The Girl Before

by Rena Olsen

3 of 5 stars 1 rating • 1 review • 7 shelved
Book cover for The Girl Before

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In this powerful psychological suspense debut, when a woman’s life is shattered, she is faced with a devastating question: What if everything she thought was normal and good and true...wasn’t?

Clara Lawson is torn from her life in an instant. Without warning, her home is invaded by armed men, and she finds herself separated from her beloved husband and daughters. The last thing her husband yells to her is to say nothing.

In chapters that alternate between past and present, the novel slowly unpeels the layers of Clara’s fractured life. We see her growing up, raised with her sisters by the stern Mama and Papa G, becoming a poised and educated young woman, falling desperately in love with the forbidden son of her adoptive parents. We see her now, sequestered in an institution, questioned by men and women who call her a different name—Diana—and who accuse her husband of unspeakable crimes. As recollections of her past collide with new revelations, Clara must question everything she thought she knew, to come to terms with the truth of her history and to summon the strength to navigate her future.
  • ISBN10 0606388559
  • ISBN13 9780606388559
  • Publish Date 9 August 2016
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 6 April 2021
  • Imprint Turtleback Books
  • Edition Library ed.
  • Format Hardcover (Library Binding)
  • Pages 320
  • Language English