This book is set, initially, in Peterborough Railway Station. The story begins with a man entering the station and throwing himself in front of a train. Lisa is the only person who witnesses him do this, but she is dead. Dead from being hit by a train.

The first part of the book focusses on Lisa’s status as a dead person who is stuck in the place where she died just months before. I didn’t really enjoy the first part of the book very much. It was a little boring, in my opinion. I didn’t really feel Lisa’s supernatural quality. It wasn’t well defined, and, for that reason, it didn’t hold my attention.

Once Lisa discovers she can leave the station and go wherever she wants, the story gets a little more interesting. We are shown, through her memories, the controlling relationship she had with her boyfriend, Matty. He starts out as being thoughtful. He is a doctor, good looking, charming. Everyone loves him. Only Lisa knows the truth, and she finds that out too late.

Slowly, we are shown how cruel and controlling Matty is. We wonder whether he moved into physical violence. Did he push Lisa in front of the train? This relationship is portrayed realistically and painfully. We hate Matty. But we still don’t know whether he killed Lisa.

Gradually, we learn the events of the night she died. I won’t say what happened because I don’t want to give it away. What I will say is the last fifty or so pages, after we find out what happened, are pointless. I acknowledge the need to show some kind of return to a new stasis. All novels need an ending. But this added nothing to the story. If I hadn’t already come so far in the book, I would have thrown it the wall and given up. There was no need for so much explanation. A chapter of ten pages would have been plenty to give us all the information we needed.

So, overall, I wasn’t keen on this book. Parts of it were beautifully written, parts of it were exciting. Mostly, though, it wasn’t for me.

The beginning and the end. Much of the middle, too, if I'm honest. It just felt like nothing really happened, and what we were shown, didn't feel necessary.

Have a stiff drink!

Irritated.

Louise Doughty.

It's just not very interesting. There is so much promise, but it falls flat.

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Created Jun 13, 2022 at 7:21am • Submit your own review...