Happy Book Birthday to I Found You by Lisa Jewell! A thrilling mystery that leads you to cling to every page as you seek out the identity of the mystery man on the beach.
Title: I Found You
Format: Paperback ARC
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Atria Books
Publishing Date: April 25, 2017
Rating:★★★★
Synopsis from publisher's website:
A young bride, a lonely single mother, and an amnesiac man of dubious origin lie at the heart of New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell’s next suspenseful drama that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and Paula Hawkins.
In a windswept British seaside town, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.
Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.
Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. Their annual trip to the quaint seaside town is passing by uneventfully, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just that he’s playing the role of protective older brother.
Two decades of secrets, a missing husband, and a man with no memory are at the heart of this brilliant new novel, filled with the “beautiful writing, believable characters, pacey narrative, and dark secrets” (London Daily Mail) that make Lisa Jewell so beloved by audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
Review:
I Found You is the second book that I have read by Lisa Jewell. Last year, I reviewed The Girls in the Garden. Similar to her previous book, Lisa Jewell, puts an emphasis on her characters and relies on their ability to drive the story. Alice, a single mom, with three children from three different partners lives in a remote town by the sea. Her daily routine is interrupted when she comes across a stranger sitting by the water. The man appears to have forgotten who he is and what it is that has brought him to this quaint town. Alice befriends the man and attempts to help him through his amnesia, potentially putting her and he children at risk. As the two dig deeper into the man's life, they slowly unravel a secret that has been buried for almost 22 years.
I was a bit hesitant to read I Found You because I had a hard time relating to her previous work. I am glad I put my skepticism aside. I read this book cover to cover on a while on a three hour flight. Despite my flight leaving at 6am, I could not put it down! The characters were well developed and easy to relate to. Lisa Jewell takes you on a journey through two different timelines which eventually meet and unfurl the mystery that surrounds the stranger on the beach.
Fans of mystery/thriller novels will surely enjoy the twists and turns that Lisa Jewell has laid out for her readers. I Found You is a book you'll definitely want to add to your Spring reading list! I'd love to hear from any other readers who have read any of Lisa Jewell's previous novels. Are there any other that you'd recommend? Let me know in the comments!
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of I Found You by Lisa Jewell from Simon & Schuster for an honest review. All opinions are my own.