Joelle Egan
Lisa Jewell has been on a bit of a roll lately with her compulsively readable thrillers, and her latest release, Invisible Girl, will undoubtedly appeal to her growing fan base. The action in this novel swirls around one pivotal Valentine’s evening in which a young woman disappears. Told from three different viewpoints, the reader is given perspectives from those connected to the events. Cate, matriarch of a family who is temporarily housed in the neighborhood, emerges as a central figure. It is through her thoughts that details are processed and theories begin to coalesce. She is unsure why her husband and son seem so closely tied to what is occurring in the neighborhood—and she even though she dreads what she might discover, she is compelled to investigate. A second voice is that of a young professor recently suspended for misconduct, and now accused of being responsible for the missing girl and other sexual assaults in the area. Bitter and resentful about his treatment by women and with a hazy recollection of his actions, he is a likely suspect. Owen’s awkwardness and alienation serve to bolster the case against him, and his imprudent actions only draw him deeper into suspicion. Saffyre is a first-person narrator, the missing teen whose recollections round out the story by providing background information and important clues about the converging connections between the characters in the novel. The author does a good job with pacing and the painstaking release of details, maintaining a consistent and steady build in tension. She does a particularly good job with the character of Owen, a man that manages to be both pitiful and pitiable. Jewell’s book addresses themes of accusation and assumption, of deceptive appearances and evil hiding in plain sight. Her female characters carry scars both literal and figurative from toxic interactions with men, whether intentional or not. Invisible Girl is a quick and engrossing read, a nice example of an author still hitting her stride. Thanks to the author, Atria (Simon & Schuster) and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
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