First of all I was not aware that this is part of a series! But all I can say is that it works perfectly as a stand-alone.
This is a story set in the world of academia about a strong woman who his to work twice as hard to reach her goals, like her male colleagues. But Rebecca found a narrow door and went through it. She made her wa-did she?
I have to confess, that I didn't enjoy the first half of the book as much as the second one. Sometimes it takes a longer time to find a connection to a character.
There are many facets to Rebecca to be discovered. Just join her on her as she leads you through the story of her life!
I was happy about the audio version of this book! Alex Kingston and Steven Pacey did a great job in narrating this story
Thanks #NetGalley #OrangeSky Audio #Joanne Harris for the advanced listening copy

This is the third in the Malbry series but can be read as a stand alone novel.
Rebecca Buckfast tells her story to the elderly master who has been informed by some of his pupils of a collection of bones in the school grounds.
Rebecca Buckfast is a wonder of a character. Clearly with lots of grudges to fulfil and revenge to be obtained she will let nothing stand in her way.
A story that keeps you on the edge of your feet and is so well crafted. Joanne Harris's characters jump put at you.
Well narrated by the two actors and a pleasure to listen to.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to read in return for a review.

A haunting psychological thriller and a great end of the tirilogy do St. Oswald’s school. And a really great audiobook. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley

I last read Joanne Harris when she hit the big time with Chocolat over two decades ago. I guess I typecast her thereafter and ignored a steady stream of novels in diverse styles and genres, including a series of standalone thrillers set in a fictional boys' school, St Oswald's. The third in this loose trilogy, "A Narrow Door," captivates from the very first chapters, spilling a deliciously twisty yarn about the new female headmaster (one of the two voices present) regaling her puzzling familial and career pasts from decades ago to an ancient St Oswald's teacher (the other alternative voice). The stimulus is a body under the sports ground, a body from the past. Harris is a salty, evocative storyteller, clearly enjoying laying down clues for the crime fiction reader, and her two narrative voices are both strong and true. I like to think I can figure out a mystery's potential paths by the book's midpoint, but A Narrow Door baffled me as much as it gripped, and I read in a flurry. The novel climaxes with a thoroughly satisfying and devious confluence of past lives and the present.

The narrators were on point! I didn’t realize this book was the third book in a series until I finish it, and I feel like you don’t need to read the first two to understand this one.

It did take me a little while to get into it but once I did I wanted to know what happened to Conrad (Rebecca’s brother who went missing when she was 5 years old).

This story goes back and forth from the past to the present and takes you for quite a ride feeling suspicious of various different characters.

Thank you Netgalley and OrangeSky Audio for an early copy of A Narrow Door, in exchange for an honest review.

Rebecca Buckfast has just taken over as head master at the prominent St Oswald's academy and she is determined to leave her mark and pull the famed school out of the scandals, mysteries and even murder it has recently become known for. Roy Straitley, classics teacher, represents the old guard, friend to the boys (not accustomed to the girls walking the halls now), lover of tradition and pretenses. When his "boys" discover remains of a long ago body he and Mrs Buckfast must decide how to handle it, another scandal will surely end the school. Before she calls the police she wants to tell Straitley a tale of her past as it might change his mind on what to do next. She is the sister of a young student who disappeared many years ago...but who will remain when the story is over.

This was an enjoyable twisty thriller told form both Buckfast and Straitley's perspectives. The relationship between the two main characters was intriguing as you see them respect and grow to like each other, but there's more hiding beneath the surface. It is well written and the pacing is good. I had not read the two previous Malbry novels and this one can stand on its own; however, I would enjoy going back and reading the first two. I had the audio version read by Alex Kingston and Steven Pacey, both did an excellent job. I appreciated the two narrators and think their performances were perfect.

Interesting story going back and forth with the main character talking of events in her past. She spends the book talking of previous murders that occurred but never discovered. Twist at end with mystery coming out.

This book was archived before I had a chance to download it. I will therefore leave a middle star rating

“A dark world of emotional complexity and betrayal, where twist follows twist and nothing is what it seems. A masterful narrative voice, and a compulsive thriller from one of our greatest writers. I absolutely loved it.” – Alex Michaelides, No.1 bestselling author of THE SILENT PATIENT

From the Sunday Times and internationally bestselling, multi prize-winning author Joanne Harris, comes A NARROW DOOR – an explosive psychological thriller about one woman who, having carved out her own path to power, is now intent on tearing apart the elite world that tried to hold her back . . . piece by piece.

