Synopsis:
A young bride, a lonely single mother, and an amnesiac man of dubious origin lie at the heart of New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell’s next suspenseful drama that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and Paula Hawkins.
In a windswept British seaside town, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.
Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.
Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. Their annual trip to the quaint seaside town is passing by uneventfully, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just that he’s playing the role of protective older brother.
Two decades of secrets, a missing husband, and a man with no memory are at the heart of this brilliant new novel, filled with the “beautiful writing, believable characters, pacey narrative, and dark secrets” (London Daily Mail) that make Lisa Jewell so beloved by audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
My Review:
5+++ STARS!!
“Cheers,” she says, raising her tumbler. “To remembering.”
Frank clinks his glass against hers and he smiles. “And to you,” he says. “For being so generous.”
“Oh,” she says. “I don’t know about generous. Stupid more like.”
“Maybe both,” he says.
“Yeah. I’ll go with that. Story of my life. Generous and stupid.”
OMG!!! I did not want this book to end!! What a page-turner. Moody, evocative and thrilling, Lisa Jewell’s writing surprised and enthralled me from beginning to end.
This book begins with Alice, a frazzled single mother living in a tiny seaside town in England, finding a man, lost and alone and with no memory of how he came to be sitting on the beach in the driving rain.
Alice is funny, warm, witty and has not made the best choices in her life. In fact, her love life stinks so she is very wary of men in general. But something calls to her about this lost and confused man, and she brings him back to her cottage to recuperate in her guest house.
“How long have you been sitting out here?”
“I got here yesterday.”
“Where did you come from?”
“I have no idea.”
This brilliant story is told from multiple POV’s spanning several decades. At the same time that Alice finds “Frank” (her nickname for the seemingly lovely man struggling with his memory loss), a young bride in London named Lily realizes her new husband has suddenly vanished. She is new to England and does not know anyone at all. The mystery of her missing newlywed husband is one of the driving forces of this gem of a book.
There are tons of twists and surprises in store for the reader. We do not know how the characters in this story are connected… or even if they are connected at all.
Flashing back decades before, young Gray and Kirsty are on holiday with their parents. Their fascinating story involves a local man who becomes interested in Kirsty. Their stories rocket towards a stunning conclusion with Alice, Frank and Lily. To say that I could not put this book down is an understatement! From the bustling London setting to the small seaside resort town, ‘I Found You’ sets the bar for romantic suspense books this year.
Long after finishing this book, I still can’t stop thinking about the characters. Lisa Jewell is a new favorite author of mine. This was my first book by her and now I cannot wait to get to her other titles. Alice was completely relatable, even when she didn’t make the wisest of choices.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough! I loved every word.
(ARC provided via NetGalley.)
Pre-Order THEN SHE WAS GONE, coming in July 2017 in the UK:
