The Girl Before: A Novel Paperback – January 2, 2018

Reading this Brit-Lit psychological thriller was super suspenseful and chilling and SO MUCH FUN!SYNOPSISThe book is written with a dual point of view and timeline, seamlessly alternating chapters between Jane's story, in the present and Emma's story, about three years in the past.EMMAThe story opens with Emma and her boyfriend Simon touring apartments. They are looking for a very secure place to live after a traumatic experience in their current apartment makes Emma feel she must get out of there ASAP. Unfortunately, none of the apartments in their price range feel secure enough.Hesitantly, the real estate agent mentions one more option. There is a very unique house which the owner is willing to rent at a reduced rate in exchange for a few things in return from the tenants. The agent explains that the rental agreement includes a clause reserving the right for the owner, a famous architect, to arrange occasional tours for architecture students. In addition, the tenants are required to keep the house perfectly clean at all times and they are not to alter the decor in an way at all. There are more details, about 20 pages more, but, the agent says, the others are small things...Immediately upon entering the house, Emma falls in love with it. She feels safe for the first time in a long time and is willing to sign any agreement which allows her to stay. Simon isn't so sure, but he wants to make Emma happy so he agrees.The application process to live in the house, One Folgate Street, goes far beyond the typical reference and credit check. There is a very long screening process, including a lengthy questionnaire. If the applicants pass the questionnaire portion of the process (and very few pass), there is an in person interview with the architect / owner.As luck would have it, Simon and Emma pass the application process. They cannot believe their luck! It seems too good to be true! But... shortly after moving in, they begin to wonder if living in all this perfection is really working for them. And what exactly was in the fine print of the 20 plus page rental contract? What have they agreed to? Who is the mysterious architect and what happened to his wife and child?JANEThree years later, Jane is looking for a new apartment after experiencing a life altering loss. She is desperate to wipe the slate clean and start over. She has quit her high pressure, high paying job and taken a part time job working for a not-for-profit organization she wholeheartedly supports. Sadly, this career change comes with a reduced pay check, which means none of the apartments she can now afford are even close to being as nice as her current one. She cannot stay where she is but has a hard time imagining living in any of the places her agent keeps showing her.Hesitantly, the real estate agent mentions one more option. One Folgate Street, it is a unique house which is being offered for rent at a reduced rate in exchange for a couple things from the tenants...After passing the interview process, Jane is thrilled about her new home. But quickly after moving in, someone starts leaving flowers on her front door. One day a card is attached saying the flowers are for Emma. Who is Emma?? How is she connected to this house? Is it just Jane's imagination or is something going on with the house? Who is this architect and is he somehow connected to Emma? As Jane begins to dig into these troubling questions, she finds that life at One Folgate Street may not be as serene as it seems.WHAT I LOVEDFirst of all, it feeds my love of all things British! I like to do the immersion reading with both the audio and ebook. I hadn't really read any reviews on this book but chose it because it was nominated on the Goodreads book of the year list. It had me as soon as the audio started with the British accent. Yay, Brit-lit! With all that tea and "jumpers" for sweaters and "torches" for flashlights. Love it!I love books with a suspenseful, slow build and this book perfected it!!! Wow. Little by little, the reader begins to sense that things are amiss. It would be too obvious to outrightly, tell the reader that this house is not the good deal it seems to be, so author, JP Delaney drops little hints throughout, making the reader wonder when the other shoe is going to drop. It had me on the edge of my seat from page one.Good characters can make a book and this book was full of complicated, multifaceted characters!! And in keeping with the rest of the book, we find out slowly who each character really is, what their agenda is and what each is capable of. Even the house is a character, the reader is constantly wondering if the house itself has its own agenda. Edward, the architect, is fascinating. He's an enigma wrapped in a mystery. But Emma, she steals the show. I loved her Audrey Hepburn / Breakfast at Tiffany's connection. I won't say more and ruin it, except that she was fabulous as a character.

I was totally HOOKED by this one! I could actually see the house in all its minimalism -- the "flying staircase" (I've actually seen one of those) and the buff colored stone - the kind of bareness that affects the mood, that brings a sort of tranquility along with it - or as an alternative.....brings a creepy unease.Some reviewers have criticized the book for the "dumb" tenants - namely, two women tenants - who accepted the strange list of "RULES" put in place by the owner-landlord, who is also the architect of the house. But I accepted the premise in that ONLY TWO women throughout the story were involved. I could imagine that in a population of apartment-seekers, TWO (and at different times) would be willing to say "OK - I won't leave things on the floor. And ok, also for a few other stipulations: "No clotheslines. No wastepaper baskets. No smoking. No coasters or placements. No cushions, no knickknacks..." Actually, that is going a bit into the area of "strange."So we have here a sort of "Modern Gothic" tale, that smooths and polishes the stones of the House of Usher, turning it into "One Folgate Street, London," and transforms strange Roderick into stranger-yet Edward Monkford (LOVE the name), the world-renowned architect.[The name "MONKFORD" brought to my mind - monks living in a Spartan monastery .... the image is there, with the name.]And who is this architect really? Is he mad? Well, possibly yes, thinks the Reader. OR - he may not be truly mad. OR - he may not be truly murderous (or maybe he is?) - but certainly he has his share of idiosyncratic tendencies. And the Reader cannot stop reading because all of the options just tangle as the story moves forward.This story was just as strange and intriguing as psychological fiction can get, when enhanced by and blended with the creepiness of gothic. Fans of the Strange: Read and enjoy!My rating says 5 STARS - but I feel I must take off half a star for the syrupy ending. Oh, after the cool bare floors and walls, we run into the gooey-ness of those last few pages? Still, I can overlook that ending somewhat, considering the hours of pleasure this book delivered!