I really enjoyed this. When I requested to read it I missed the fact it was the 3rd in a series, however not having read the first two didn’t have an effect on the ability to follow a story. The writing and characterisation was fantastic, and the two narrators done a great job. As a child who was afraid of the toilet flush, the sinkhole was a bit disturbing in the best way.

Rebecca is the first female headteacher at the school and the story begins with her telling us how tough she is, and of everything she has survived to get the office and one up on the patriarchy. A body is found and reported to Straitley, a long standing teacher at the school. When he reports this to Rebecca she stalls him with the promise of revealing her story. When she was five, her brother went missing and no one has ever found him. And so the story unfolds. As we are guilty of doing the brother has been sainted in his “death” and the effect it’s had on Rebecca’s upbringing is harrowing. The story is a gradual reveal of the events of her life, a twisted and dark path paved with shocks and revelations takes us to the truth about Conrad and the body.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I just realized upon coming here to write this review that this is the third book in the series. It was written so well and the characters were well developed so I had no idea there were other books. I definitely didn’t feel like I was missing out! I really enjoyed both the narrators and the twists throughout the book had my head spinning! The only issue I had with the audiobook was that it sometimes got confusing keeping the dates and timelines straight. With two unreliable narrators that jump between three different time periods, it was hard to differentiate when it was taking place. Otherwise I really enjoyed it and am interested in looking into the other books in this series!

3.5 stars
This is a really good book. I enjoyed the story-line. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrators voices were great. They created a nice sense of atmosphere. However, I felt as if I was missing something while listening to this book. I struggled to connect fully with the story. I didn't understand why as I loved the story line. Then it was pointed out to me that the book was part of a series and I had not read the other books. Normally I read a lot of books from series and they are brilliant like standalone books. This book you need to read the whole series so you understand the book fully. I'm very sure that if you have read the series then this book would be a 4 or 5 star read. As the background from the previous would help tremendously with the characters background and how the story has evolved. I loved the fact that there was a diverse range of characters and how some struggled to warm to others. The atmosphere and tense of this book really stood out for me. I will definitely be reading the rest of this series now.
Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this great tension fill story for us all to enjoy and become immersed in.

The above review is live on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, amazon UK and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/a-narrow-door-by-joanne-harris-orangesky-audio-3-5-stars
Under either of the following names ladyreading365, lady Reading365 or ladyc reading

Narrators 5 Stars
Both Narrators were absolutely amazing bringing this book to life.

Story 5 Stars

Even though this was book 3 and knowing nothing about the first 2 books I was able to be sucked right into this very intriguing story!

It was so fantastically written and I loved the speed at which it all unfolded. I also loved what a strong person the MC was regardless of her trauma. (I really wish more authors would do this because the weak pushover is getting old and tired)

After listening to this (and never having heard of this author before) I promptly headed over to Audible and brought the first two)

Rebecca Buckfast has just become the first ever headmistress at St. Oswald's School for boys. She is determined to shake things up - starting with accepting girls ... much to the chagrin of Roy Straitley. Roy has been teaching the classics to his boys at St. Oswald for ... well just about forever ... and he isn't thrilled with the changes that Ms. Buckfast is implementing.

When his boys find a body where they are digging the foundation for a new building, Roy goes to Rebecca. She promises to contact the police ... just as soon as she tells him her story.

An excellent thriller with great twists and turns - and fantastic narration!

It's the beginning of a new school year at St. Oswald's Academy and the way of things has changed considerably. Roy Straitley, the long-standing master of Latin is still there but the latest change might be a step too far. The school now admits girls and the new headmaster is a woman, Rebecca Buckfast. Straitley's Brody boys come to see him the day before classes begin and report having found a body on the site of the new swimming facility that is under construction. After a number of scandals in recent years, Straitly is reluctant to report this incident but goes to the headmaster anyway. Buckfast has other reasons to avoid contacting the police and thus embarks on telling her story to Roy Straitley over the course of many weeks. Rebecca was five when her much older brother Conrad went missing and this impacted her life in numerous ways.

I will point out this is the third book in a trilogy of stories that all feature Roy Straitley. It's been a while since I read the first in the series but I do remember Straitley as the main character. Fortunately, this falls into the category of series books that can stand alone although I imagine reading the previous stories will give more insight into the school and some of the characters. I haven't read the second book yet but assume it also fits into the thriller category and involves narrative between two characters.

In this case, we hear from Rebecca and Roy, in the present time of 2006. We also hear Rebecca tell her story from the past, from periods of time in both 1971 and 1989. The mystery of Conrad's disappearance focuses much on Rebecca's memory of events. Or perhaps it's better to say the lack of memory of the events. We are taken on a twisty, windy journey through time and through Rebecca's memory. By the end, some of the revelations aren't as surprising as one might expect when considered against earlier revelations.

