Book Review – The Safe Place: A Novel by Anna Downes

Welcome to paradise…or is it?

Description

Emily is a mess.

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.

Emily is desperate.

Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.

Emily is perfect.

Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn’t play along, the consequences could be deadly.

Details

• Title The Safe Place
  • Author Anna Downes
  • Publisher Minotaur Books
  • Publication Date July 14, 2020
  • Pages 354
  • Read an Excerpt

My Thoughts

Though Emily is obviously set up for her new job by her former boss, what is awaiting her at this remote place? And why is this man so eager to have her join his wife at their place in France?

Author Anna Downes caught my attention and didn’t let go until the final page. While there were times I thought I could foresee how it was going to end, like most good mysteries, I still jumped back and forth between good-guy- or-bad-guy guesses.

This is the perfect summer read. While not everything about it is suspenseful or thrilling, the author did an excellent job of capturing my interest and causing me to want to know more and more.

The characters are developed enough but not to a great degree. While I can’t say I felt that close to any of them, I was interested in learning more about them. Why were they reacting a certain way? What secrets were lurking at this deserted place. So the pages kept turning. And slowly the information came.

The writing is very good, in fact, I felt like I needed to drop everything and read, read, read. I needed to discover the whys and get answers. Obviously, that doesn’t happen with all books, and when it does, I’m excited.

While there wasn’t a dramatic twist to tie everything up at the end, I did feel like it was surprising and very satisfying. Let me say that again, extremely satisfying!

What Concerned Me

Though not a real concern, I guess some might desire to have a little more information at the end of the book. Perhaps to tie up all of the details of the main characters. (This might seem vague, but if you read it you will no doubt understand.)

What I Liked

I was completely immersed in this story. And the plot was intricate enough without feeling I had to suspend disbelief for a wild twist here and there.

The is a new author that I will definitely have on my radar!

Thanks to NetGalley and MinotaurBooks for the ARC and the ability to post my opinion of the book.

Rating

About the Author

ANNA DOWNES was born and raised in Sheffield, UK, but now lives just north of Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children. She worked as an actress before turning her attention to writing and appeared in BBC TV shows such as Eastenders, Casualty, Holby City, and Dalziel and Pascoe, as well as a long-running stage production of “The Dresser” in London’s West End. She has degrees from both Manchester University (Drama) and RADA (Acting). She has been published in the Zodiac Literary Review, shortlisted for the Sydney Writers Room Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Margaret River Short Story Competition. The Safe Place was inspired by Anna’s experiences working as a live-in housekeeper on a remote French estate in 2009-10.

Meet the Author

Dress for the Season…the Easy Way!