A expertly crafted thriller with so many killer twists. Lee finds herself homeless and living in her car when she meets Hazel the bizarre occurrences start to stack up. Be prepared to go on one hell of a bumpy ride.

A thriller set in the devestating after math of COVID emphasising the failed family businesses and economic crisis affecitng so much of the worlds population - this one hit hard.

Lee and Hazel are likeable yet strangely distant protagonists with a desperate relationship, clinging to each other in the hopes they can change their lives - with devestating consequences.

Nothing is what is seems in this faced mapced edgy thriller and I loved it!

To me, this one got off to a low start but once the pace picked up, the twists and turns just kept coming. Everytime I thought I had things figured out, another twist came along. A great read!

Looking for a twisty psychological thriller...look no further than The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding!

Lee, a homeless woman fleeing her dangerous past is pulled into a messy world of lies, deception and murder when she saves Hazel, a wealthy housewife from drowning.

This was a great read that hooked me right in! Unputdownable! This one one had me dragging myself to work with heavy eyes for a couple of days after late nights of not being able to take my eyes away from the pages! It had my head spinning with so many theories and shocked me with multiple jaw dropping revelations!

Packed with twists, The Drowning Woman had me guessing to the end. Told from the perspectives of Lee, a bankrupt and homeless former reataurateur, and Hazel, an abused trophy wife, the story flows smoothly while showing their different perspectives on each event. Their backstory is fed in at just the right moments, giving them thoroughly believable personalities. Supporting characters Jesse and Hazel’s powerful and thoroughly evil husband Benjamin add plenty of interest and their actins keep the plot moving I haven’t read Robyn Harding before but if this is an example of her work I’ll be looking for more.

Lee, a homeless woman saves Hazel, a wealthy housewife from drowning. An unlikely friendship develops between the two but all is not as straightforward as it seems.

I don't think I've read a thriller with a homeless person as a main character! Once again, Robyn Harding hits us with a unique and twisted storyline which had me intrigued throughout. I kept thinking wow, this is unexpected only to find another huge twist thrown at me next. Another stellar novel by this author which will keep you on the edge of your seat!

The Drowning Woman is the twelfth novel by Canadian author, Robyn Harding. Not so long ago, thirty-four-year-old Lee Gulliver had her own restaurant in New York City. Cue one pandemic and an unwise loan, and she’s now declared bankrupt, estranged from her family after some desperate acts, and on the run from an unsympathetic criminal backer. She’s living in her car in Seattle, working at a Beacon Hill diner.

When she parks overnight in a tony beachside suburb, she notices, and then saves a drowning woman who, it turns out, doesn’t want to be saved. Hazel Laval is married to a sadistic high-profile criminal defence lawyer who insisted on a Total Power Exchange pre-nup. Hazel is virtually Benjamin Laval’s prisoner, and this was her way out.

Friendless and desperate, Lee is perhaps less sceptical of Hazel’s apologies and friendly overtures than she should be. And the same probably goes for the handsome personal trainer she encounters a little later: Jesse Thomas is kind and gentle with her, and she falls hard.

When Hazel asks for Lee’s help to escape her controlling husband, how can she refuse?

Readers best pre-book a chiropractor appointment, there are so many twists in this one. Every time the reader thinks they have a handle on what’s happening, there’s a new wrinkle in the plot that keeps the guesses coming and the pages turning. Harding inflicts two very nasty psychopaths on her gutsy female protagonists, but the resolution is very satisfying. Hard to put down!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia.

Strong characterization will keep most readers engaged in this twisty thriller, as two not entirely likeable women attempt to take advantage of each other.

Lee is at the end of her tether. The pandemic sent her restaurant bankrupt, and a cascading set of problems sees her broke, homeless, living in her car, and with no-one to turn to. She’s surviving, but just, and she’s not really sure how long she can keep this up.

One day she finds a safer than usual place to park her car overnight – near a beach, in an upmarket suburb. She returns there for several days, un-noticed by anyone. Until the morning when she sees a woman crying, then plunging into the sea and not re-surfacing.

