Title: Invisible Girl
Author: Lisa Jewell
Published: August 4th 2020
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Pages: 416
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
RRP: $32.99
Rating: 3.5 stars
FROM THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THEN SHE WAS GONE, an engrossing twisty tale of betrayal and redemption.
NOW AVAILABLE: from the #1 bestselling author of THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS and THEN SHE WAS GONE comes an engrossing, twisty story of dark family secrets and betrayal._______________________________________YOU DON’T SEE HER. BUT SHE SEES YOU.
MIDNIGHT: In an area of urban wasteland where cats hunt and foxes shriek, a girl is watching…When Saffyre Maddox was ten, something terrible happened, and she’s carried the pain of it ever since. The man who she thought was going to heal her didn’t, and now she hides, learning his secrets, invisible in the shadows.
Owen Pick is invisible too. He’s never had a girlfriend; he’s never even had a friend.Nobody sees him. Nobody cares.
But when Saffyre goes missing from opposite his house on Valentine’s night, suddenly the whole world is looking at Owen.
Accusing him. Holding him responsible for Saffyre’s disappearance…INVISIBLE GIRL: an engrossing, twisty story of how we look in the wrong places for bad people while the real predators walk among us in plain sight.
Review:
‘They fell into step, their footsteps ringing out in the cold dark against the tarmac, and away on to the street, me still there, frozen to the core, invisible between the trees.’
Lisa Jewell returns with Invisible Girl, another gripping domestic filled drama, full of entrenched secrets, concealed truths and guilty parties. An uneasy atmosphere pervades Lisa Jewell’s latest, setting up a story that is full of speculation, unlikeable characters, unsavory actions and dark impressions. This novel will be of interest to domestic fiction lovers, psychological thriller fans and mystery readers.
The hidden lives of three key characters fill the pages of Lisa Jewell’s new novel, Invisible Girl. We are first acquainted with Saffyre Maddox, a troubled soul, who has suffered greatly in her life. A shocking incident at just age ten, has contributed to a world of pain and trauma. With no one to trust or to help her, Saffyre is reluctant to emerge from the shadows and she chooses to hide her secrets from the world. Another tortured soul who understands what it means to be invisible from society is a man named Owen Pick. This lonely single man has never had a relationship, or a friendship to call on. Owen lives on the fringes of society, neglected by all. Owen is suddenly thrust into the public eye when he is cast as the chief suspect in Saffyre’s disappearance. Are the accusations true, or is there someone else to blame for Saffyre’s disappearing act?
Million copy bestselling author Lisa Jewell boasts a healthy backlist of novels. I have dabbled in her earlier chick lit style novels in my early twenties. For some years now I have wanted to explore some of Lisa Jewell’s most recent novels, which have taken a darker tone. It took a review offer of Invisible Girl, thanks to Penguin Books Australia to finally allow me to delve into Lisa Jewell’s domestic based thriller work.
Invisible Girl is a well structured novel and I appreciated the way in which Jewell deftly handled all three different viewpoints within her latest tale. Jewell is able to succinctly reach inside the heads of each of her key protagonists who differ in gender, age and mental status. I appreciated the style of narration and the psychological insight Jewell provided in relation to these protagonists. I will say that I didn’t find any of these characters likeable. The cast of Invisible Girl are not easy to understand, they are mentally and emotional damaged. Jewell reveals their complicated pasts and respective backstories as the book progresses, which made for an interesting read.
Lisa Jewell’s novel is filled with a number of confronting themes. These range from sexual assault, self harm, mental illness, loneliness, prejudice and societal beliefs, to the lesser known topic to me personally – incels. Within the context of these keynote topics, Jewell rips apart family relations, domestic issues, relationships, societal behaviour and everyday connections. Jewell takes a critical glance at these issues with a psychological based lens. Jewell refrains from graphically describing some of the darker aspects of this book, bit it may still prove to be confronting for some readers.
There is a strong level of agitation and unrest that seems to follow this novel from the beginning. I knew this tale wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, that’s for sure! There are twists, red herrings, unreliable narrators and shocking revelations that are made as the book travels to its end point. Pacing wise, I did struggle with this area and I did feel a dip in my concentration levels at times. I am not going to put this down to the book or the author. I read this one mid-week and I often struggle with fatigue at this point of the working week. Despite this setback, I found the end came to a satisfying conclusion and I didn’t anticipate the close of the book.
Invisible Girl is a tortured, eye opening and intriguing novel of secret pain, guilt, unfair treatment, doubt and atonement. Lisa Jewell’s novel sits very comfortably in the burgeoning category of domestic fiction and is recommended to fans of this genre.
Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell was published on August 4th 2020 by Penguin Books Australia. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of Invisible Girl, Lisa Jewell, visit here.
*I wish to thank Penguin Books Australia for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
