The Girl Before

A Novel

By: J. P. Delaney

Narrated by: Emilia Fox, Finty Williams, Lise Aagaard Knudsen

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

THE GLOBAL BESTSELLER • Soon to be a BBC One and HBO Max limited four-part series, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Morning Show; Misbehaviour) and multiple Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Emmy-nominated actor David Oyelowo (Selma; Les Misérables)

“A pitch-perfect novel of psychological suspense” (Lee Child) 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, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

EMMA
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.

JANE
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.

Praise for The Girl Before

“Dazzling, startling, and above all cunning—a pitch-perfect novel of psychological suspense.”—Lee Child

“The Girl Before generates a fast pace. . . . [J. P.] Delaney intersperses ethics questions on stand-alone pages throughout the book. . . . The single most ingenious touch is that we’re not provided either woman’s answers.”—The New York Times

“J. P. Delaney builds the suspense.”—Vanity Fair

“Immediate guarantee: You will not be able to put this book down. . . . Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will realize that there’s not only more where that came from, but it’s also more thrilling.”—American Booksellers Association

©2017 J. P. Delaney (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"JP Delaney's intricate psychological thriller immediately entangles us, and the gifted narrators keep us spellbound.... Finty Williams is vital and convincing delineating Emma's unreliable persona, and Emilia Fox offers a sympathetic, intelligent Jane as she uncovers what really happened to The Girl Before. Absolutely riveting." (AudioFile)

"Riveting.... Writing with precision and grace, Delaney strips away the characters' secrets until the raw truth of each is revealed." (Publishers Weekly)

"A masterfully crafted spellbinder...guaranteed to astonish." (Booklist)

Great Story

After the first couple of chapters I thought this was really going to have a stupid ending. But that was just building the story. As the story progresses you get pulled in. Every time you think you know who did it, another piece of evidence pops up so you think it is someone else. I was completely surprised at the end. If you like suspense, this is a great book.

Bizarre, and erratic

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not really. I looked forward to it coming out, but was disappointed. It was all over the place, and didn't really wow me. I was more just wondering why everyone in the book was totally nuts!

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was just OK.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrators were great, no complaints there. Just the story was so strange and unbelievable.

Was The Girl Before worth the listening time?

I wish I hadn't wasted a credit :-(

Any additional comments?

If you're looking for a clever twist, this is not it. I think the author TRIED to make it clever in a couple of places, but just made the characters look more and more psychotic. I can handle ONE character being mentally insane, but all of them? Too much.

Okay

story does not hold you. I felt the book to be fine to listen to while working. doesn't require any brain power.

Great book

Definitely a great who done it mystery. I was trying to figure out who it was until almost the end. Solid research and writing. Good story and narration.

Wow!

So many twists and turns--could not stop listening to this book! Narrators were great. Highly recommend this book!

Tries too hard

The book is entertaining and easy enough to read but nowhere near as suspenseful or engaging as the books it's being compared to. The author seems talented but trying too hard to be on-trend amd make characters seem sinister. As with many other books with similar titles and overly dramatic covers, the women make dumb mistakes, lack common sense, and are basically too emotionally wrought to be trustworthy. I wish today's writers would use plot devices other than the unreliable narrator to make their characters and stories more complex.

It kept me interested enough..

But, looking back over it now that I am done, the story line was a little strange.

Meh....

Just meh...I kept waiting for something different to happen, I guess. The whole premise is strange and hard to buy into. The narration was excellent, though, and I will definitely look for books narrated by the lead character (Jane) in the future. I always have to listen at 1.25 or 1.5 speed but with this book it was read perfectly at normal speed.
All in all I'd say there are MUCH better books out there for you to download. If you do want to check it out then wait for your monthly credit.

Enjoyable

Good book, but kind of figured it out early on. Buy it with credits or get it at the library.

A Masterpiece

This novel is superb from the first word to the last. No one is who they appear to be and nothing is what it seems. Suspense from the first page to the last. An intense plot which is claustrophobic in its obsession to tell the story of number 1 Folger Street, which will soon become a fictional landmark like Satis House or Manderlay, and I don't say that lightly, both Dickens and du Maurier are two of my most respected authors. Some will love it and others may find it too single minded, but whatever they say, a star is born.
I'm glad I chose to listen to the audio versión, which was fabulously read. My only complaint is the title, 'One Folger Street' would have been perfect :)