Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
MODERATE SPOILERS AHEAD…
What begins as a relatively straightforward drama, slowly turns a little supernatural.
Louise meets a good looking guy at a bar, and they just click. They share a few kisses before he decides to go home. The next day, Louise meets her new boss David at the Psychiatry clinic where she works as a receptionist, and the new boss turns out to be the guy she met the night before. And he’s married. His wife Adele appears to be a sweet, extremely vulnerable, and closeted person. She seems to be afraid of David, and he keeps her on a short leash – not allowing her to have a mobile phone (at first) and making sure she’s home at certain times of the day.
Louise randomly bumps into Adele on the street, and similarly they “click” and strike up a friendship. It seems that both ladies have suffered from night terrors, and Adele gives Louise some help and advice in dealing with these attacks (which is where the supernatural element begins to come into play). As they continue their friendship Louise becomes increasingly convinced that David isn’t as picture perfect as he seems, and yet she continues to see him behind Adele’s back. As time goes on, Louise gets drawn into their past and uncovers a complex history of mental illness, and secrets. I won’t go into the highly publicised “OMG” ending… which was only a slight “OMG” for me!
For anyone who’s read a lot of both crime and fantasy, this novel doesn’t have the same shock factor as for those coming into the fantasy genre fresh. There was a lot of misdirection between the three characters, and differing perspectives on the plot from a couple of different angles, which helped to convey the mental states of whichever character was “speaking” at the time. Overall I enjoyed the story, and sympathised with (most of) the characters. An engaging read, which kept the pages turning at a good pace.
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