This book was chosen for me by one of my book clubs and was likened to The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. Ron Howard has apparently bought the film rights. I approached it with some trepidation as I enjoyed both of those books at the time but then thought they were pretty trashy after the event. Those sorts of books are always a bit dissatisfying for me.
I have taken some time between reading the book and writing this review in the hope it would give me a bit of perspective.
The narrative flips between two women, Emma and Jane, who find themselves living in an architectural marvel of a home in London. The home is available at drastically reduced rent and is affordable to the women despite their straightened financial circumstances because they have been personally approved by the eccentric architect, Edward Monkton.
As well as being personally approved to live in the extraordinary home, both women have to agree to an extraordinary lease which covers the way in which they must live in the home down to minute detail.
Jane begins to feel there is something sinister about the home and Monkton starts to investigate what happened to Emma who is, at least in part, the eponymous “girl before”.
Like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, The Girl Before is highly implausible if gripping and readable. However, I think the concept of an architect attempting to design a perfect life for the occupiers of his home was interesting. It was this aspect of the story that lifted it for me above the banal. There is also a timely reference, if not a detailed analysis, of the complexities of sexual assault complaints.
Overall I enjoyed the book enough that I plan on seeing the movie which is more than I can say for either Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train.
