We hope you’re enjoying our Capsule Book Club recommendations! This month we’re very excited to introduce you to No One Will Know, = the second novel from Kiwi Rose Carlyle (her first book The Girl in the Mirror is an international best seller!) and, of course, is available at The Warehouse now! (And click through for our previous instalments!)
CAPSULE X THE WAREHOUSE
When it comes to good books, for me, I absolutely cannot go past a thriller/mystery. Whether I’m in bed with a book, tucked under the covers the rain pours and the wind howls, or I’m soaking up the sun on a lounger somewhere (my much-preferred option of the two) – a real page-turner thriller is my happy place.
I’ve read a lot of them in my time (maybe too many, judging by how often my husband raises his eyebrows at how quickly I can hear a strange sound and jump to the conclusion that we’re about to be murdered) and I believe a good judge of how good a thriller is, is how quickly I get through it. I read No One Will Know in one day – I couldn’t put it down.
No One Will Know is the latest novel by Aucklander Rose Carlyle. You may have heard her name before, because her first book, The Girl In the Mirror shot straight to number one here in NZ, then internationally, then was quickly snapped up by Hollywood to make a feature film.
Her writing is fast-paced with so many twists and turns – at times reminds me a little of Catherine Steadman’s work (the author of Something in the Water – one of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club Picks and one heck of a page turner!) or Frieda McFadden (the author of The Housemaid trilogy).
What makes Rose’s books so special is her background as a lawyer (she has first class honours degrees in both law and creative writing) – a real edge when you’re writing anything thriller/crime based! Plus, her writing shows an in-depth knowledge and experience of the sea and living on yachts (boats play pivotal roles in No One Will Know). Rose has crewed on scientific yachting expeditions to subantarctic islands – plus she sailed her own yacht from Thailand to South Africa.
For Rose, sailing proved to be something of a healing salve during the darkest time of her life. In 2004 she had her third child, a daughter, who was born three months early at 27 weeks. She weighed just 900 grams and spent 13 anxiety-ridden weeks in hospital. Tragically, during that time, Rose’s younger brother David was killed in a plane crash in Sudan while delivering humanitarian aid. Rose had three kids under four (including one in intensive care) and was overwhelmed with grief and anxiety – so she quit her job and she and her then-husband made a plan to set sail.
After years abroad, Rose took a creative writing masters course in 2017. Then, in a house full of teenagers (a whopping four of them!) and a collapsing roof, she got up early every morning and wrote The Girl in The Mirror before heading to work. The buzz around the book was intense – her publisher Allen & Unwin say they haven’t seen an international reaction quite like it in quite some time.
Her second novel certainly doesn’t disappoint. I’m loathe to tell you too much about it, because I didn’t even read the synopsis of it when I picked it up and I think that made it even better – having absolutely no idea what I was in for and what was coming next. So, if you’d like that experience, please don’t read any futher, just hit this link to buy a copy from The Warehouse (and support a fellow Kiwi, hurrah!).
If you need a little more convincing or are the kind of person who needs to know a bit about what’s coming next, here goes!
The story follows Eve Sylvester, a young woman who grew up in foster care and has now moved around so much over the years that she no longer really has a home, or friends and family. Eve is quite different to the protagonist in The Girl in the Mirror – she doesn’t have quite the same set of skills, she’s less worldly and a lot more gullible and mailable.
But, when she agrees to help a young man sail his yacht back to Australia from Mexico, her luck begins to change as the pair fall in love and begin talking about marriage. Unfortunately, it’s not the happy ending Eve dreamed of, and the pair are involved in a car crash that claims the life of her boyfriend. His story isn’t over though, because in hospital she learns she is pregnant. But now, she is pregnant, alone and broke.
It’s then, that she’s offered a break by a mysterious stranger. They put her in touch with a very wealthy and glamourous, but very private couple who live on a remote Tasmanian island. They make her a very lucrative offer to come live on their slice of paradise – but… there’s a catch.
Things move an absolute mile a minute in this book and it’s thoroughly engrossing. If you’re looking for something to get into for a long weekend, or to put away for a summer beach read, you can’t go wrong with No One Will Know!