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The Stranger
Charlotte is heading to a tiger sanctuary to do some voluntary work as part of her travels. But a fellow traveller working at the sanctuary starts to make her feel uncomfortable and she decides to ask Otto to visit her, pretending to be her boyfriend. When things start going wrong at the sanctuary, Charlotte fears a vendetta against her could be to blame. As tigers come under attack from poachers, the local authorities threaten to replace the sanctuary's management. Mark the journalist reappears, ostensibly covering the poaching crisis, but also delving into the background of the traveller who is making Charlotte's life a misery. But by now Otto and Charlotte's 'fake' relationship seems to be developing into something a little more serious… and how will Mark, and Otto's ex, Jen, feel about that?
- GenresYoung Adult
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2011
About the author
Sarah Singleton
36 books74 followersSarah Singleton was born in Thornbury in 1966. She was educated at the University of Nottingham and has travelled in Europe, India and Nepal. She has two daughters, Fuchsia and Poppy.
She worked as a reporter for local weekly newspapers, including the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald, before becoming a writer and freelance journalist in 2007. A novella, In The Mirror (Enigmatic Novellas #4), was reprinted by Cosmos Books in 2001. Her first novel (for adults), The Crow Maiden, was published by Cosmos in 2000 and was short-listed for the IAFA Crawford Award. She has had short stories published in various magazines and anthologies, including Black Static, QWF magazine, Enigmatic Tales and Interzone.
She worked as a reporter for local weekly newspapers, including the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald, before becoming a writer and freelance journalist in 2007. A novella, In The Mirror (Enigmatic Novellas #4), was reprinted by Cosmos Books in 2001. Her first novel (for adults), The Crow Maiden, was published by Cosmos in 2000 and was short-listed for the IAFA Crawford Award. She has had short stories published in various magazines and anthologies, including Black Static, QWF magazine, Enigmatic Tales and Interzone.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 13, 2025
Enjoyed reading it. Good suspense, interesting enough. Ending could have been better, but a nice read.
June 19, 2011
The Stranger’ is the sequel to Sarah Singleton’s fantastic novel ‘The Island’, featuring teenagers Otto, Charlotte and Jen. I read the latter last year and really enjoyed it. Not only was it a fast-paced and exciting read but it also introduced me to a brand new award-winning British author who I’ve been looking forward to reading more of. Therefore, when I saw this book in my local library I grabbed it straight away.
The story begins with Otto, Charlotte and Jen still in India, but having gone their separate ways at the end of the first book, they’re now scattered across the country. When Charlotte is involved in a train crash on her way back to her work placement at a Tiger sanctuary, a series of events are set in motion that draw the three friends back together. Charlotte is shadowed by the mysterious Jack, who was also involved in the crash and now seems to think that they share a special bond. Otto is dealing with his new feelings about his best friend and Jen is still trying to find her place in the world, whilst immersing herself in her spiritual bond with India.
One of the things I particularly like about Singleton’s writing style is how fresh and modern it is and how realistic the plot lines of her stories are, drawing on events that really happen. ‘The Stranger’ incorporates issues such as animal poaching and animal protection, stalking and obsession, as well as wider themes such as environmentalism and preservation of the planet. There are some wonderfully vivid descriptions of India and this helped me to imagine more clearly the characters' surroundings and lives.
The viewpoints of the three main characters are told in alternating chapters, although the main focus is on Charlotte. She was actually my favourite character from the first book too so I liked getting to hear more about her and seeing events through her eyes and from her standpoint. She has lots of appealing qualities and she’s the most grounded of the three friends, in terms of the fact that she knows what she wants to do and she’s steadfast, loyal and courageous. I struggled slightly with the chapters about Jen as she’s much more complex and very involved in the spiritual side of life. I did find that I was skipping through these quite quickly to try and get back to Charlotte and Otto. Also, although she does end up having a significant role to play in resolving the plot, at times I found her quite superfluous to the action. I was pleased that the relationship between Otto and Charlotte was developed further (I was waiting for some romance between the two of them!) and this added an additional angle to the story.
Whilst I was reading ‘The Stranger’ I was continually trying to guess what was going to happen next and I was on tenterhooks, wondering what was really going on with the sinister Jack. He was pretty creepy and quite scary at times and he worked well as a continual menacing presence in the background throughout. If you like your books full of mystery and intrigue with an exciting storyline but also serious things to say about the world then this is the book for you. I'm looking forward to reading more by Sarah Singleton in the future.
The story begins with Otto, Charlotte and Jen still in India, but having gone their separate ways at the end of the first book, they’re now scattered across the country. When Charlotte is involved in a train crash on her way back to her work placement at a Tiger sanctuary, a series of events are set in motion that draw the three friends back together. Charlotte is shadowed by the mysterious Jack, who was also involved in the crash and now seems to think that they share a special bond. Otto is dealing with his new feelings about his best friend and Jen is still trying to find her place in the world, whilst immersing herself in her spiritual bond with India.
