Review: Her by Harriet Lane

Title: Her   

Author: Harriet Lane    

Published: January 2015, Little, Brown & Company  

Format: ARC Paperback, 272 pages    

Source: Publisher   

You don’t remember her–but she remembers you.

On
the face of it, Emma and Nina have very little in common. Isolated and
exhausted by early motherhood, Emma finds her confidence is fading fast.
Nina–sophisticated, generous, effortlessly in control–seems to have
all the answers.

It’s easy to see why Emma is drawn to Nina. But what does Nina see in her?

A
seemingly innocent friendship slowly develops into a dangerous game of
cat and mouse as Nina eases her way into Emma’s life. Soon, it becomes
clear that Nina wants something from the unwitting Emma–something that
might just destroy her.

My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Harriet Lane and I liked it. It’s a great thriller – creepy and weird, but oh so good! I had such a hard time putting it down because I just had to see where it was going and how it was going to end.

First, I have to say that I absolutely loved the way this story is told. Alternating from Emma to Nina’s point of view with overlapping narratives, we get the same story but from each character’s viewpoint…what a clever way to tell the story! These two characters are so well-drawn and richly developed and hearing their versions of the same events will leave you speechless at times. Emma is clearly the more likeable character of the two. She’s that lovely but nice mom who’s often exhausted just from being a mom and is usually oblivious to what is going on around her. Nina, on the other hand, is very complex. She’s cunning and undermining, and her sleek ways are just too slimy at times.

Right from the beginning when the characters meet, it’s clear that there’s a history between them, but Emma doesn’t seem to remember Nina at all. So why does Nina become obsessed with Emma? What happened all those years ago and why does Nina keep insinuating herself into Emma’s life? This is where the creep factor comes into play and this is where I had found myself flying through the pages to find out just what was going on.

And then the ending…oh my goodness! Just perfect!!!  I don’t think there could have been a better ending for this book – it was hauntingly beautiful and one that I actually had to reread to make sure I read it right as it is so subtle. This is one psychological thriller that will be staying on my shelf, a clever and well-crafted tale that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon, and one that I will probably reread again in the future.