Having just finished Anna Downe’s debut novel, The Safe Place, I am asking myself, “Is this all there is?” I had high hopes at the beginning. The main character, Emily, is an aspiring actress, who seems to clutch at her auditions, She is a temp receptionist for a firm and is constantly late. She has bills to pay and has problems with her adoptive parents. After she is fired by the Human Resources Director, the owner of the company Scott “accidentally” runs into her. Scott Offeṛṣ her an exciting job as a personal assistant for his wife Nina in a secluded estate in France,
The author offers beautiful descriptions of the estate and Emily and Nina get along brilliantly. However all is not “paradise.” Nina and Scott’s little girl Aurelia has many health problems and Nina is a very over-protective mom. The reader slowly learns why as Emily starts figuring out what is really going on in paradise.
For me, I found parts of this debut novel exciting but other parts dragged. The story is told from Emily’s point of view and occasionally Scott’s. I found the climax Nd the epilogue wanting. I do think the author has promise and would give her another chance. Thank you BookishFirst, NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The author offers beautiful descriptions of the estate and Emily and Nina get along brilliantly. However all is not “paradise.” Nina and Scott’s little girl Aurelia has many health problems and Nina is a very over-protective mom. The reader slowly learns why as Emily starts figuring out what is really going on in paradise.
For me, I found parts of this debut novel exciting but other parts dragged. The story is told from Emily’s point of view and occasionally Scott’s. I found the climax Nd the epilogue wanting. I do think the author has promise and would give her another chance. Thank you BookishFirst, NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.