Friend of The Family by Tasmina Perry #Book #Review @Bookish_Becky #FriendOfTheFamily

Friend of the Family by Tasmina Perry

Published by Headline Review

Publication date 9th August 2018 (kindle edition)

384 pages

Book Description:

She thinks your life is perfect. She thinks you don't deserve it.

Your job
Amy is more than happy to offer the daughter of an old friend work experience at her London magazine. Josie is young and ambitious. She just needs a foot in the door.

Your home
When Josie arrives, she swiftly makes herself indispensable at work and at home. And when childcare falls through before a long-awaited university reunion in Provence, it begins to look as if Josie may be staying longer than Amy had bargained for.

Your husband
In the heat of Provence, Josie's presence starts to unsettle Amy, especially around her husband. As cracks begin to appear in Amy's perfect life, she cannot shake the feeling that the family friend may not be a friend at all...

Don't miss this gripping, addictive read. It will make you think twice about who you invite into your home...

My Review: 

Keep your friends close but your enemies closer; this cliché could rarely be more apt than in this chilling new novel from Tasmina Perry.  

Amy moved away from Bristol when she earned a place at Oxford University, leaving her best friend Karen behind on the council estate where they grew up. Despite occasional letters and visits between the two girls, they eventually lose contact as their lives take different directions and Amy establishes a new group of friends and associates. Suddenly after many years of no contact, Amy gets an invitation from Karen to meet and catch up on the missing years.  Karen has a teenage daughter, Josie - clever, ambitious and looking to get off the council estate and move up in the world.  Before she knows what she is doing Amy has offered Josie the opportunity of work experience at the glossy fashion magazine where she is editor. And there begins the problem...

With a comfortably sized cast of fine-living characters we see just how far removed Amy's life has changed from her grass roots beginnings. With friends with second homes in Provence, her own nanny and regular social/business events at high class venues across the world Amy has an enviable lifestyle; one which Josie is keen to be a part of.  Then the opportunity comes up for Josie to go with the family and their university friends to Provence for a long overdue reunion - she can't believe her luck!  Amy has an unsettling distrust of Josie, something she can't quite pinpoint but feels strongly even before they set off for their holiday in the sun; this feeling only grows during their time away until things come to a head and Amy is forced to confront Josie with her suspicions. 

The author very cleverly uses time switch chapters throughout the book to back up the various theories as to what is going on and why, taking us back to events during the group's university days when Karen was an occasional visitor to their student digs which may or may not have a bearing on the current situation.  The clues are very subtly there yet it is so easy as a reader to jump to the most obvious conclusion. The quality of writing is excellent throughout the book with Amy's insecurities being targeted both in her professional and home lives to really unsettle her on all fronts and make for a gripping and very real feel. I felt myself taking more and more of a dislike to Josie as the story progressed and I was looking for further evidence of her finding ways to take Amy's place in every scene she was mentioned in, so I was quite blind sided by the final reveal of what the real story was all about.  That'll teach me to judge people by their circumstances!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking up Tasmina Perry's back list to add to my shelves - I can't believe I haven't read her work before now.  I have certainly been missing out on some great reads.

My thanks to Becky Hunter at Headline for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. 

About the Author

Tasmina Perry is the Sunday Times bestselling novelist of twelve novels including Daddy's Girls, one of the biggest selling debuts of 2006. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages and have sold over two million copies around the world.
A former lawyer and award-winning magazine journalist, she has edited several national titles including In Style and More. She also writes psychological thrillers under the pseudonym JL Butler. JL Butler's debut thriller Mine has been optioned by Sony Pictures and is in development with Original Film.
She lives in London with her husband, son and too many shoes.