Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allan | Book Review

Published by Avon

Available in ebook and paperback : 28 June 2018

352 pages

Source: ARC from publisher for review

Having seen this book mentioned on social media some time ago, it went straight on the wishlist. You can imagine therefore how delighted I was to receive an invite to take part in the blog tour and also to receive a review copy from Avon  – how pretty is this #bookpost received from the publisher.

|   About the Book   |

Her name was Rose. You watched her die. And her death has created a vacancy.

When Emily lets a stranger step out in front of her, she never imagines that split second will change her life. But after Emily watches a car plough into the young mother – killing her instantly – she finds herself unable to move on.

And then she makes a decision she can never take back.

Because Rose had everything Emily had ever dreamed of. A beautiful, loving family, a great job and a stunning home. And now Rose’s husband misses his wife, and their son needs a mother. Why couldn’t Emily fill that space?

But as Emily is about to discover, no one’s life is perfect … and not everything is as it seems.

|   My Thoughts   |

“It should have been me. I should have been the one who was tossed in the air by the impact of a car that didn’t stop. ‘Like a ragdoll’, the papers said”.

This is the opening paragraph of Her Name Was Rose.  Claire Allan is an established writer of women’s fiction but this is her debut thriller and what a corker it is.

When Emily D’Arcy witnesses a fatal accident in front of her, she is convinced that that she was the intended victim, for reasons which later become clear.  Emily is not in a good place emotionally. Bruised and damaged by a previous relationship and working in a call centre for a not so nice boss, pills and alcohol are her only friends.

Following the accident, Emily feels compelled to find out more about Rose and begins stalking Rose’s Facebook page. Of course there are the inevitable tributes from friends and family, and the most moving in particular are from her devoted husband Cian.  Emily looks through the happy family photos and posts from Rose before her death and sees a perfect family life.  Something she would like to have.

Interspersed throughout the book are diary chapters from Rose herself starting from when she first met Cian.  Rose’s Facebook posts were upbeat and were obviously made by someone with a joy for life and love for her famous author husband and young son. Or were they.

I found Rose’s interactions one of the most revealing and interesting aspects.  Rather than just being a memory and a name on a page, these narratives bring Rose to life.  They serve as a reminder that we can make our lives appear anyway we want to on social media.

Emily’s infatuation with Rose and her life went beyond Facebook and at times she frustrated me by making what I considered to be unwise decisions.   Emily came across as a rather lonely and naive character, taking advantage of situations as they arose, rather than calculated manipulation. She was unhappy and lonely and thought that Rose’s perfect life could also be hers.

Even though at one point it became clear which way the story was heading, I was still thoroughly engrossed and wanted to know how it would end and whether Emily would get her perfect life.  From being a slow burner whilst backstories and characters were introduced the story suddenly picked up a pace and one or two of the unexpected surprises and twists in the latter part of the book truly were ‘I never saw that coming’ moments.

I really enjoyed this one.  An excellent debut psychological thriller from an accomplished and very talented writer.  Hope there’s another thriller from Claire Allan to come.

My thanks to Sabah of Avon for the review copy and the for the invitation to take part in the tour.

At the time of this post, Her Name Was Rose can be downloaded from Amazon UK for just 99p. An absolute steal!

|   Author Bio   |

Claire Allan is an Irish author who has previously written women’s fiction. A former journalist, this is her first psychological thriller.

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