Extract | How Far We Fall by Jane Shemlit

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Extracts

How Far We Fall by Jane Shemilt

An utterly gripping and shocking new psychological suspense from the bestselling author of DAUGHTER

Little Friends

THE STUNNING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RICHARD &amp; JUDY BOOK CLUB SENSATION DAUGHTER 
 
 'Extremely clever, readable and elegant ... perfect for fans of Big Little Lies. Domestic noir at its best' Suzy K Quinn, bestselling author of Don't Tell Teacher 
 
 Their children are friends first. They hit it off immediately, as kids do. And so the parents are forced to get to know each other. Three wildly different couples. Three marriages, floundering. 
 
There are barbecues, dinner parties, a holiday in Greece. An affair begins, resentments flare, and despite it all the three women become closer. 
 
Unnoticed, their children run wild. The couples are so busy watching each other that they forget to watch their children. 
 
Until tragedy strikes. 
 
Because while they have been looking the other way, evil has crept into their safe little world and every parent's biggest nightmare is about to come true... 
 
 'Intelligent, compelling and deeply unsettling. My kind of book!!' Ali Land, bestselling author of Good Me Bad Me 
 
 'Such a clever, beautifully written read that was tense and thrilling throughout with an ending that gave me goosebumps' Claire Douglas, author of Then She Vanishes 
 
 
What readers are saying about Little Friends: 
 
'I loved this book - it thrilled me, it chilled me' ????? Cheryl, Netgalley Reviewer 
 
It's impossible to put down as you desperately want to know what happens next' ????? Ceecee, Netgalley Reviewer 
 
'Dark and electrifying' ????? Vikki, Netgalley reviewer

Little Friends is beautifully written and suffused with dread. Jane Shemilt's compelling literary thriller explores with acuity the pressure cooker challenges of adult responsibility, and the assumptions we make. The domestic settings are seductively vivid and the final outcome is profoundly shocking and terrifying

Gilly Macmillan, author of The Nanny

Extremely clever, readable and elegant... perfect for fans of Big Little Lies. Domestic noir at its best

Intelligent, compelling and deeply unsettling. My kind of book!!

Ali Land, bestselling author of Good Me Bad Me

Little Friends taps into your darkest fears. Beautifully told, with a rich cast of characters, I couldn't put it down

Rachel Blok, author of Under the Ice

Little Friends is beautifully written. I was in the kitchen; in the garden; on holiday with all the characters. And I was there at the fallout. Jane Shemilt has a talent for taking you into her world - but be careful. It might not be what you think...

Sunday Times bestseller Jane Corry

The plot was breathlessly gripping, with an emotional punch that turned the last couple of chapters into a teary blur

Sarah Naughton, author of The Hanged Man Rises

Such a clever, beautifully written read that was tense and thrilling throughout with an ending that gave me goosebumps. Highly recommended!

Claire Douglas, author of Then She Vanishes

A fierce reminder that control is only an illusion

A compelling, disturbing and beautifully told story. I loved Jane's debut Daughter and adored The Drowning Lesson but Jane has topped them both with Little Friends

Diane Jeffrey, author of He Will Find You

Countless psychological thrillers get compared to Big Little Lies; Shemilt's is the real deal

Surefire suspense [. . .] riveting creepiness

A fantastically clever novel with some wonderful twists

A compelling sense of place, good twists, and a tense, intense ending

Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal

Builds layer upon layer of tension in a novel you won't be able to put down

Tess Gerritsen, bestselling author of I Know a Secret

Utterly gripping. A tautly-coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending

While working as a GP, Jane Shemilt completed a postgraduate diploma in Creative Writing at Bristol University and went on to study for the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, gaining both with distinction. Her first novel, Daughter, was selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and went on to become the bestselling debut novel of 2014. 
 
She and her husband, a professor of neurosurgery, have five children and live in Bristol.

THE STUNNING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RICHARD &amp; JUDY BOOK CLUB SENSATION DAUGHTER 
 
Their children are friends first. They hit it off immediately, as kids do. And so the parents are forced to get to know each other. Three wildly different couples. Three marriages, floundering. 
 
There are barbecues, dinner parties, a holiday in Greece. An affair begins, resentments flare, and despite it all the three women become closer. 
 
Unnoticed their children run wild. The couples are so busy watching each other that they forget to watch their children. Until tragedy strikes. 
 
Because while they have been looking the other way, evil has crept into their safe little world and every parent's biggest nightmare is about to come true... 
 
Praise for Jane Shemilt 
 
'A compelling sense of place, good twists, and a tense, intense ending' Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal 
 
'We absolutely loved this' Richard &amp; Judy Book Club 
 
'Utterly gripping' Mail on Sunday 
 
'Thrilling' Sunday Express 
 
'Builds layer upon layer of tension' Tess Gerritsen

The perfect marriage. The perfect murder?

How Far We Fall

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING PHENOMENON DAUGHTER 
 
A wife who must keep her affair secret. 
 
A husband who has the power to bring her lover down. 
 
A marriage that could end in murder. 
 
Beth was still reeling from the end of her affair the night she met Albie - a man who knows her ex better than anyone, but has no idea of their history. 
 