As a thriller, this really worked for me and I enjoyed the layers of information being released as the story went along. Rebecca's character is quite sympathetic through much of the story and it was hard to break away from it, especially as the book raced to its conclusion, which I found to be quite satisfactory at answering questions at the heart of the story. The plot device of Mr. Smallface was very clever and, to me, supported the story quite well. Who doesn't like a scary story from childhood creating tension in situations in later life?

What I like about this series of books is that Roy Straitley is a sympathetic character throughout. However, he's not without his flaws. He's very much old-fashioned in his thinking and it seems he's been dragged kicking and screaming into the modern age. And yet, he also tends to come around and adjust his thinking eventually so that perhaps he's not so conservative as he thinks.

As for the character of Rebecca, I find myself curious about the intervening years between 1989 and 2006 because she had come a long way from just a teacher to becoming headmaster. What sort of development occurred after the events of 1989 to create the person she is in the current state? I guess that part will forever be left to the imagination but it does create a considerable gap in her story.

My one criticism of the book is that considerable progress seems to be made on the swimming facility in such a short time and I find that rather difficult to accept. It's a pretty small issue but it did rather glare out at me while "reading" the book.

This audiobook was narrated by Alex Kingston as Rebecca and Steven Pacey as Roy. I found both did an excellent job of creating the atmosphere and characters they represent. Initially, I found the prologue was a bit on the harsh side, making Rebecca a quite scary character at the start. But then I found her voice more sympathetic while the story unfolds and it seems the prologue was indeed well done.

Overall this was an excellent book and I rate it four stars. I would like to thank Netgalley and Orange SkyAudio for giving me an advanced copy. I am providing this review voluntarily.

I was unaware this was the third book; however, this reads fine as a stand alone. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything by not reading the others. Initially, I thought maybe this was science fiction. There was some spooky things going on with the headmaster. It was a intense. There were two narrators, and their visions were skewed so they couldn’t be trusted exactly. In the end, this ended up being quite the mystery with a twist! Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

A Narrow Door is that kind of a book that compels you to immediately come to Goodreads for a review because you want your friends to go read it too so that you can start discussing it.

I did not know this was the third book in the series before I started listening to it, and I was a bit hesitant at first because I hate it when there are references to past events that I don't know anything about. However, this book is so masterfully written that you don't have to read the first two books in the series. BUT I will definitely be picking them up now!!

And I do have to mention the narrator because she played a huge part in capturing my interest from start to finish. Absolutely great work!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Rebecca Price is the first woman headmaster at St Oswald when the remains of a body are found at a construction site on the school. The students report the body to there teacher Roy Straitley who tells the headmaster. The headmaster convinces Roy to leave it to her to report it to the police but she begins to tell him her story about her missing brother the struggles of becoming a woman teacher at a private school and the murders she’s committed. This story is full of twists and turns , forgotten memories and scandals.
I enjoyed this story , I did not realize that this was the third book in the series until about half way through so I may have missed some of the back story’s of the characters but I felt this novel could be read as a stand-alone just as easily. I really enjoyed how we learn about the struggles that Rebecca faces becoming a woman teacher at a private school and becoming the headmaster. I really enjoyed how the even though the narrator was unreliable it wasn’t because of drinking or drugs but instead because of repressed memories and how she was trying to get those memories back. The only complaint was the pacing there were points were the story dragged a bit but then toward the end it felt very fast paced and rushed but overall I enjoyed this book.

"I have committed two murders; one a crime of passion, the other, a crime of convenience."

The third book of the Malbry Series, A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris as brilliant as the other two with two differents; can shelf it as a feminist, and although the story is great, but it's a pity that Roy Straitley is a sub-character this time.

In 1989, Rebecca was 5 years old and her brother, Conrad has been disappeared on their birthday, her whole life has been changed. Now in 2006, Rebecca Buckfast (Price) is the first woman headmaster at St Oswald's Grammar School for Boys, which now is for girls too and an academy!

Roy Straitley is a Latin teacher for more than 30 years and has faced a woman headmaster who strongly wants to bury her past secrets. Roy is my favorite character with his sense of humor, cleverness, improvisation, and unique relationship with others, Brodie Boys!

The novel has two timelines from 1989 at King Henry’s Grammar School and 2006 at St. Oswald's. Roy wants to know the truth, and Rebecca wants to tell: her brother's story, Conrad, the ghost who never left her family; as a young teacher in men's school; and a liar husband!

