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I invited her in / Adele Parks.
When Mel receives an unexpected email from her oldest friend Abi, it brings back memories she thought she had buried forever. Their friendship belonged in the past. To those carefree days at university. But Abi is recovering from a bad breakup and needs Mel's help, and she wants a place to stay. Just for a few days, while she sorts things out. It's the least Mel can do. After all, friends look out for each other, don't they? But when glamourous Abi enters Mel's modest but happy life, things quickly take an unexpected turn.-- Publisher's description.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780778369219 (paperback)
- Physical Description: 428 pages ; 24 cm
- Publisher: Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Mira, [2019]
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Friendship > Fiction. Betrayal > Fiction. Secrecy > Fiction. Jealousy > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Suspense fiction. Thrillers (Fiction) Psychological fiction. Noir fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Glenwood and Souris Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenwood and Souris Regional Library | F PARKS 2019 (Text) | 367640000144336 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2018 December #1
Abi and Mel were friends at university, despite Abi's strong personality and Mel's meekness. When a one-night stand leaves Mel pregnant, Abi is the one person who stands by her, but the two end up drifting apart when Mel drops out of school. Seventeen years later, Mel is happily married and living in the suburbs of London while Abi is married to their former charismatic classmate Rob. Abi and Rob are famous in the American television worldâhe's a producer, and she's an on-air personality. They have always had an extremely volatile relationship, which finally breaks up over Rob not wanting children. Abi runs home to the UK, back to the one person she can count on, stable Mel. Mel is dazzled by Abi and offers her an open-ended invitation, while Mel's husband, Ben, and her teenage son, Liam, are initially wary of the way Abi pushes everyone around. But Abi always gets what she wantsâand she's got some sinister ulterior motives. Abi's sexual escapades may raise some eyebrows, but this will appeal to most readers who enjoy suspenseful domestic dramas. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2018 November #2
A middle-aged British woman invites an old friend for an open-ended visit, wreaking chaos in her own family, in this twisty domestic thriller. Melanie Harrison is startled to receive an email from Abigail Curtiz, a woman she lost touch with nearly two decades earlier. Abi's email explains that she is in the midst of an ugly divorce, and she would like to reconnect. Melanie and Abi have led very different lives in the years since they lost touch. Melanie quit school to raise the baby she had at age 19, while Abi found professional success and moved to California with her handsome, wealthy husband. Abi's Hollywood life was enviable until she caught her husband cheating with a younger woman. When Melanie learns the circumstances of the divorce, she feels compelled to provide sanctuary for Abi and invites her for a visit. Melanie is proud of the turns her own life has taken and looks forward to showing off her good luck to her friend. She's married to a wonderful man named Ben, w ith whom she's had two adorable children. Unfortunately, once Abi moves her suitcase into the Harrisons' spare room, Melanie's picture-perfect life begins to disintegrate. Ben is suddenly irritable all the time, and Melanie finds herself falling under Abi's indescribable spell, drinking, gossiping, and shirking her responsibilities. As Abi's stay draws on, secrets begin to emerge in the Harrison house and tensions rise until so much of Melanie's life begins to feel precarious. Melanie's attempts to impress her old friend could end up destroying the life she has worked so hard to create. Told from multiple perspectives in witty and often conversational prose, the story starts jauntily enough but becomes increasingly ominous. The author builds suspense by exposing the holes in ostensibly strong character relationships, creating an addictive page-turner as readers wait for the other shoe to drop over and again. Although many plot points could be deemed predictable, there are en o ugh surprises to keep readers aggressively engaged. Full of details about life in the suburbs of London, the story is full of emotional insights about parenting, marriage, and personal legacies. A smart, suspenseful tale about love, betrayal, and the illusion of happiness. Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
In their first year at a university in Birmingham, England, Melanie and Abigail become best friends. Then Mel got pregnant after a one-night stand, decided to keep the baby, refused to identify the father (who wanted her to abort), and finally dropped out. The two women lost contact when Abi moved to Los Angeles. Now, 17 years later, Mel is married to a good man, has three kids, and works part-time in retail. Childless Abi married a hot, bad-boy producer and became a TV star but is facing divorce after catching her husband in bed with a younger woman. When starstruck Mel gets an email from Abi saying her life is "bloody awful," Mel invites the glamorous celebrity to visit and "stay as long as you like" at her modest home outside Northampton. Thus begins an extended stay and a treacherous domestic drama grounded in envy, adulation, sexual passion, revenge, and manipulation. Narrated in chapters that alternate between the protagonists, Parks's 19th novel (after The Image of You) is a psychological thriller that is strong on complex relationships but weak in suspense. VERDICT The author deftly portrays her female characters, especially Mel, whose neediness is remarkable. Recommended for readers more interested in family interplay (think Anne Tyler) than in thrills and chills.âRon Terpening, formerly with Univ. of Arizona, Tucson (c) Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2018 November #3
In 1999, when Melanie Harrison, the heroine of this underwhelming psychological thriller from British author Parks (
Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly.Playing Away ), dropped out of university after becoming pregnant after a one-night stand, she lost touch with her best friend, Abigail Curtiz. Seventeen years later, Mel is living comfortably in Wolvney, England, with her doting husband, Ben, and their three kids. Out of nowhere, she receives an email from Abi, who explains that she's getting a divorce from her cheating husband and moving back to the U.K. from America. Mel invites Abi to stay in her home indefinitely, and Abi eagerly accepts. After spending years in suburbia, Mel can't help becoming infatuated with the glamorous Abi, who interviews celebrities for a living and loves sharing the details of her sex life. Soon, however, Mel gets the impression that Abi wants more than just a place to stay and time to reconnect. Parks generates some tension by switching among the perspectives of Mel, Abi, and Ben, but stock characters and predictable plot developments make this a lesser effort.Agent: Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown. (Feb.)