After Lee saves Hazel, a tentative friendship starts to emerge. Hazel tells Lee about her abusive husband, who’s made her life so miserable that suicide seems her only escape. Lee doesn’t have to tell Hazel much; her lifestyle is all too obvious.

And then Hazel presents Lee with a plan which might save both of them.

Readers are going to have a bad feeling very early in the novel – justifiably so, as things rarely go well for Harding’s characters. That much is easily foreseeable. However, there are many twists and turns in this plot, and most will take readers by surprise. Harding lays solid groundwork, so that when they come, they’re believable. It’s likely you’ll anticipate one or two, but most will take you off guard.

Neither of the women are necessarily particularly likeable, but they’re strong and believable characters. You’ll understand how both got into their current situations, and you’ll find their actions here credible. I frankly didn’t know whether I was cheering either of them on, but I was utterly fascinated to find out what they’d do next.

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Harding’s novels, and I think this might be the one with the most satisfying ending. She always ends her novels well, but here there was a really solid sense of rightness about the ending. After you’ve followed all the twists and turns, this seems to be the right place to be.

This is quite a complex novel, given the twists and turns, but it’s not hard to follow. Harding puts you solidly in her characters’ heads, and that makes the action and motivations really easy to keep track of despite the complexity.

Harding has a readable writing style which concentrates primarily on her characters. I found the background well drawn, but it didn’t feel very important compared to the characters and the plot.

This is a great thriller: it’s enjoyable to read, it’s original, and for a lot of readers, it’s likely to prove memorable.

The Drowning Woman - Robyn Harding

Lee Gulliver never thought she’d find herself living on the streets – no one ever does – but when her restaurant fails, and she falls deeper into debt, she leaves her old life behind with nothing but her clothes and her car.

I’ve read a few by Robyn Harding, this is hands down my favourite! Following Lee, it’s a sad and unfortunately more common modern story of the financial devastation Covid left behind. This isn’t a story of the pandemic, its a tragic and twisty tale of the aftermath and choices we make, also who we trust.

Highly entertaining with so many twists and turns mixed with lots of juicy drama! Loved it, couldn’t put it down.

4.5

Many thanks to @netgalley @simonandshuster for an advanced reading copy.

Lee Gulliver never imagined she would be living in the streets in her car – But here she is. She left the life she new and started a new one working as a waitress at a restaurant. Parked in a secluded spot on the beach she watches a woman throwing herself in to the ocean – Lee helps the woman out of the water, she thinks she will get a thank you but the unknown woman is furious! She wanted to die and get out of her trapped life. Thinking that was the last of the encounter Hazel continues seeing Lee each morning and the two of them have an unlikely friendship, they get talking and Hazel has an idea – Lee can help her disappear but things are definitely not as they seem.

Robyn Harding has done it again and written an amazing Psychological Thriller. A bunch of unlikable characters, I felt like I was on a roller-coaster ride with twists and runs I did not see coming. Of course I was here cheering Lee on throughout the book – she is one strong woman. Robyn is now an auto buy author for me and I can’t wait to see what she writes next. I had to buy a physical copy for my shelves.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for a copy of this book for my honest book review.

My fifth read my Robyn Harding has officially ended my book slump. I was quickly immersed in Lee’s emotional and desperate situation, and it definitely highlighted how anyone could fall victim to homelessness due to a combination of unpredictable circumstances and bad and risky choices. The Drowning Woman was fast-paced, tense, addictive, different, and very twisty. Just when I thought I knew where it was going something totally unexpected would happen to throw me off kilter. Love the literal and figurative meanings of the title. I have no hesitation rating it 5 stars. One of my top reads by Robyn Harding.

Lee Gulliver was living the high life, owning and running her own restaurant in NYC - it was the life she had always dreamed of having, but it all came crashing down around her and now she is somewhere she never thought she would be… Homeless and running away from the dangers of her past. All her worldly possessions are packed into her car, which is where she sleeps at night - if you can really call it sleep. Lee can’t let her guard down, because she needs to constantly be on the look out for the next person to try and take what is hers.