This story is very intelligent, suspenseful, unpredictable, and hard to put down, in this case hard to pause the audio. I listened to two other books too, so this was nice to hear the same narrator. Alex Kingston and Steven Pacey did great!

Many Thanks to OrangeSky Audio via NetGalley for the ARC, I have given my honest review.

A Narrow Door is one of the smartest, most interesting and sympathetically voiced pieces of crime fiction I’ve read in a very long time. The only other modern book in the genre I’ve enjoyed this much was We Begin at the End, but this book had more in common with The Maidens and The Divines, both of which disappointed me last year. It was a perfectly paced, pitch perfect blend of mystery and academia that captivated me from the prologue through to the epilogue. I hung on every word. This is a story that felt so incredibly real, which such a delicious building tension, that I thought about it almost constantly when I wasn’t reading it. It found its way into my dreams, which has become a rare thing as I’ve gotten older. And the ending was something that, in hindsight, I might should have been able to see. Especially considering the opening. But I didn’t.

This is a book that I stumbled across on NetGalley and requested mere days before its U.S. release. I regret that I couldn’t read it before publication, but I’m so grateful that my request was approved anyway. I had no idea this was the third book in a series until I had already read 10% of it, but it wasn’t to the story’s detriment. It was very enjoyable on its own. I didn’t feel as though I was missing anything vital. However, I will be going back and reading more of not only this series but the rest of Harris’s backlog. Three of her books are sitting on my physical shelves: Chocolat, The Gospel of Loki, and The Testament of Loki. The fact that I’ve never read any of her work both saddens and delights me. I feel like I’ve missed so much, and yet I’ve suddenly discovered a new-to-me author with over 20 novels in their backlist. It’s like finding a doubloon that leads to an entire treasure chest.

The audio was absolutely brilliant, and is probably one of the best audiobooks I’ve experienced. Two narrators are featured: Alex Kingston of Doctor Who fame; and Steven Pacey, who narrates Abercrombie’s First Law series and is one of my favorite audiobook narrators. While Kingston delivered the majority of the story as Headmaster Rebecca Buckfast, and she did so with fantastic aplomb, Pacey’s additions as Roy Straitley were a lovely break in the narrative, giving you a chance to take a breath in the midst of Rebecca’s very compelling and tense story. Had I not recognized the narrators on NetGalley, I would never have requested this book and wouldn’t have stumbled upon a new author whose backlist I’m so incredibly excited to read.

Rebecca is the new Headmaster of what was formerly an all-boys’ private school that is opening up to girls for the first time in its history. Seeing this school and others like it through her eyes was an enlightening experience. There’s a lot of discourse here about women in academia, especially in private schools. Even when Rebecca is able to break into the “old boys’ club” atmosphere, she isn’t treated like the rest of her colleagues. One of the schools in this book doesn’t even have a lady’s restroom; the women are instead forced to use the handicap facilities, which goes a long way to showing how their male counterparts view them. Being female isn’t a disability. But so many men in so many professions seem to believe so. Harris managed to both romanticize academia, as readers tend to do, and shine a light on its underbelly.

I absolutely love an unreliable narrator when done right. There are so many thrillers that rely heavily on this trope while not doing it particularly well. But Harris used the trope so deftly, and I truly felt as though I was making Rebecca’s discoveries alongside her. And the difference in tone between the Rebecca of her memories and the one telling her story to Straitley was fascinating. There were times when I couldn’t tell if there was a supernatural element to the book, or if that was simply mind games being played on or by the narrators. That balance was kept on a razor-sharp edge that delighted me to no end. I was honestly more than a little in awe so how well Harris balanced every aspect of this story.

The setup of A Narrow Door was fantastic. I was equally invested in the framework story and the coldcase mystery housed within it. It’s also one of the best academia novels I’ve read, though it’s told from the perspective of teachers instead of students. I would comfortably shelve this alongside The Secret History and The Orchard. While not quite as philosophical, and a bit more plot-driven, the writing was absolutely superb and the school atmosphere permeated the story very well. The divisions of this book alone, based around the five rivers in the Greek Underworld, enchanted me. As did the frequent use of Latin during Roy Straitley’s perspective chapters. This was an incredibly intelligent book in so many ways, but it never felt as though Harris was prideful of that fact or using it as purposeful misdirection. This is the kind of smart book that makes you feel smarter while reading it, instead of feeling like it’s talking down to you.

