The Stranger She Knew: the most shocking and twisty mystery thriller for 2020, shortlisted for the Paul Torday Prize - Softcover

Stopps, Rosalind

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000830260X ISBN 13: 9780008302603

Publisher: HQ, 2020

Synopsis

‘Cutting between past and present, Stopps has written a tense page-turning thriller that is also a powerful study of old age and disability’ The Times

‘I devoured Hello, My Name is May...May is a brilliant character. Spiky and very funny, and the setting of the care home is superbly realised...a masterful feat of storytelling’ Tim Pears, author of The West Country trilogy

* * * * * *

They wrote it on the wall above my bed. Hello, it said, my name is May. Please talk to me.

May has been moved to a care home after her stroke. She can’t communicate, all her words are kept inside. If she tries to point, her arms swing in wild directions, if she tries to talk, strange noises come out of her mouth.

May is sharp, quick, and funny, but only her daughter Jenny sees this, and Jackie, a new friend at the home who cares enough to look and listen closely.

When May discovers that someone very familiar, from long ago, is living in the room opposite hers she is haunted by scenes from her earlier life, when she was a prisoner of her husband’s unpredictable rages. Bill, the man in the opposite room seems so much like her husband, though almost a lifetime has passed, and May’s eyesight isn’t what it was.

As Bill charms his way through the nursing home, he focuses his romantic attention on Jackie, while all May can do is watch. She is determined to protect Jackie and keep herself safe, but what can she do in her vulnerable, silent state?

* * * * *

Readers highly recommend Hello, My Name is May:

‘A masterpiece of tension . . . An expert exploration of ageing, and mental health, and what happens to our faculties as we get older . . . Highly recommended’

‘A lovely book and one I found hard to put down . . . a recommended read’

‘I dived in without knowing much about the story and I ended up loving it. It was one the best reads’

‘I wasn't able to put it down once I started it and I certainly wasn't expecting the ending. I shall be recommending this book’

About this title

Review

‘Cutting between past and present, Stopps has written a tense page-turning thriller that is also a powerful study of old age and disability’
The Times

‘I devoured Hello, My Name is May. May is a brilliant character. Spiky, unlikeable, very funny, and the setting of the care home is superbly realised...To weave all of these threads together is a masterful feat of storytelling. The voice of May carries the book, with her acid asides, unspoken putdowns and comical observations, her regrets and frustrations, her repression and spite and love, all mixed up. She is quite wonderful’
Tim Pears, author of The West Country trilogy

About the Author

Rosalind Stopps has always wanted to tell the stories of the less heard.  For many years she worked with children with disabilities and their families.   
She has five grown up children, three grandchildren and an MA in creative writing from Lancaster University. Rosalind’s short stories have been published in five anthologies and read at live literature events in London, Leeds, Hong Kong and New York. She lives in South East London with large numbers of humans and dogs.
When she is not writing fiction she is, mostly, reading it or working as a host at London’s South Bank Arts Centre. Hello, My Name is May is her debut novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: HQ
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 000830260X
• ISBN 13: 9780008302603
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384