One morning, after spending the night in the car park of a secluded beach Lee spots a woman struggling in the water and this is how she saves the life of Hazel Lavel. But instead of being grateful for being saved, she is angry. Hazel wanted to drown. Hazel has everything Lee doesn’t, but the thing the two have in common is the fear for their lives. Hazel is trying to escape an abusive marriage and before meeting Lee she thought suicide was her only option. But when the two strike up an unlikely friendship they start to devise a plan to help Hazel get away from her toxic husband and disappear.

This was a dark, intense and twisty thriller from the very beginning. Told in dual POVs we get an insight into both women’s lives and the circumstances that have brought them to this point in their lives. The book went in a completely different direction than what I had originally anticipated and I loved every minute of it. It was fast paced, captivating and full of suspense. I felt on edge while reading it, desperate to know what was going to happen next. A great psychological thriller which I know I will be recommending to many people in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia for my digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lee is down on her luck. In fact, she is on the run. Life wasn't always like this. Lee was living out her dream of running her own restaurant, but Covid hit and so did the bills. No longer able to pay her debts, fleeing was her only option. Now she calls her car home. Sleeping with a knife clutched in her hand and using whiskey as a sedative, Lee can't imagine how life will get any better. Across town, Hazel lives in a beachfront, glass mansion. She spends her day at the gym, lunching with girlfriends, or perfecting her highlights at the spa. Hazel's life may look glamorous but she's trapped in a toxic relationship. Hazel can't imagine how life will get any better. One afternoon, at the beach, their worlds collide and though their lives have, until this point, been led so differently, they're now inextricably linked.

'The Drowning Woman' is a psychological thriller that will keep you turning pages. Just when you think you've put all the pieces of the puzzle together, another curve ball scatters your theories. Although it took me a few chapters to really get hooked on the book, it was a gripping, pacy story. I've never read Robyn Harding's books before but I'm glad I took a chance on this one and I'll definitely look out for her work in the future.

A completely bingeable read, I was hooked from the start on this action-packed, twisty and admittedly faintly ridiculous story (I say that - but I didn't care, I was happy to strap in for the ride!). I've read a couple of Robyn Harding books before and this one did not disappoint - it was exactly the type of fast-paced, absorbing thriller I needed after reading a couple of heavier books recently. It deals with a lot of heavy themes, and while I felt sorry for so many of the characters who were victims of circumstances beyond their control, I couldn't really like any of them per se, and grew intensely frustrated at some of their decisions. But, I felt the reasoning behind their actions as a whole were well plotted out and I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it to people wanting a 'vacation read' or simply something to become engrossed in on a rainy weekend. Robyn Harding should be a must-read author for fans of the thriller genre!

My Rating: 1⭐️ lonely little star!! Here I am on Outlier Island with all my opinions!!

This is a story of down on her luck Lee Gulliver who is currently homeless and living in her car - meets Hazel the high society seemingly rich and lucky, but all is not as it seems. Hazel is in a toxic abusive relationship and both ladies need out of their lives before its too late.

Sooooo… I wanted this book so much… I put my request in back in October last year and waited and waited… I finally got approved in April… WOW I wish I hadn’t now. What a hot mess this was… I was willing to accept that this was a popcorn thriller with twists and turns at every corner… with unbelievable plot lines… and dumbass characters… BUT…

By the end I could take the dumbassery no more… I couldn’t handle the absolute and complete lack of logic and the basic writing just topped it off… but most of all I could not sympathise with either of the two damsel’s in distress.. they were the biggest dumb and dumber situation I have read in a long time. Both switching between dumb and dumber.

I only kept reading this one because it was an easy read and I was going to throw it a three, then a two but nope… its a one from me. I was so irritated by the end of it. The constant whiplash of this is the twist, no wait this is the twist… ahhh but hang on… now this is the twist. The epilogue is the worst kind… lets sit down and literally have a “Frosty Cold Beer” omg how many times that is said - and sit with a friend and hash out play by play what we just f*cking read in the book… nope… sorry but that spun me into orbit.

