**Behind Closed Doors was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Michael Joseph Books and Sriya Varadharajan for letting me take part in the tour.**
Summary
From the outside, anyone would think that Lucy Palmer has it all: loving children, a dashing husband and a gorgeous home.
But when her marriage to Michael comes to an abrupt and unexpected end, her life is turned upside down in a flash.
As the truth of her marriage threatens to surface, Lucy seizes the opportunity to swap her house in London – and the stories it hides – for a rural escape to her parent’s farmhouse in the Chilterns.
But Lucy gets more than she bargained for when she moves back to her childhood home, especially when it throws her into the path of an old flame.
Coming face-to-face with her mistakes, Lucy is forced to confront the secrets she’s been keeping from herself and those she loves.
Is she ready to let someone in? Or will she leave the door to her past firmly closed . . .
Review
Behind Closed Doors is a twisty, thrilling read that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Alliott draws you into Lucy’s world with ease. Lucy is tired of battling with her manipulative husband, Michael every single day. She’s very protective of her children so takes the majority of his verbal abuse on herself in an attempt to save them. There is a trigger warning to consider before reading this book as there are several instances of verbal, mental, and emotional abuse that could be problematic for some readers.
I’d be lying if I said the fact the main character’s name being Lucy didn’t pique my interest initially. However, I’m extremely glad I don’t live the life she has to because she deals with a lot. It would be inhumane to not feel her pain because it is harrowing to watch it unfold. To watch her strength whittle away was heart-breaking. Her family is so supportive of everything she does even if they’re skeptical of her choices at first.
Her children, Ned and Imogen, are complete opposites but they have a very strong bond. Ned is kind, and timid in comparison to his fire-cracked sister, Imogen. I loved Imogen as I felt she would stop at nothing to protect those she loves. Whatever opinions she has she is not afraid to share, and that raw honesty made her character stand out to me. Then there was her sister, Helena, with who it seems Lucy has some level of natural sibling rivalry. That doesn’t stop them from being each other’s rocks in times of need. They also do their utmost to look out for their elderly parents who Lucy moves back in with after her issues with Michael become too much to deal with. Behind Closed Doors really highlights the importance of family.
Whilst this has elements of romance, it is understated and fits in well with Lucy’s need to find herself before finding another man to spend the rest of her life with. It would have been odd if she jumped straight into bed with the next man she met. I’m glad this got time to build naturally as the book progressed and Lucy had time to work on her own problems.
Now, I must say I have a slight issue with the fact that the characters didn’t call their parents ‘mum’ or ‘dad’ for the first half of the book because it got very confusing for me. I’m not sure if this is a Southern England thing but it made it difficult for me to keep up at times with who was who. This could just be an issue I have, though, and it certainly wouldn’t be a big enough reason to not read this marvelous book.
For the reasons mentioned above, I rate Behind Closed Doors 4/5 stars. I feel you get to go on a huge journey with Lucy as she deals with her demons and that makes the story intriguing and takes you down several twisty paths. I recommend this book to fans of psych thrillers.
I don’t know why but I’m glad the romance is understated, sometimes that’s just needed even though I really love romance.
It needed to be for this particular book. I love romance too!