There’s so much I want to say about A Narrow Door that I can’t even get my thoughts in order. I know it’s only the first week of January, but I can confidently say that this novel will appear on my list of favorites for the year. It’s a wonderful blending of a smart plot, impeccable writing, sympathetic characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing. If you’re a fan of crime fiction, or dark academia, or novels with a strong voice that never grates on your nerves, you should give this one a go. Especially on audio. And if you love all of the aforementioned building blocks in a novel, I’m begging you to track down a copy of this book.

I would start by saying that I did not realise that this was the third book in a trilogy – I think it stands alone well, but perhaps a few gaps would have been filled in if I’d read the others!

It is the beginning of a new term and there are lots of changes at St Oswald’s School – for a start, it is no longer St Oswalds Grammar School for Boys but the co-educational “St Oswalds Academy” with girls being allowed into its hallowed halls. For the first time in its history, St Oswald’s also now has a head mistress, Rebecca Buckfast. Rebecca is ambitious, determined and not easily flustered.
Roy Straitley is the Classics master, and a stalwart of St Oswalds having been there for 105 terms (35 years!) - naturally he is struggling a bit with the changes forced upon him. A confirmed bachelor, he doesn’t really know how to deal with girls, and he can’t seem to come to terms with having a woman in the headmaster’s office – rather endearingly he insists on calling her “headmaster”. He’s been there for so long, that he believes that he knows all the secrets of St Oswalds, but when he is approached by a group of his students who think they might have found a body under some rubble in the building works happening on the grounds, everything Mr Straitley knows is turned upside down …
Upon hearing the news, he rushes to tell “headmaster” and initially he is sure that Rebecca will deal with it, however her lack of urgency, unflustered manner and strange comments about the impact that the discovery of a body could have on the school, set Straitley on edge. Why does she not want to tell the police? Why is she determined to tell her life story to Straitley?
As Rebecca starts to tell Roy her story, she drags him into a dark tale, forcing him to confront some issues from his own past too.

Throughout the story we have many questions:
What exactly happened in 1989 when Rebecca’s brother, Conrad Price, disappeared? How is the disappearance of a schoolboy from rival school King Henry’s linked to St Oswalds? Is there a body under the foundations of the new sports centre, and if so, who is it?
Like a spider weaving a web to trap the fly, the stories start out loose & unconnected, but become more & more entwined, drawing Roy & Rebecca closer to the centre – will the spider successfully trap the fly?

Underlying the whole story is a layer that many readers may miss – the book uses the mythological Greek rivers of the underworld to help it flow. From Archeron, Misery, where Becky’s childhood trauma dominates the story, starting to set out the determined and independent woman she will become, to Lethe, Forgetfulness where we fight with the idea of how much of memory is real vs imagination. The book comes to its conclusion during Phlegethan, Fire, and Styx, Hatred, as the suspicion increases, the suspect pool narrows and the reasons for certain things are revealed.

The title, The Narrow Door, refers to the difficulty women have in breaking into a world dominated by men, the way that they often lower their standards, demeaning themselves and behaving in ways which are uncomfortable just to be accepted/fit in to a world where the rules are made by men. Rebecca is a complex character who ultimately manipulates men to suit her needs and to help her get where she wants to be … in a position of power to crush those who held her back and hurt her in the past.
Perhaps my main frustration with the book were the numerous “feminist rants” and the way we jump from Rebecca being 5 to 24 to 40 with little explanation of what happened in the middle – how did she “squeeze through the narrow doorway”?

Overall, A Narrow Door is a well plotted story of ambition, loyalty and of course murder. The main & subsidiary characters are well developed and believable, if not entirely likeable! (I do feel that Straitley was portrayed as very weak when I felt he should have been a much stronger character but perhaps I would feel differently if I’d read the previous books?) The writing is good with vivid descriptions, evoking sounds & smells in a way that many books don’t. The tension and sense of unease builds well, being downright creepy at times, with the twists & turns coming at the right time, yet it did feel a bit too long & dragged in the middle. The ending was not entirely satisfying, and felt a bit anticlimactic.

I listened to the audiobook and the two narrators were good, suiting the characters well. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the format of the book (alternating chapters told from the perspectives of Rebecca Buckfast/Price & Roy Straitley) quite worked for me in the audiobook format They may have worked better in the printed format but the tense constantly changed so one minute Rebecca was talking to Roy now, and the next sentence she was 5 or 24 years old again …

It was definitely a book that required concentration, the back and forth between timelines and characters wasn’t an issue as these are clearly defined, but the plot and backstory are complex and there are many characters who appear in multiple timelines.