Throughout the book we get the POV of Lee and Hazel but it’s also the worst kind of switching POV - you read it in one and then you have to read it AGAIN in the next POV - that is not how that is supposed to happen. Sometimes you are getting the same phrases and paragraphs and stories told over and over… sorry but that does nothing for me… it makes me want to sleep. If I have already read it in Lee’s POV I don’t then want Hazel to tell me the exact same thing when its her turn to bitch and moan about everything.

Do not get me started on the Total Power Exchange contract…. WTF - I have no doubt that this disgusting shit exists - but the Hazel makes it impossible to root for her. While her situation is toxic and she does need to get the F out of town. She instantly bonds with Lee a random homeless person who is living in her car. No qualms at all.. no worries… a woman who is not really allowed out of the sight of her husband is making food and pots of coffee for a rando in the street and has time to hatch an evil plan with her… sure sure… but if that doesn’t convince you… oh Hazel is having an affair with some dude as well… AGAIN not allowed out of the house, not allowed friends but has time to get it on with Mr McSexy from the gym!!! SEEMS LEGIT!!!

Here we have some really deep insights from Hazel… can we say WTF!!!

I am utterly defenceless as the creature clamps down on my neck. And then I wake up.
I’m in a pool of sweat, in another motel room, this one even seedier than the last. It is quiet outside the plastic blinds, a soft grey light slipping through them. According to my phone, it is predawn. But I know I must leave, right now. The dream felt ominous and terrifying. It unnerved me. Hurriedly, I slap into my clothes, zip up my suitcase, and head out into the silence.

Zzzzzz oh sorry… did you also get a message from the universe to tell you to give a play by play on how to tie shoelaces!!!

Also while we are at it and not feeling sorry for the MCs Lee is also insufferable… she did the wrong thing by literally everyone in her life and sure she feels bad but… she’s paying the price… she needs to get her ass in line and get out of being homeless. BUT no.. she is busy getting booty as well. She instantly falls in love!!! YES love with a dude that gave her an orange and all of a sudden is playing bang bang pow with Mr Secret Booty call dude in his house … shes still homeless by the way… so hardly has time to shower … all cool everyone loves a bit of dirty non showered booty right??? EEEEWWWW sorry fiction and all but no… this is too unbelievable for a clean freak like me… absolutely-f*cking-not!!! OH and she was at death’s door with a cold/flu as well… super sexy!!!

Here is a bit of Lee falling madly in love - with her lover (which she repeatedly refers to him as)…

For once, I am rested and nourished, and despite this cold, I’m filled with a giddy energy. I’ve met someone, someone thoughtful and considerate and hot as hell. Even with the mess I’ve made of my life, my desperate circumstances, I feel a sense of optimism. The potential romance is startling in its power. I’m still homeless, my future is still bleak, but I can’t quell the Boulanger feeling in my belly.

GIRL YOU HAVE BIGGER FISH TO FRY!!! A bit of hot as hell booty is not fixing your dumbass issues.

Lee and Hazel need to stop banging the first guy that shows them attention and get their asses into a plan of action… but instead… Hazel treats Lee like shit… Lee treats everyone else like shit… basically it is a book full of assholes and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I wont go into it any further because of spoilers and I feel like this has turned into an angry hate read rant… which is not how I wanted it to go but here we are.

I could go on… but no one needs more of this… just like I don’t need more of this book. I am sorry I didn’t like this at all… but I am clearly an outlier (Shout out to my girl Shelley’s Book Nook we are on the island together 🤣)

Overall - would I recommend… nope!!! Definitely not, not to anyone I know. I am absolutely know there are people who are gobbling this up and I am so glad you loved it… but to any of my regular GR besties please do yourselves a favour and skip this one!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Australia and the Author for sending me an ARC in exchange for a SUPER honest review… sorry I couldn’t find a way to like this one.