He's perfectly placed to give Beth the revenge she craves - if only she can keep her secret safe. 
 
But how far is she willing to go? 
 
'Instantly intriguing, chilling' Daily Mail 
 
'A breathtaking dissection of a marriage' Woman &amp; Home 
 
'A brilliant exploration of power and responsibility, jealousy and vengeance, set against the fascinating backdrop of the world of neurosurgery' Daily Express

Breathtaking dissection of a marriage

A modern Macbeth, with a compelling sense of place, good twists, and a tense, intense ending

bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal

A brilliant exploration of power and responsibility, jealously and vengeance, set against the fascinating backdrop of the world of neurosurgery

We absolutely loved this . . . It's difficult to believe that this accomplished book is a debut

A wife who must keep her affair secret. A husband who has the power to bring her lover down. 
A marriage that could end in murder. 
 
Beth was still reeling from the end of her affair the night she met Albie - a man who knows her ex better than anyone, but has no idea of their history. 
He's perfectly placed to give Beth the revenge she craves - if only she can keep her secret safe. 
But how far is she willing to go?

The Gripping Sunday Times Bestselling Thriller and Richard & Judy Phenomenon

Daughter

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND RUNAWAY RICHARD &amp; JUDY PHENOMENON 
 
 Her daughter has gone missing. But did she ever really know her . . . 
 
'Thrilling' SUNDAY EXPRESS 
'Completely unputdownable' 5***** READER REVIEW 
'Utterly gripping' MAIL ON SUNDAY 
'Unforgettable' 5***** READER REVIEW 
________ 
 
Naomi is missing. 
 
Her mother Jenny is desperately searching for answers. 
 
But the traces of Naomi's existence reveal a very different girl to the one Jenny thought she'd raised. 
 
The more she looks, the more she learns that everyone she trusted has been keeping secrets . . . 
 
Is finding her the only way to put their family back together? 
 
Or will discovering the truth about Naomi finally tear them apart? 
________ 
 
'We absolutely loved this' RICHARD &amp; JUDY BOOK CLUB 
 
 'Taut and thought-provoking' WOMAN &amp; HOME 
 
 'Clever' SUN

It is gripping and full of emotion . . . yet the twist at the end makes you question your assumptions, and really makes you think about the nature of a mother-daughter relationship and how different it can be from each side of the coin

We absolutely loved this book. It's about a GP and her family and the sudden horror that devastates their lives when their 16-year-old daughter disappears one night. It's difficult to believe that this accomplished book is a debut

Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy book club

Ostensibly a suspense novel about the disappearance of a teenage girl, this taut and thought-provoking debut novel explores a working mother's guilt, something all-too familiar to many of us

Thrilling, yet written with depth and subtlety, and tender insight into parental love

Complex and baffling. Jane Shemilt builds layer upon layer of tension in a novel you won't be able to put down

Utterly gripping. A tautly coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending

A wonderful plot, full of tantalising reasons to read on, and of course with a killer twist at the end. What impressed me most was (. . .) the impossibility of truly knowing those closest to us, the pressures of parenthood - in particular working motherhood, and the terrible loss at the heart of all parenting: they grow up and away

Christopher Wakling, author of What I Did

'I still don't know why we had to check. Did we really think you would be there, curled up and sleeping on the stage? That we would put our arms round you, and take you home?' 
 
Naomi has vanished, leaving her family broken and her mother Jenny desperately searching for answers. But the traces fifteen-year-old Naomi's left behind reveal a very different girl to the one Jenny thought she'd raised. And the more she looks the more she learns that everyone she trusted has been keeping secrets. 
 
But will discovering the real Naomi help to find her?

Jane Shemilt

A gripping read about a family whose hopeful adventure turns into a nightmare

Suspenseful, brooding, and with touches of witchcraft - it makes for a perfect blend of horror and thriller

Shemilt specialises in the fictionalisation of parental nightmares . . . well written, taut and tense

I enjoyed this book from the first page . . . this book comes with a very enthusiastic recommendation . . . The story is all encompassing and I felt itchy with anticipation as I savoured every page

The parent's despair is so brilliantly written, you feel every stab of grief. The thrilling ending does not disappoint. A must-read!

'It's our son, Sam... someone took him. Please help us' 
 
Emma hoped that she and her family would return from their year abroad closer, with memories to last a lifetime. 
Instead, they returned minus one child. 
 
A year on, Emma is haunted by their son's disappearance, and feels further than ever from her husband. 
 
Is their child still out there somewhere? Will the mystery about what happened that night ever be unravelled? 
 
And, if the truth does come to light, will Emma's family be healed - or wrenched even further apart?

Jane Shemilt

Praise for The Drowning Lesson

A dark twisty tale

Gripping tale

A gripping read about a family whose hopeful adventure turns into a nightmare

A dark twisty tale

Gripping tale

A gripping read about a family whose hopeful adventure turns into a nightmare

A dark twisty tale

Gripping tale

A gripping read about a family whose hopeful adventure turns into a nightmare

Books by Jane Shemilt

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How Far We Fall by Jane Shemilt

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