. Hannah Faulkner gives birth to a baby daughter Zoe but Zoe's life is short lived.
Crazy with anguish Hannah runs out of the cold house she has been put in by social services, into the road with her dead baby in her arms only to be almost run over by whisky fuelled driver Leo who is escaping to Kent after his wife Jenny gives birth to a baby daughter Sophie.
Both Leo and Hannah are frightened and desperate, keen to avoid a brush with the law. Only thinking of themselves they hatch a terrible plan that has far reaching and devastating consequences spanning almost 2 decades.
I cannot reveal any more for fear of spoiling a tremendous tale. I ached for many of the characters, was horrified, saddened and shocked in equal measure, completely gripped by how these different people, torn apart by secrets, selfish motives and loss, go about their daily lives until suddenly events spiral out of control and the truth slowly emerges.
Tense and fast paced I loved the varying perspectives, the justifications and the evolving connections which bring this book to a fantastic conclusion.
I totally, whole-heartedly, unreservedly, recommend this book to others!

I really enjoyed this book. Some absolutely hideous characters, the worst of which is the narcissistic lead male Leo, he really appalled me! Some parts were just gut wrenchingly sad, my heart broke for poor Jenny who had her child go missing. However I did feel that the second part of the book strayed too far into unbelievable territory with perhaps a twist and coincidence too far. A good read though, one that I certainly couldn't put down and I would recommend it to fans of domestic suspense.

I’ve been a fan of Emma Curtis since reading her debut novel, One Little Mistake, in 2017, and was thrilled to be offered the chance to read and review her latest novel ahead of publication.

It begins with the sort of tense and emotive opening sequence which Curtis does really well as Jenny goes into labour and she and her husband Leo make the mad dash to the hospital. All is not as it seems as it quickly becomes apparent that the baby cannot be Leo’s – something that he has been all too conscious of since Jenny’s announcement of her pregnancy due to Leo having had a vasectomy years earlier. He has decided to play along, however, forgiving Jenny’s betrayal, seemingly prepared to bring the baby up as his own. That is until he meets Hannah. At seventeen years old, she cuts a tragic figure having recently lost her own new-born daughter. In their chance meeting, Leo sees a way to remove what he sees as a problem to his established way of life and makes a heat of the moment decision that will affect the lives of all three characters for years to come.

Keep Her Quiet is a novel that is full of flawed characters. Jenny is the most likeable of the three, and the only one who really evoked any sympathy in me. She experiences a mother's worst nightmare when her daughter, Sophie, is snatched from her crib mere hours after being born. It's a horrible situation to be in, particularly when the reader knows more about why Sophie was taken, and it's difficult not to sympathise with her. I can't honestly say that I liked her though. I thought that her actions in conceiving her child were dishonest and manipulative, and I disliked her for that behaviour. I had a similarly mixed opinion of Hannah. To say that she hasn’t had an easy life doesn’t even begin to cover it, and there’s a heart-wrenching scene at the beginning of the novel where she wakes up to find that her own new-born daughter has died. I found that her behaviour from that point on removed any sympathy that I had for her, however, and couldn't excuse her actions as she manipulates a situation to her own benefit, giving no consideration to anyone other than herself.

While I had mixed views on Jenny and Hannah, I thoroughly despised Leo. Determined to make his mark on the literary world, he lives a particularly easy life as Jenny earns a salary that allows him to focus upon his writing full time. He’s in the awkward position of knowing that Jenny’s child can’t be his, and yet chooses to accept her infidelity in order to maintain his lifestyle. He’s a truly awful character, and throughout I wanted bad things to happen to him. As the novel moves on, it becomes clear that he’s had no qualms whatsoever at using the publicity of the kidnapping to his own advantage, using his time in the public eye to promote his own work as well as taking part in the appeals for the return of Sophie. He milks the situations for all it’s worth and is a thoroughly selfish individual.

I liked the structure of the novel, which shows the birth of Jenny’s daughter and that life-changing decision of Leo’s that will have such far-reaching consequences, before moving on sixteen years. Jenny is still, understandably, struggling to cope with the loss of her daughter, keeping herself busy and trying to get on with her life as best she can. I can’t say too much about the plot from this point on, but a letter – published in a national newspaper – from Jenny to Sophie on her sixteenth birthday triggers a set of events that proves that secrets do not remain hidden. It’s an exciting and engaging plot exploring the aftermath of Leo and Hannah’s decision and how far they are prepared to go to keep their secrets. I did find myself suspending my disbelief at times as I wasn’t wholly convinced by the actions of some characters, but not so much as to prevent me from enjoying the novel.

The eBook of Keep Her Quiet will be published by Black Swan on 6 August, with the paperback and audio versions released on 17 September. With thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review Keep Her Quiet ahead of publication via Netgalley.

A brilliant thriller that you won't want to put down, I read it in a couple of sittings and loved every page, you are swept along with the different characters additions to the story. As the story unfolds there will be one character that if you are like me you will absolutely hate with a passion. This is definitely an author that I will look out for in the future.

A fantastic story with lots of twists. Leo struggles to keep the enormous secret of what he’s done, which has impacted other people as well as himself. What will happen as the lies pile up? I loved this book and look forward to reading more from the same author!