Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Sarah Vaughan, Simon & Schuster, $29.99.
A psychological page-turner – a ‘marriage thriller’, you could say – and it’s full of twists and turns.
It focuses on a high-profile marriage that begins to unravel when the husband is accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is sure her husband, James Whitehouse, is innocent and desperately hopes to protect her precious family from the lies that might ruin them.
Pleasure can easily tip into tragedy. Sophie is convinced James is innocent of a crime he’s accused of perpetrating. He’s charismatic, a successful public figure and a loving father. She wants to protect her precious family from lies that threaten to tear them apart.
James had an ill-advised affair with his 28-year-old aide, Olivia, and the papers have got hold of the story. Sophie’s world comes crashing down around her, but she puts on a brave face and rallies.
Sophie is a West London-based, stay-at-home mother of two. James has always been the golden boy, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, educated at Eton and Oxford. He met Sophie at Oxford, made money in the city and is now a junior Home Office minister and a ‘confidant of the PM, Tom Southern’. They’ve kept each other’s confidences since they were teenagers.
Kate is the barrister who will prosecute the case – she is equally certain that James is guilty and determined he will pay for his crimes. She knows the law is all about winning the argument, yet she makes it her business to seek the truth at all times.
Private lives thrust into the spotlight. A wife, determined to keep her family safe, must face a prosecutor who believes justice has been a long-time coming. A scandal that will rock Westminster, along with the women caught at the heart of it.
It’s a tale that grips, with themes of harassment and privilege at its very core.