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding took me by surprise. I read the blurb and made some assumptions. As I started reading and met Lee and Hazel I pictured it... the way it was going to play out. I could see it clearly and felt disappointed. Knowing that what was to come was going to be an anticlimax. Predictable. I'd read many versions of this book before.

So... you can imagine my surprise when the first major twist comes and the book goes in a completely different direction. And it happens not once, not even twice, but three times. Or maybe it was more. I lost count.

Harding shares some of Lee's backstory. Borrowing money off the wrong person to open her restaurant. Then COVID hits. She declares bankruptcy but her dodgy investor still wants his money. Lee has no option but to take off and now finds herself living in her car, talking her way into public swimming pool locker rooms to use their showers and relying on free dinners from the bar she's working in.

Hazel's tale is almost too bizarre to be true as she's essentially married (contracted by 'Total Power Exchange') to a wealthy lawyer; treated like a slave and her movements monitored. Although I realised something was simmering beneath the surface, I liked their friendship. We're privy to the relationship through Lee's eyes and voice as narrator but it's obvious neither judged the other. They didn't even really offer pity, just a way out. For Hazel it's escape. For Lee it's a chance to get her life back on track and it's looking more promising as she's met someone she wants to be with.

And then things change. Spoiler alert, there's a murder. We knew something was coming but what comes next is what surprised me, and though I'm reluctant to spoil it for others, I'll offer this... we go back in time and our narrator changes. We're offered a different point of view.

This is a really clever and twisty read from Harding. I really liked the characters she offers us here, with layers of depth and full of surprises. I think I've only read one other book by Harding, The Perfect Family, last year. In my review I mention the twists and the fact she plays with the timeline but I didn't enjoy it as much as this. It certainly seems to be an indicator however that she's a writer I need to read more of. 

4.5 stars

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding definitely has the WOW factor!

The story starts off with a homeless woman, Lee, living in her car and surviving as best she can. She saves another woman, Hazel, from drowning. Initially Hazel is angry saying she was trying to drown to get away from her abusive husband. Lee and Hazel meet in secret and form a ‘friendship’.

The story seems quite straightforward and even predictable until - suddenly it isn’t!! Twists and turns crop up and the story goes in different directions. An incredible thriller that keeps the reader guessing and totally captivated by the characters and the turn of events.

Highly recommended read.


This review is based on a complimentary copy from Simon & Schuster (Australia) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#TheDrowningWoman #Netgalley

Robyn Harding delivers yet another suspenseful thriller to keep you guessing. I’ve long been a fan of Robyn Harding and her latest installment doesn’t disappoint; I didn’t even read the synopsis before picking this one up. The author sets up an interesting mystery which will keep you hooked until the very final twist. It’s easy to relate to and feel for the well-written characters found here. It’s easy to see why Robyn Harding is known as the Queen of the domestic thriller. I’m excited to see what she comes up with next. This read was fast-paced, gripping and easy to consume in one sitting. You feel immersed and investing in the plot which makes the pages fly by. Highly recommend this book and this author.

I discovered Robyn’s books with The Party a few years ago and have eagerly devoured her backlist. She is definitely the Queen of domestic thrillers. Told in four parts we alternate view points between Lee, a business who has fallen onto bad times and now living her her car and Hazel, the rich wife who has it all-or does she? Both women were intriguing characters but I never quite knew who to trust.

This one lures you in immediately and keeps up at a good pace the whole way through. By the end of part one, I was feeling pretty smug that I’d picked up the cliff hanger. I was sure I knew how it was all going to play out. I was so wrong. The twists and turns kept coming! I was quite happy with how it all came together at the end. Another fabulous thriller from a Robyn who’s now very solidly on my autobuy list.

This book is just pure brilliance. Packed full of suspense, with so many twists and turns it'll make your head spin, The Drowning Woman is a must read for thriller fans. Having not read the synopsis at all I had no idea where this book would take me, and I really enjoyed this rollercoaster ride of a story. I was a total slave to my Kindle.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC of this book to read and review.