What She Left - Hardcover

Richmond, T. R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 147677384X ISBN 13: 9781476773841

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2016

Synopsis

In this brilliantly modern novel of love, obsession, and revenge, a professor pieces together the life and mysterious death of a former student—and unearths a shocking revelation about her final days.

On a snowy February morning, the body of twenty-five-year-old journalist Alice Salmon washes up on a riverbank south of London. The sudden, shocking death of this beloved local girl becomes a media sensation, and those who knew her struggle to understand what happened to lively, smart, and savvy Alice Salmon. Was it suicide? A tragic accident? Or…murder?

Professor Jeremy Cooke, known around campus as Old Cookie, is an anthropologist nearing the end of his unremarkable academic career. Alice is his former student, and the object of his unhealthy obsession. After her death, he embarks on a final project—a book documenting Alice’s life through the digital and paper trails that survive her: her diaries, letters, Facebook posts, Tweets, and text messages. He collects news articles by and about her; he transcribes old voicemails; he interviews her friends, family, and boyfriends.

Bit by bit, the real Alice—a complicated and vulnerable young woman—springs fully formed from the pages of Cookie’s book…along with a labyrinth of misunderstandings, lies, and secrets that cast suspicion on everyone in her circle—including Jeremy himself.

About this title

Review

"An extraordinary and bold creation." --"The Guardian" (UK) "Best Recent Crime Novels"

"Strikingly modern." --"The Sunday Times" (UK)

"Absorbing, intricate and extremely original . . . immensely clever and intriguing. It kept making me recall how I'd felt watching "Twin Peaks." The kind of immediate shock and grief I felt for Laura Palmer was what I felt for Alice. The process of piecing together the heroine's life is so absorbing. I mourned her more and more powerfully as the story went on. ." . ." The multiple voices and different types of texts give the narrative an unusual liveliness that is very emotionally involving. I hope that it garners all of the commercial and critical success it deserves." --Claire Kendal, author of "The Book of You"

"Every month brings another book billed the new "Gone Girl," but we think we've found a winner."--"Marie Claire" (UK)

"Intriguing and successful . . . a crime thriller from a different angle, Richmond's accomplished debut encourages the reader to become the sleuth . . . Genuinely chilling."--Maxim Jakubowski

"A classic whodunnit, given a modern twist." --"Huffington Post"

"An exceptional book . . . a forensic jigsaw, an ingenious puzzle . . . and a most promising debut.""--Shots"

An extraordinary and bold creation. "The Guardian" (UK) Best Recent Crime Novels "

Strikingly modern. "The Sunday Times" (UK)"

Beautifully written and incredibly suspenseful. Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen on HBO s "Game of Thrones")"

From the Back Cover

Alice Salmon
young, smart, ambitious
- with her whole life ahead of her.
Until the night she mysteriously drowns.

Nobody knows how or why.

But Alice left a few clues:
her diary, texts, emails, and presence on social media

Alice is gone but fragments of the life she led remain - and in them might lie the answer to what really happened to her - if only someone can piece it all together before it vanishes for ever . . .

'A deliciously modern psychological thriller . . . very well-written and intelligently realised' Daily Telegraph

'Absorbing, intricate and extremely original' Claire Kendal, author of The Book of You

'Richmond keeps you guessing until the final pages in this compelling debut' Glamour

'Beautifully written and incredibly suspenseful' Emilia Clarke

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 147677384X
• ISBN 13: 9781476773841
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 324