Behind Her Eyes
Sarah Pinborough
A challenging and twisted novel, Behind Her Eyes is an absolute must-read for anyone who enjoys being held in suspense.
Finding herself intertwined with David and Adele’s marriage, Louise finds herself increasingly questioning the truth. Unusually, the novel starts like a romance where, on a rare night out, Louise spots David, a man she believed wouldn’t even give her a second glance in a bar. But, contrary to her belief, he’s very keen, and the two hit it off immediately. And that’s about it as far as the ‘romance’ part is concerned. It’s all downhill from there…
Less than 24 hours later after their meeting, Louise finds out that David is the new psychologist at her work – Dr David Ferguson. What’s worse is David is married to the beautiful and kind Adele … who wants to be Louise’s friend, unaware that she’s sharing her husband with her new bestie.
"Don’t trust this book. Don’t trust these people. Don’t trust yourself. And, whatever you do, don’t give away that ending…."
- HarperCollins
Behind Her Eyes is told through the perspective of Louise and Adele’s journal-like entries – which create an eerie sense of suspense, as we begin to see cracks in their lives. Pinborough’s novel turns the shock and twist factor up to the max in a series of psychologically unnerving scenes. Louise starts having horrifying dreams that begin to take over her reality. She seeks advice from her new friend, Adele, who intrinsically wants a true friend in Louise whilst she is neglected by her seemingly cold husband. David, once deeply in love with Adele, wonders what happened to the girl he used to love whilst he continues his affair with Louise. All seems well, but are Louise’s dreams foreshadowing? Does someone know more than they let on?
“When the first of her twists is revealed, it is fantastically creepy, if not entirely unexpected. The second twist turns the creepy factor up to 11 and is a total wrong-footer.”
- The Guardian
At its core, Behind Her Eyes is about the lengths that some go to obtain love, power, and control. The storyline explores themes of obsession and manipulation from several of the characters, especially in the case of relationships where not all is as it seems. Pinborough does a remarkable job of keeping her readers on their toes — you cannot sit still for long with this novel as another twist is always lurking around the corner.
Readers are teased in trying to figure out the true identities of Pinborough’s complicated characters, especially since she craftfully maps their experiences throughout the novel so as not to reveal their real natures until the end. Pinborough does an excellent job of hiding certain things, especially hiding characters who are more cunning and pivotal than they first seem.
“That narrative device is one of Pinborough’s particular strengths – to be able to put us comfortably in the heads of her main characters but to keep some areas locked away… often so skilfully that we don’t even notice the no-go areas in the personalities of the protagonists we feel we are becoming intimate with.”
- The Independent
Whilst Behind Her Eyes was published in 2017, in 2021 there was a Netflix adaption. Starring Simona Brown, Tom Bateman, and Evie Hewson, the story comes to life in a TV series with stunning visual screenplay. Of course, Victoria Freudenheim will always vouch for the book version, but it is always interesting to see novels being brought to the screen — especially how other readers have interpreted and brought the book to life.
Who is Sarah Pinborough?
Sarah Pinborough is an English author born in 1972. Pinborough studied English and History at Brunel University of London, graduating in 1994. She was a secondary school teacher for six years before she became a full-time writer at the age of 30. With over 25 novels published in 30 different countries, Pinborough is an impressive and established writer. A New York Times and Sunday Times Number one bestseller, Sarah Pinborough has earned her stripes with her epic thrillers and young adult fiction.
Sarah Pinborough’s other works
Fancy more thrillers? Perhaps it’s time to explore more of Sarah Pinborough’s works for more nail-biting plotlines:
- The Shadow of the Soul (2011)
- Mayhem (2013)
- The Death House (2014)
- 13 Minutes: A Novel (2015)
- Insomnia (2022)
Book shop order pending!
Behind the eyes of Victoria Freudenheim
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