In Her Shadow by Louise Douglas

“In Her Shadow” is the fifth book by Louise Douglas.

Hannah Brown has spent her whole adult life trying to pretend that Ellen Brecht never existed. That Ellen Brecht never died in an horrible accident and more importantly Hannah wasn’t to blame.

But then one day, Hannah see Ellen Brecht and the fragile truth that Hannah used to protect herself slowly begins to crumble around her.

“In Her Shadow” is a deeply dark psychological read, that I gulped up in one day. I couldn’t put it down, with an eerie and intense feeling throughout, this book was compelling.

From the offset, I immediately had an dislike for our lead character, Hannah. I found her needy and clingy at times, as she crappled about in Ellen’s shadow, constantly looking for reassurance or wanting to impress the new girl, who was equally annoying with her mind games and volatile relationship with her father. But then as the story progresses I found that I began to warm to Hannah, as she struggled to overcome a mental illness, years of keeping an torturous secret and then suddenly seeing the girl that she thought had died many years ago.

The flashbacks between the past and the present make for interesting reading with charismatic characters such as Jago, the young boy that attracted the teenage girls and John, who now works with Hannah. Whilst the dialogue between Ellen and young Hannah are entertaining reading as they both gapple for Jago’s attention.

“In Her Shadow” is a riveting read about obsession and betrayal, with a creepy presence throughout, Louise Douglas is definitely an author I shall be looking into.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”B007T8RAI6″ target=”_blank” ]In Her Shadow on Amazon [/amazon_link] and other good bookshops.