"A thriller for fans of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl...[with] a striking, original voice all Berry’s own.” —The New York Times Book Review
Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel
Named one of the "10 Best Mystery Books and Thrillers of the Year" by The Washington Post
Named one of the best books of the year by The Atlantic
The award-winning psychological thriller about a young woman who finds her sister brutally murdered, and the shocking incident in their past that may hold the key to finding the killer, from the author of A Double Life and the forthcoming Northern Spy
When Nora takes the train from London to visit her sister in the countryside, she expects to find her waiting at the station, or at home cooking dinner. But when she walks into Rachel’s familiar house, what she finds is entirely different: her sister has been the victim of a brutal murder.
Stunned and adrift, Nora finds she can’t return to her former life. An unsolved assault in the past has shaken her faith in the police, and she can’t trust them to find her sister’s killer. Haunted by the murder and the secrets that surround it, Nora is under the harrow: distressed and in danger. As Nora’s fear turns to obsession, she becomes as unrecognizable as the sister her investigation uncovers.
A riveting psychological thriller and a haunting exploration of the fierce love between two sisters, the distortions of grief, and the terrifying power of the past, Under the Harrow marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.
this was one of the rare psychological thrillers where I didn’t guess the twist at all. as with pretty much every other thriller, I feel this is best entered without much prior knowledge. just know that it is about sisters and the secrets they can keep from each other that often feel like betrayals. the narrator is super unreliable which I always think is great fun, especially in a thriller. the book barely passes 200 pages, so it’s a very quick read but doesn’t feel like it’s lacking—this is a well-rounded, well-fleshed story. it gets a bit disturbing at times, there’s some dark stuff in here what with the murder and the sisters’ secrets, but I didn’t find it over-the-top or overwhelming. thrillers are breezy escapist reads for me, and this is one I’d recommend for those looking for the same.
