THE GIRL BEFORE

In the tradition of The Girl on the Train, The Silent Wife, and Gone Girl comes an enthralling psychological thriller that spins one woman’s seemingly good fortune, and another woman’s mysterious fate, through a kaleidoscope of duplicity, death, and deception. Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life. The request seems odd, and the questions on the renter’s application intrusive, but Jane Cavendish is looking for a new beginning after a devastating personal tragedy. One Folgate Street is beautiful—a sleek, minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. It’s also a technological marvel, wired to learn an occupant’s routine and anticipate his or her needs. The home’s owner and architect, Edward Monkford, approves prospective renters in person—if he agrees to see them at all. From the moment Jane meets Edward she’s drawn to him. Edward is confident, sexy, restrained, direct—a perfectionist with impeccable manners and expensive tastes. The interview feels charged, or is it just Jane’s imagination? Regardless, she must have done something right. Her application is accepted, and shortly after her move, Edward makes his. He and Jane become lovers. She feels herself letting go as the architect takes control. By design. There are rules, some of which Jane starts to break. Jane soon learns about the previous tenant at One Folgate Street: Emma Matthews, who died under suspicious circumstances. Despite Edward’s protests, and for secret motives of her own, Jane starts digging into Emma’s damaged past, trying to untangle truth from lies and piece together the puzzle of Emma’s life—all the while following the same patterns, making the same choices, crossing paths with the same people, and experiencing the same terror, as the girl before.