One of the things I particularly like about Singleton’s writing style is how fresh and modern it is and how realistic the plot lines of her stories are, drawing on events that really happen. ‘The Stranger’ incorporates issues such as animal poaching and animal protection, stalking and obsession, as well as wider themes such as environmentalism and preservation of the planet. There are some wonderfully vivid descriptions of India and this helped me to imagine more clearly the characters' surroundings and lives.
The viewpoints of the three main characters are told in alternating chapters, although the main focus is on Charlotte. She was actually my favourite character from the first book too so I liked getting to hear more about her and seeing events through her eyes and from her standpoint. She has lots of appealing qualities and she’s the most grounded of the three friends, in terms of the fact that she knows what she wants to do and she’s steadfast, loyal and courageous. I struggled slightly with the chapters about Jen as she’s much more complex and very involved in the spiritual side of life. I did find that I was skipping through these quite quickly to try and get back to Charlotte and Otto. Also, although she does end up having a significant role to play in resolving the plot, at times I found her quite superfluous to the action. I was pleased that the relationship between Otto and Charlotte was developed further (I was waiting for some romance between the two of them!) and this added an additional angle to the story.
Whilst I was reading ‘The Stranger’ I was continually trying to guess what was going to happen next and I was on tenterhooks, wondering what was really going on with the sinister Jack. He was pretty creepy and quite scary at times and he worked well as a continual menacing presence in the background throughout. If you like your books full of mystery and intrigue with an exciting storyline but also serious things to say about the world then this is the book for you. I'm looking forward to reading more by Sarah Singleton in the future.
April 8, 2011
The Stranger is a follow on novel from The Island. It is an exotic and captivating thriller.
Charlotte has been working at the Golden Tiger Reserve since she left the coastal resort of Goa. In the hot Indian outback she is learning much about the problems faced by the local people and the difficulties of protecting the tigers over such a vast area. Charlotte is travelling back to the sanctuary after completing an errand when the train she is on derails. It is a terrifying experience for Charlotte but ever the practical girl; she immediately sets about helping other injured people out of the carriages. There is another European boy – Jack - who she meets on the journey and he is enraptured by the carnage and reality of staring death in the face. Jack is an unnerving and obsessive character and his introduction sets the plot in motion.
I really enjoyed reading Charlotte’s chapters in The Stranger. She is, in my mind, the cement that holds the novel together. Again there are chapters from her two friends Jen and Otto. I liked Otto’s story so much more in this book although I still found Jen a little too strange.
Otto is less of a voyeur in The Stranger. He is much more a man of action. I wasn’t wholly confident in his change of behaviour. I didn’t know if he was going to revert back to his self-centred, lustful ways that dominated his thoughts in The Island. I was cheering on his transformation though which demonstrates Singleton’s power to get the reader involved in the story.
Jen on the other hand was too vague for me. She is a very spiritual character who has visitations from spirits. To be honest, as a rather secular person, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief and thought she was full of a lot of annoying nonsense. That said, she does have a pivotal role in the plot and she certainly didn’t stop me enjoying the story.
The setting is also at the heart of this thriller. Charlotte is being hunted and so are the tigers. Singleton writes such evocative, sensual descriptions of the reserve that it is impossible not to fall in love with it. There is a definite refreshingly different quality about this novel. It is so far removed from other Young Adult fiction.
The Stranger is a thrilling read. At times it deals with sinister themes and the darkest of desires. At other times it explores the nature of friendship and love. The two threads weave together wonderfully to make this a great and unusual read.
Charlotte has been working at the Golden Tiger Reserve since she left the coastal resort of Goa. In the hot Indian outback she is learning much about the problems faced by the local people and the difficulties of protecting the tigers over such a vast area. Charlotte is travelling back to the sanctuary after completing an errand when the train she is on derails. It is a terrifying experience for Charlotte but ever the practical girl; she immediately sets about helping other injured people out of the carriages. There is another European boy – Jack - who she meets on the journey and he is enraptured by the carnage and reality of staring death in the face. Jack is an unnerving and obsessive character and his introduction sets the plot in motion.
I really enjoyed reading Charlotte’s chapters in The Stranger. She is, in my mind, the cement that holds the novel together. Again there are chapters from her two friends Jen and Otto. I liked Otto’s story so much more in this book although I still found Jen a little too strange.
Otto is less of a voyeur in The Stranger. He is much more a man of action. I wasn’t wholly confident in his change of behaviour. I didn’t know if he was going to revert back to his self-centred, lustful ways that dominated his thoughts in The Island. I was cheering on his transformation though which demonstrates Singleton’s power to get the reader involved in the story.
Jen on the other hand was too vague for me. She is a very spiritual character who has visitations from spirits. To be honest, as a rather secular person, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief and thought she was full of a lot of annoying nonsense. That said, she does have a pivotal role in the plot and she certainly didn’t stop me enjoying the story.
The setting is also at the heart of this thriller. Charlotte is being hunted and so are the tigers. Singleton writes such evocative, sensual descriptions of the reserve that it is impossible not to fall in love with it. There is a definite refreshingly different quality about this novel. It is so far removed from other Young Adult fiction.
The Stranger is a thrilling read. At times it deals with sinister themes and the darkest of desires. At other times it explores the nature of friendship and love. The two threads weave together wonderfully to make this a great and unusual read.
September 22, 2012
In the past few months, I've found that I simply love reading. I can't go to sleep without reading a book. So since I had finished reading my previous novel, I went to library and found this book. It was on the "easy reads" shelf and So I got it.
THe category on the bingo board that this book fills is "a book that teaches you about a culture other than your own." This book is about a young girl named Charlotte that is working in India in a Tiger sanctuary as volenteer work. There she learns how Indian families are a little different to her family back home in the UK. She learns how Indian fathers are usually Very overprotective of their daughters, she realises that organised marriges nowadays over there are just trials (the parents merely give them choices on a proper man for the daughter to marry are), and she realises how showing public displays of affection may be frowned upon. She loves it there but some problems do come up..........
My favourite quote from this book was when Amrita was comforting Charlotte about the whole Jack incident by saying something along the lines of, "Shall I tell my father to tell Jack to leave? He will do it. He really likes you. He wouldn't want anything to happen to you." This little thing made me realise how caring families in India are of their guests. It made me realise that when you stay with a family in India, you become one of their family.
Something new I learnt from this book was that tigers could be classed as another sacred animal of the Indian culture. Before reading this book, the only animal I knew of that was sacred to Indians was the elephant. It just makes me want to know if there are any more sacred animals in India.
A character I found interesting in this book was Amrita. Amrita was the daughter of Jaideep(the man of the house that Charlotte was staying at). I found her hilarious and quite smart. She was the one that came up with the ingenius idea of how to warn off Jack, the stranger.
This book was quite different to all the other books I've read before. It was pretty freaky at times but also had some touching bits in it too. I found it a very good-read.
-sarahraewynalatimu
THe category on the bingo board that this book fills is "a book that teaches you about a culture other than your own." This book is about a young girl named Charlotte that is working in India in a Tiger sanctuary as volenteer work. There she learns how Indian families are a little different to her family back home in the UK. She learns how Indian fathers are usually Very overprotective of their daughters, she realises that organised marriges nowadays over there are just trials (the parents merely give them choices on a proper man for the daughter to marry are), and she realises how showing public displays of affection may be frowned upon. She loves it there but some problems do come up..........
My favourite quote from this book was when Amrita was comforting Charlotte about the whole Jack incident by saying something along the lines of, "Shall I tell my father to tell Jack to leave? He will do it. He really likes you. He wouldn't want anything to happen to you." This little thing made me realise how caring families in India are of their guests. It made me realise that when you stay with a family in India, you become one of their family.
Something new I learnt from this book was that tigers could be classed as another sacred animal of the Indian culture. Before reading this book, the only animal I knew of that was sacred to Indians was the elephant. It just makes me want to know if there are any more sacred animals in India.
A character I found interesting in this book was Amrita. Amrita was the daughter of Jaideep(the man of the house that Charlotte was staying at). I found her hilarious and quite smart. She was the one that came up with the ingenius idea of how to warn off Jack, the stranger.
This book was quite different to all the other books I've read before. It was pretty freaky at times but also had some touching bits in it too. I found it a very good-read.
-sarahraewynalatimu
August 29, 2021
Overall, I really liked this book, mostly because I really like Romance. The embedding of Tamil Nadu and famous temples in Madurai was extremely touching to me.I liked the build-up of the plot and how Singleton has built suspense through her choice of words, and her phrasing of sentences. This is particularly evident in the train crash, where I believe Singleton displayed the emotions of the passengers, especially Charlotte very well. The use of description with the train rolling over, Charlotte unable to look at the mother when she had died cradling her four young boys, successfully makes me feel sympathy towards her and therefore, makes me more attached and more deeply into the plot of the story. I believe that Singleton has done a great job in building the romance between Otto and Charlotte, and has displayed the emotions of true love, first time making love, and the feelings of unrequited love very well, as well as the unrequited love between Jack and Charlotte, effectively portraying the extent in which Charlotte hates Jack and the levels Jack goes to, to bring the attention of Charlotte.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2011
Enjoying this, so far. I am a big fan of this author, but this book's nothing like others that I've read: it's realistic fiction and I prefer Singleton's fantasy works e.g. Century and Heretic.
July 8, 2012
amazing
May 9, 2015
I liked this book and the setting, but a few things didn't flow well for me. I like that there was a conservation message in the book, something I am interested in.
July 6, 2011
I thought this was boring xx
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews