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The Woman Who Ran
When someone is under your skin, there is only so far you can run...She can run. But can she hide?
Helen Graham is a new arrival in a tiny Yorkshire village, renting dilapidated Wildfell Hall. The villagers are intensely curious - what makes her so jumpy and why is she so evasive? Their interest is Helen's worst nightmare. Looking over her shoulder every day, she tries to piece together her past before it can catch up with her. With everything she knows in fragments, from her marriage to her career as a war photographer, how can she work out who to trust and what to believe? Most days she can barely remember who she is...
Helen Graham is a new arrival in a tiny Yorkshire village, renting dilapidated Wildfell Hall. The villagers are intensely curious - what makes her so jumpy and why is she so evasive? Their interest is Helen's worst nightmare. Looking over her shoulder every day, she tries to piece together her past before it can catch up with her. With everything she knows in fragments, from her marriage to her career as a war photographer, how can she work out who to trust and what to believe? Most days she can barely remember who she is...
405 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2016
73 people are currently reading
1099 people want to read
About the author
Sam Baker
19 books77 followersSam Baker grew up in Hampshire and, after a degree in politics at Birmingham University, became a journalist, going on to edit some of the UK's biggest magazines. For six years she was Editor in Chief of Red magazine, where she set up the Red Hot Women Awards recognising achievement across politics, science, tech, the arts, media and charity, as well as championing support for Refuge, the charity for victims of domestic abuse.
In 2015 she co-founded and launched The Pool with Lauren Laverne, the online platform that makes inspiring and original content for busy women.
Sam is married to the novelist Jon Courtenay Grimwood and lives in Winchester. When she’s not working or writing she escapes by devouring crime novels or watching box sets.
In 2015 she co-founded and launched The Pool with Lauren Laverne, the online platform that makes inspiring and original content for busy women.
Sam is married to the novelist Jon Courtenay Grimwood and lives in Winchester. When she’s not working or writing she escapes by devouring crime novels or watching box sets.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
May 18, 2016
“I am living in hell from one day to the next. But there is nothing I can do to escape. I don't know where I would go if I did. I feel utterly powerless, and that feeling is my prison. I entered of my own free will, I locked the door, and I threw away the key.”
----Haruki Murakami
Sam Baker, an English author, pens a thrilling crime fiction in her new book, The Woman Who Ran that unfolds the story of a war photographer who settles in a tiny, forgotten village in Yorkshire after an accident that she only remembers in fragments and hazes of memory glimpses, but what makes her stand out among the friendly and warm villagers is her secretive, non-friendly and indeterminate behavior. What is she hiding? Or rather what/who is she hiding from?
Synopsis:
When someone is under your skin, there is only so far you can run...She can run. But can she hide?
Helen Graham is a new arrival in a tiny Yorkshire village, renting dilapidated Wildfell Hall. The villagers are intensely curious - what makes her so jumpy and why is she so evasive? Their interest is Helen's worst nightmare. Looking over her shoulder every day, she tries to piece together her past before it can catch up with her. With everything she knows in fragments, from her marriage to her career as a war photographer, how can she work out who to trust and what to believe? Most days she can barely remember who she is.
Helen Graham's arrival in this tiny village in the Yorkshire Dales brings a lot of excitement among the villagers, mostly because she has rented the haunted Wildfell House, a rich, dilapidated ancient house. But what Helen thinks is that she is safe from whatever she is running from in this village. But her demeanor strikes as bit odd towards the villagers, especially to Gil, a divorced and a retired journalist. Digging into her identity as well as in her past, leads Gil to the fact that this woman is a war photographer and is suspected of killing her husband. But what Helen is trying to figure out is what exactly happened in their flat in Paris and whose dead body actually she stumbled upon while trying to save herself from the burning fire in their flat.
The author's writing is eloquent and is laced with horror and suspense to keep the readers engaged into the heart of the story till the very last page. The narrative is fascinating and free-flowing and has enough ability to leave the readers in doubt so as to think of the possible outcome. The pacing is really fast as the story moves swiftly with Helen trying to piece her fragments of her memory, and with Gil digging to learn more about Helen's past life. The story is addictive from the very first page itself and does not lose its charm till the very last page.
The mystery concocted by the author is quite strong and exciting. The story will keep the readers guessing until the very end, although near the end, it becomes quite obvious about the biggest twist. The twists and turns will make the readers even more confused and misdirected and will make the readers anticipating the climax. The mystery is laced with some raw-violence, fear, and quite a lot of action that makes the story as one hell of a roller-coaster ride of thrills.
The characters are nicely developed, especially the central character, Helen, who is confused as she cannot remember the night of the accident that is making her run and hide. Her indeterminate demeanor is aptly captured by the author as that makes the readers contemplate and root for her till the very end. The character of Gil is someone who is constantly curious despite the fact that he is fighting a personal family battle every day. The supporting characters are also quite well-etched out that will intrigue the readers.
In a nutshell, the story is compelling and equally edgy that is set mostly across the picturesque backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales and that deals with a current day social issue.
Verdict: A riveting thriller.
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Sam Baker's publicist for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
----Haruki Murakami
Sam Baker, an English author, pens a thrilling crime fiction in her new book, The Woman Who Ran that unfolds the story of a war photographer who settles in a tiny, forgotten village in Yorkshire after an accident that she only remembers in fragments and hazes of memory glimpses, but what makes her stand out among the friendly and warm villagers is her secretive, non-friendly and indeterminate behavior. What is she hiding? Or rather what/who is she hiding from?
Synopsis:
When someone is under your skin, there is only so far you can run...She can run. But can she hide?
Helen Graham is a new arrival in a tiny Yorkshire village, renting dilapidated Wildfell Hall. The villagers are intensely curious - what makes her so jumpy and why is she so evasive? Their interest is Helen's worst nightmare. Looking over her shoulder every day, she tries to piece together her past before it can catch up with her. With everything she knows in fragments, from her marriage to her career as a war photographer, how can she work out who to trust and what to believe? Most days she can barely remember who she is.
Helen Graham's arrival in this tiny village in the Yorkshire Dales brings a lot of excitement among the villagers, mostly because she has rented the haunted Wildfell House, a rich, dilapidated ancient house. But what Helen thinks is that she is safe from whatever she is running from in this village. But her demeanor strikes as bit odd towards the villagers, especially to Gil, a divorced and a retired journalist. Digging into her identity as well as in her past, leads Gil to the fact that this woman is a war photographer and is suspected of killing her husband. But what Helen is trying to figure out is what exactly happened in their flat in Paris and whose dead body actually she stumbled upon while trying to save herself from the burning fire in their flat.
The author's writing is eloquent and is laced with horror and suspense to keep the readers engaged into the heart of the story till the very last page. The narrative is fascinating and free-flowing and has enough ability to leave the readers in doubt so as to think of the possible outcome. The pacing is really fast as the story moves swiftly with Helen trying to piece her fragments of her memory, and with Gil digging to learn more about Helen's past life. The story is addictive from the very first page itself and does not lose its charm till the very last page.
The mystery concocted by the author is quite strong and exciting. The story will keep the readers guessing until the very end, although near the end, it becomes quite obvious about the biggest twist. The twists and turns will make the readers even more confused and misdirected and will make the readers anticipating the climax. The mystery is laced with some raw-violence, fear, and quite a lot of action that makes the story as one hell of a roller-coaster ride of thrills.
The characters are nicely developed, especially the central character, Helen, who is confused as she cannot remember the night of the accident that is making her run and hide. Her indeterminate demeanor is aptly captured by the author as that makes the readers contemplate and root for her till the very end. The character of Gil is someone who is constantly curious despite the fact that he is fighting a personal family battle every day. The supporting characters are also quite well-etched out that will intrigue the readers.
In a nutshell, the story is compelling and equally edgy that is set mostly across the picturesque backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales and that deals with a current day social issue.
Verdict: A riveting thriller.
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Sam Baker's publicist for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
March 1, 2016
I read this with my book group, whose inaugural book was The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. That was an unexpected delight - probably the most unanimous one we've had so far (which is quite deliberate - that's what happens when you sit three people with very disparate tastes in a room with a bottle of wine. It takes no less than a Brontë to bring us together). When we saw that there was a new retelling out, updated to the present day with nothing less exciting than war photographer!Helen Graham, we pounced on it as soon as it got into the shops. It was clearly made for us.
Well, er.
Er.
A literary-trauma-addict, a storytelling-and-plot junkie, and me, all sit down to read a book, and the plot junkie loves it the most of all of us. That should give you an idea of the focus of Sam Baker's attention. It's well paced as a thriller. The location is pretty good. Apparently Sam Baker lives not far from where I grew up, and I bet I know the village stores she pictured when she wrote her version. There are a couple of sequences - in London, in Syria - that just shone: clearly researched in great depth, and so vivid.
The trouble - and here's where I'm going to tell you that I Have A Theory - is that she couldn't decide how much Wildfell Hall she wanted to put in. No, the trouble is that Sam Baker decided she was going to retell Wildfell Hall, so decided on her Modern Day Twists, started sprinkling it liberally with obvious harks back to original characters, but, like, updated, you know? Art Huntingdon! Gil Markham! Liza! Mademoiselle Helene Graham! And then, she got stuck. And instead of backtracking and trying to fill in the gaps, she decided that she wasn't REALLY retelling Wildfell Hall, she was just INSPIRED by it.
Which explains why there are hand-wavy references to PTSD. Why... there's... something that might be a sort of maybe magical realism thing with a dead child, except that... I don't know what happened with that? Why there's a pregnancy that might have ended up being Arthur Jr, only that was inconvenient, so then there isn't any more.
Which explains why Helen Huntingdon has pretty much no agency at all, in this retelling of a book which was so important, and then got deliberately buried, precisely because Helen Huntingdon had more agency than was acceptable at the time. In the original, Helen tells her story through a series of her diary entries that take up around half of the book. In The Woman Who Ran, she gets less than fifty pages, and then back we go to her jogging on the moors and getting migraines (PTSD!) while other people make decisions around her. In the end,
Which explains why "Art" Huntingdon, and Arthur Huntingdon of 1848, are such different beasts: the latter, a charming man, magnetic, exciting, interesting, except that he's impossible to live with; the former a gigantic gaping arsehole right from the get-go. Where did the rake go, the one that we all want to reform, until it's suddenly too late? How does one read a story about Arthur, and decide to translate him into Art? That's not taking inspiration from Wildfell Hall; it feels more like entirely misunderstanding it.
It was fun to read for its own sake, but insubstantial. It's - and this doesn't sound like a compliment, but it is, I promise - the sort of thing I'd go to the "Wildfell Hall" tab of Archive Of Our Own to read on a Friday night. It felt like Baker wrote it for herself, for the enjoyment of being in the process of writing, and that joy is what I love about AO3. But still - there's that, and then there's £7.99 for a paperback with a major publisher. It really was fun for its own sake. But.... you know??? you know???
Well, er.
Er.
A literary-trauma-addict, a storytelling-and-plot junkie, and me, all sit down to read a book, and the plot junkie loves it the most of all of us. That should give you an idea of the focus of Sam Baker's attention. It's well paced as a thriller. The location is pretty good. Apparently Sam Baker lives not far from where I grew up, and I bet I know the village stores she pictured when she wrote her version. There are a couple of sequences - in London, in Syria - that just shone: clearly researched in great depth, and so vivid.
The trouble - and here's where I'm going to tell you that I Have A Theory - is that she couldn't decide how much Wildfell Hall she wanted to put in. No, the trouble is that Sam Baker decided she was going to retell Wildfell Hall, so decided on her Modern Day Twists, started sprinkling it liberally with obvious harks back to original characters, but, like, updated, you know? Art Huntingdon! Gil Markham! Liza! Mademoiselle Helene Graham! And then, she got stuck. And instead of backtracking and trying to fill in the gaps, she decided that she wasn't REALLY retelling Wildfell Hall, she was just INSPIRED by it.
Which explains why there are hand-wavy references to PTSD. Why... there's... something that might be a sort of maybe magical realism thing with a dead child, except that... I don't know what happened with that? Why there's a pregnancy that might have ended up being Arthur Jr, only that was inconvenient, so then there isn't any more.
Which explains why Helen Huntingdon has pretty much no agency at all, in this retelling of a book which was so important, and then got deliberately buried, precisely because Helen Huntingdon had more agency than was acceptable at the time. In the original, Helen tells her story through a series of her diary entries that take up around half of the book. In The Woman Who Ran, she gets less than fifty pages, and then back we go to her jogging on the moors and getting migraines (PTSD!) while other people make decisions around her. In the end,
Which explains why "Art" Huntingdon, and Arthur Huntingdon of 1848, are such different beasts: the latter, a charming man, magnetic, exciting, interesting, except that he's impossible to live with; the former a gigantic gaping arsehole right from the get-go. Where did the rake go, the one that we all want to reform, until it's suddenly too late? How does one read a story about Arthur, and decide to translate him into Art? That's not taking inspiration from Wildfell Hall; it feels more like entirely misunderstanding it.
It was fun to read for its own sake, but insubstantial. It's - and this doesn't sound like a compliment, but it is, I promise - the sort of thing I'd go to the "Wildfell Hall" tab of Archive Of Our Own to read on a Friday night. It felt like Baker wrote it for herself, for the enjoyment of being in the process of writing, and that joy is what I love about AO3. But still - there's that, and then there's £7.99 for a paperback with a major publisher. It really was fun for its own sake. But.... you know??? you know???
February 8, 2016
The Woman Who Ran – A Psychological Thriller That Keeps You Guessing
Sam Baker’s The Woman Who Ran is a breathtaking psychological thriller that will keep you guessing from page one to the end. This is an excellent thriller about a woman with severe memory loss, who cannot remember much but knows that if she does not run something will happen to her. The story is about a woman who has to come to terms with her past, to be able to deal with her present and future situation.
Helen is unable to remember why she was in a burning apartment in Paris, who the body was, and how she ended up back in England. Everything is a blank, she is suffering from migraines and winds up on the Yorkshire Moors in Wildfell Hall all alone, and with a psychotic cat she calls Ghost. She does not know why but she knows she needs to keep quiet about who she is and if she could remember who she is running from.
Gil has been ‘retired’ from the newspaper where he has been a journalist for more years than he cares to remember. He lives in the country village where he grew up, where everybody knows your business, and he cannot really get in to the retired life, other than drinking, smoking and reading a book.
There is something about Helen that draws Gil in, his journalist instinct kicks in and he wants to know who she is and what she is hiding from. He slowly pieces together the who she is and with Helen’s own words why she is at Wildfell Hall. As they both dig deep, people are talking whether it is too much, who really knows? Helen cannot help feel that she is being watched not just by the village but someone else. Her only way to deal with things is to run over the moors, see if it clears her mind and can relax her.
The book has a fair pace about it as the story moves on and more of the story of Paris is recovered from Helen’s memory. The more of her past that comes back to her the more she realises that she could also be in a great deal of danger, which leads to the book’s shattering conclusion. It will take your breath away, as you see it all through the eyes of Helen and Gil.
The Woman Who Ran is an excellent psychological thriller that will grip you from the first page to the last, and will leave you breathless at the relentless pace. It is clear that a journalist has written this book as the journalist here is a kind, ‘honest’ guy, which would be a first, but he works well in the story. A great book for all those that a love Psychological Thriller.
Sam Baker’s The Woman Who Ran is a breathtaking psychological thriller that will keep you guessing from page one to the end. This is an excellent thriller about a woman with severe memory loss, who cannot remember much but knows that if she does not run something will happen to her. The story is about a woman who has to come to terms with her past, to be able to deal with her present and future situation.
Helen is unable to remember why she was in a burning apartment in Paris, who the body was, and how she ended up back in England. Everything is a blank, she is suffering from migraines and winds up on the Yorkshire Moors in Wildfell Hall all alone, and with a psychotic cat she calls Ghost. She does not know why but she knows she needs to keep quiet about who she is and if she could remember who she is running from.
Gil has been ‘retired’ from the newspaper where he has been a journalist for more years than he cares to remember. He lives in the country village where he grew up, where everybody knows your business, and he cannot really get in to the retired life, other than drinking, smoking and reading a book.
There is something about Helen that draws Gil in, his journalist instinct kicks in and he wants to know who she is and what she is hiding from. He slowly pieces together the who she is and with Helen’s own words why she is at Wildfell Hall. As they both dig deep, people are talking whether it is too much, who really knows? Helen cannot help feel that she is being watched not just by the village but someone else. Her only way to deal with things is to run over the moors, see if it clears her mind and can relax her.
The book has a fair pace about it as the story moves on and more of the story of Paris is recovered from Helen’s memory. The more of her past that comes back to her the more she realises that she could also be in a great deal of danger, which leads to the book’s shattering conclusion. It will take your breath away, as you see it all through the eyes of Helen and Gil.
The Woman Who Ran is an excellent psychological thriller that will grip you from the first page to the last, and will leave you breathless at the relentless pace. It is clear that a journalist has written this book as the journalist here is a kind, ‘honest’ guy, which would be a first, but he works well in the story. A great book for all those that a love Psychological Thriller.
June 18, 2016
Oh dear. I got about a third of the way through this before finally accepting that I could not care less about the characters, the setting or the plot. Plodding narrative, wooden dialogue, paper-thin characters, amateurish descriptions. I can just imagine the writer thinking, Ooh, how can I describe the walkers’ colourful raingear? I know – Smarties! Except not Smarties plural, but 'Smartie'. And then, as if to drive home the point, (or perhaps in recognition of potential US readers), on the next page it has become M&Ms. And then there’s this travesty: “a kaleidoscope of odours”. Er, no. A kaleidoscope is a visual device. You can’t apply it to smell unless your intention is to make the reader think, Oh no, that’s not right.
February 17, 2016
A disappointing mystery that meanders to a predictable slasher-esque climax, tidies up at least two major plot points in entirely too convenient and easy ways, and generally takes way too long to go anywhere that threatens to be interesting.
The dialogue hardly covers the entire thing in glory either. The sections covering the London nail bomb attack and Syria are easily the best parts of the book, but the cliched characters even drag those parts down. Not terrible by any means, but not worth going out of your way for.
The dialogue hardly covers the entire thing in glory either. The sections covering the London nail bomb attack and Syria are easily the best parts of the book, but the cliched characters even drag those parts down. Not terrible by any means, but not worth going out of your way for.
May 9, 2023
I am a sucker for a good psychological thriller! I really liked the storytelling approach, a two-way perspective, a journalist and a photographer trying to figure out what happend! I was truly engaged but maybe a little bit surprised at the end
February 9, 2016
Visit the locations in the book here: The Woman who Ran Booktrail
2000s: A woman is on the run. But from what and from whom?
Sam Baker takes inspiration from the Bronte’s classic novel to represent the isolation and fear that someone can have and to examine as she says in the author note at the back, to see what had changed for women and what had not. The setting is the same desolate Yorkshire village and the surrounding moorland, the issues facing women largely the same but in contrast to the world which Bronte created, this is in the modern day.
Wildfell Hall is an old dilapidated house miles from anywhere apart from the village where there are a few houses, a pub and a shop, both of which are the centre of the village life – especially for the gossips. The village is populated by plenty of those yet feels isolated and claustrophobic, sombre and suspicious. Ideal setting for the issues within the novel. Those wild Yorkshire Dales are remote, strong, desolate and unforgiving.
Gill Markham is one such person in the village who attempts to befriend Helen. He is a journalist and is curious to find out why Helen has come here. As she pulls away and hides, his curiosity gets stronger. Good nature as well as journalist’s ear keeps him going. He is the calm, the friendly calm in Helen’s life and the one person she can maybe trust.
Helen’s previous life is revealed bit by bit, like a bruise ripening, from one colour to the next, each stage painful for a different reason. And that is the painful setting of Helen’s character, and the isolated village where she hopes she can mend.
I thought this was very clever – writing a modern day thriller with the Bronte inspired background. A microscope on society and women and the habits of the day, the views and beliefs of people from one era to the next and how they have changed (or not) The issues and the setting blended well for the sense of helplessness , isolation and fear were transposed from one era to the next and I could see how a problem in any walk of life, in any form can fester and worsen. How we deal with things, and the chances we have are what’s important. The need to heal is a great one. At first reading, I was unsure if the Bronte influences were going to be overused but no fear, they were barely a thread to hang on similar problems in society then and now. A clever way of keeping the settings remote but fictional and the main focus on the character’s past.
Sam says that she did a lot of research into the present day issues (no spoilers here) and the Bronte heritage and it shows. The world is digital now and supposedly everyone can be found..but the way journalists work now and then was also an eye opener. It gets in your head and makes you think that’s for sure.
2000s: A woman is on the run. But from what and from whom?
Sam Baker takes inspiration from the Bronte’s classic novel to represent the isolation and fear that someone can have and to examine as she says in the author note at the back, to see what had changed for women and what had not. The setting is the same desolate Yorkshire village and the surrounding moorland, the issues facing women largely the same but in contrast to the world which Bronte created, this is in the modern day.
Wildfell Hall is an old dilapidated house miles from anywhere apart from the village where there are a few houses, a pub and a shop, both of which are the centre of the village life – especially for the gossips. The village is populated by plenty of those yet feels isolated and claustrophobic, sombre and suspicious. Ideal setting for the issues within the novel. Those wild Yorkshire Dales are remote, strong, desolate and unforgiving.
Gill Markham is one such person in the village who attempts to befriend Helen. He is a journalist and is curious to find out why Helen has come here. As she pulls away and hides, his curiosity gets stronger. Good nature as well as journalist’s ear keeps him going. He is the calm, the friendly calm in Helen’s life and the one person she can maybe trust.
Helen’s previous life is revealed bit by bit, like a bruise ripening, from one colour to the next, each stage painful for a different reason. And that is the painful setting of Helen’s character, and the isolated village where she hopes she can mend.
I thought this was very clever – writing a modern day thriller with the Bronte inspired background. A microscope on society and women and the habits of the day, the views and beliefs of people from one era to the next and how they have changed (or not) The issues and the setting blended well for the sense of helplessness , isolation and fear were transposed from one era to the next and I could see how a problem in any walk of life, in any form can fester and worsen. How we deal with things, and the chances we have are what’s important. The need to heal is a great one. At first reading, I was unsure if the Bronte influences were going to be overused but no fear, they were barely a thread to hang on similar problems in society then and now. A clever way of keeping the settings remote but fictional and the main focus on the character’s past.
Sam says that she did a lot of research into the present day issues (no spoilers here) and the Bronte heritage and it shows. The world is digital now and supposedly everyone can be found..but the way journalists work now and then was also an eye opener. It gets in your head and makes you think that’s for sure.
November 29, 2015
I was lucky enough to receive this book as a review copy from www.lovereading.com.
World renown news photographer Helen is running, running from her past and the horrors that she has seen in war zones across the world.
A body believed to be that of British journalist Arthur Huntingdon is discovered in the burnt out remains of Helen's Paris apartment. Helen doesn't remember anything about that night so why has she disappeared, renting a dilapidated old house in the Yorkshire. Who or what is Helen hiding from? What is the connection between Helen and Arthur and why is she so scared.
Local retired journalist, Gil, decides to try and find out who the mysterious new person at the big house on the edge of the village is. Will he help Helen unlock her past so she can start coming to terms with the horrors that she has experienced.
An amazing book where the tension builds up and up until its thrilling climax. This is one book that you do not want to put down.
Perfect for fans of "The Girl on the train" and "Gone Girl".
World renown news photographer Helen is running, running from her past and the horrors that she has seen in war zones across the world.
A body believed to be that of British journalist Arthur Huntingdon is discovered in the burnt out remains of Helen's Paris apartment. Helen doesn't remember anything about that night so why has she disappeared, renting a dilapidated old house in the Yorkshire. Who or what is Helen hiding from? What is the connection between Helen and Arthur and why is she so scared.
Local retired journalist, Gil, decides to try and find out who the mysterious new person at the big house on the edge of the village is. Will he help Helen unlock her past so she can start coming to terms with the horrors that she has experienced.
An amazing book where the tension builds up and up until its thrilling climax. This is one book that you do not want to put down.
Perfect for fans of "The Girl on the train" and "Gone Girl".
March 10, 2018
This was a fairly linear story and you can see where it was headed. My favourite character was probably Gil, the rest were not really fleshed out enough. It was supposed to be tense but I wasn't really feeling it, quite slow paced though I loved the descriptions of the downs, Wildfell House and of Helen's work as a photographer.
March 1, 2016
Journalist Gilbert, Gil, Markham retires from his job on a local paper to be faced by the endless lonely days stretching ahead of him punctuated only by visits to the local shop to collect cigarettes and the papers and to the pub for lunchtime and evening pints. His mind isn't ready for retirement and he soon becomes fascinated by the story of the mysterious young woman who has taken up the tenancy of the nearby Wildfell Hall.
Switching point of view, the tenant herself Helen Graham is fleeing from a tragedy she cannot fully remember but which involved a fire and a body in a Paris flat. She is trapped by a combination of fear, debilitating migraines, and the ghosts of the horrors she has seen and captured as a war photographer.
Meanwhile the village gossips aim to sink their talons into both, he as a potential partner for one of their number, she because her secrecy is unbearable to them.
Slowly, Gil works his way into Helen's confidence, and together they uncover the secrets of her past, never quite sure if she is murderer or victim. The story they uncover is one of large and small scale violence, of the horrors of both war and of domestic violence, and of violence threatening to spiral in on Wildfell.
The Woman who ran contains elements of a number of different genres. In updating many of the themes of Anne Bronte's feminist classic, it inevitably takes on a gothic feel. The troubled tenant takes possession of a crumbling mansion with only crows, rats and a battered old cat for company. The gothic feeling is enhanced by a peripheral supernatural element. Strangely this also brings the story back to the present as the ghostly presence is also symbolic of Helen's possession by the appalling sights she has witnessed.
Right at the other end of the spectrum there are definite chick-lit tendencies. In particular I imagined him, while off screen, to be on the phone to his first cousin Mark D'Arcy. On one level I found him to be a little too good to be true, on another, he provides some relieving light amidst a lot of darkness.
Thirdly this is also a journalistic/detective thriller as Gil, and to a lesser extent Helen herself uncover both the story which brought her to Wildfell, and her true identity. As they do so, they are menaced by her past encroaching on her new existence.
The real heart of this book, which may come as a surprise after describing it as containing classic chick-lit elements, is a study of domestic violence, both physical and psychological. One of the main elements of Helen's life which comes to light is her marriage to the abusive Art Huntingdon. That will probably come as no surprise to those familiar with the Bronte novel, as what is Arthur Huntingdon but an abusive husband, even if that term hadn't been coined in Victorian England.
So this is a book which skilfully brings a number of strands together onto what is a cracking yarn.
If I have one criticism, it is that author can craft a good yarn, but is not an artist in prose. One paragraph early on brought this home to me. "The surrounding countryside was equally unpredictable: to the south the moors,to the north the Dales. One minute gently rolling hills and undulating greenery, almost chocolate box pretty; the next rocks jutting through thin earth like bone, waters broiling in a sinister stew in the dark pools beneath. In front of her tombstones tumbled like broken teeth before the graveyard dropped away towards the river". Al fine and I realise I couldn't do any better, but the imagery is tired and over-used, the grammar and punctuation poor, and the word "broiling" misused.
Pedantry aside, this is well worth a go if you are looking for an entertaining story which also contains some darker, more serious themes.
Switching point of view, the tenant herself Helen Graham is fleeing from a tragedy she cannot fully remember but which involved a fire and a body in a Paris flat. She is trapped by a combination of fear, debilitating migraines, and the ghosts of the horrors she has seen and captured as a war photographer.
Meanwhile the village gossips aim to sink their talons into both, he as a potential partner for one of their number, she because her secrecy is unbearable to them.
Slowly, Gil works his way into Helen's confidence, and together they uncover the secrets of her past, never quite sure if she is murderer or victim. The story they uncover is one of large and small scale violence, of the horrors of both war and of domestic violence, and of violence threatening to spiral in on Wildfell.
The Woman who ran contains elements of a number of different genres. In updating many of the themes of Anne Bronte's feminist classic, it inevitably takes on a gothic feel. The troubled tenant takes possession of a crumbling mansion with only crows, rats and a battered old cat for company. The gothic feeling is enhanced by a peripheral supernatural element. Strangely this also brings the story back to the present as the ghostly presence is also symbolic of Helen's possession by the appalling sights she has witnessed.
Right at the other end of the spectrum there are definite chick-lit tendencies. In particular I imagined him, while off screen, to be on the phone to his first cousin Mark D'Arcy. On one level I found him to be a little too good to be true, on another, he provides some relieving light amidst a lot of darkness.
Thirdly this is also a journalistic/detective thriller as Gil, and to a lesser extent Helen herself uncover both the story which brought her to Wildfell, and her true identity. As they do so, they are menaced by her past encroaching on her new existence.
The real heart of this book, which may come as a surprise after describing it as containing classic chick-lit elements, is a study of domestic violence, both physical and psychological. One of the main elements of Helen's life which comes to light is her marriage to the abusive Art Huntingdon. That will probably come as no surprise to those familiar with the Bronte novel, as what is Arthur Huntingdon but an abusive husband, even if that term hadn't been coined in Victorian England.
So this is a book which skilfully brings a number of strands together onto what is a cracking yarn.
If I have one criticism, it is that author can craft a good yarn, but is not an artist in prose. One paragraph early on brought this home to me. "The surrounding countryside was equally unpredictable: to the south the moors,to the north the Dales. One minute gently rolling hills and undulating greenery, almost chocolate box pretty; the next rocks jutting through thin earth like bone, waters broiling in a sinister stew in the dark pools beneath. In front of her tombstones tumbled like broken teeth before the graveyard dropped away towards the river". Al fine and I realise I couldn't do any better, but the imagery is tired and over-used, the grammar and punctuation poor, and the word "broiling" misused.
Pedantry aside, this is well worth a go if you are looking for an entertaining story which also contains some darker, more serious themes.
January 23, 2016
'Oh My'
This book does not take you where you think you are going.
Not a read I can 'tell' you about without revealing spoilers, I will tell you how much I enjoyed it.
It had me hooked from the first page and taking me from Paris to North Yorkshire and everywhere in between it is an adventure I enjoyed.
It is pacy, exciting and has a little bit of everything, romance, sadness, thrills and suspense that will keep it's reader utterly gripped.
Wildfell Hall, taken from Anne Bronte's novel, is a wonderful setting. Foreboding and dark it added to the 'mood' of Helen's ordeal and I really did expect ghosts to go BOO.
An incredible, fantastic read, I only wished I could read faster.
This book does not take you where you think you are going.
Not a read I can 'tell' you about without revealing spoilers, I will tell you how much I enjoyed it.
It had me hooked from the first page and taking me from Paris to North Yorkshire and everywhere in between it is an adventure I enjoyed.
It is pacy, exciting and has a little bit of everything, romance, sadness, thrills and suspense that will keep it's reader utterly gripped.
Wildfell Hall, taken from Anne Bronte's novel, is a wonderful setting. Foreboding and dark it added to the 'mood' of Helen's ordeal and I really did expect ghosts to go BOO.
An incredible, fantastic read, I only wished I could read faster.
July 3, 2016
Couldn't finish this one. Abandoned halfway through. Slow with endless walks on Dales, chronic migraines and irritating protagonist. Just didn't care enough to carry on. Not badly written, per se, just not for me....
February 20, 2016
I am making some really poor reading decisions at the moment.This was flimsy and uninteresting with totally two dimensional characters.Not a patch on 'I Let you Go' which I loved last year.
December 9, 2016
Interesting. Tense. Atmospheric. Brilliant, spooky read.
December 29, 2024
“A new house standing empty, with staring window and door, looks idle, perhaps, and foolish, like a hat on its block in the store. But there’s nothing mournful about it; it cannot be sad and lone, for the lack of something within it that it has never known.
But a house that has done what a house should do, a house that has sheltered life, that has put its loving wooden arms around a man and his wife, a house that has echoed a baby’s laugh, and held up its stumbling feet, it’s the saddest sight, when its left alone, then ever your eyes could meet.”
From, “The House with Nobody in It,” by Joyce Kilmer
Of all the characters I encountered in Sam Baker’s “The Woman Who Ran,” there were two that stood out as my favorite, the first of which was Wildfell House, described in the story as a decaying Elizabethan mansion, situated on the Yorkshire Dales of Northern England.
We get a glimpse into the features of the house as Helen Graham, its new renter, arrives, and later as she decides which parts of the house she will live in most, (upstairs sitting room, a bedroom, and the kitchen). As Helen does her best to make the mansion as homelike as possible, we slowly come to realize that the house has its own stories to tell, and that the telling of these is expressed in the atmosphere created as she stumbles upon a previously undiscovered section of the place. The descriptions of this ancient mansion, while employed sparingly like a good spice, were exquisitely done:
There were the features that I expected might be there, such as the vast dining room with a mahogany table that could seat twenty, the study with walls lined with antelope heads, and the sash locks on the windows were among these.
And other still, might be items I’d expect to find in a long-abandoned mansion, but presented as vividly as they were, made them special:
The enormous cast iron tub supported on lion’s feet, the ornate, yet fly specked mirror, the utensil drawer that contained a family of beetles and a desiccated bat, and my favorite, the handsome French doors that when viewed from a distance, were still able to proudly show off what was left of their former glory, but upon closer inspection, it was painfully clear that the wood they were made of was rotting, and with one good kick, they would collapse in, one upon another.
But of all these, my favorite was those that most clearly demonstrated the most vivid ways that an old house can affect our senses. For example, I could literally feel the soft boom of the ancient gas stove as Helen lit it with a match, I could literally see the misshapen “funhouse mirror” images when looking through the “warp and weft” of century old glass, and I could literally feel the stiffness and hear the crunch as I sat onto the dust-stiff Indian throw, laying as it was, over the rancid sofa.
Even the artwork spoke rather dramatically:
“A huge gloomy portrait of an imperious man in breeches and knee boots glared down from above the fireplace.”
Those were but a few of the characteristics of Wildfell House that caused it to become my favorite character, also as time when on, I lamented the way that this once attractive home was abused and neglected, which seemed thematically fitting, being that the tragedy of the horrors of spousal abuse was a theme throughout this story.
The second, was “Ghost,” the black tom cat that seemed to appear, and disappear at will. As the story went on, I found myself wishing that this feline was given a larger role in the story. But even considering the few times “Ghost,” was featured, the cat proved to be unforgettable. After all, “Ghost” was not only elusive, demanding, and cool, but also, most unexpectedly, a courageous and loyal friend to Helen.
Lastly, there were a few colorful words that I was introduced to in this story, among my favorite were:
“Coving” – A curved or shaped strip of wood or other material placed as a feature at the place where a wall meets the ceiling.
“Cagoule” – British term for a lightweight raincoat with a hood.
“Barbour” and “Bellstaff” – Two iconic English clothing brands.
“Quink” – A portmanteau from ‘quick’ and ‘ink,’ a fountain pen ink developed by the Parker Pen Company.
“Clonidine” – A medication used to treat high blood pressure, ADHD, drug withdrawal, etc.
Finally, another favorite was the particularly striking term, “Mad as a Box of Frogs.” I laughed as I read this one, thinking how potent the image of this term was and how powerfully it connected with madness as described in this story.
And although I’m focusing on the parts of this story that might be otherwise overlooked, that indicates to me, that the author took the time and energy to create a believable, and most satisfying atmosphere for this story, an atmosphere which strengthened the presence of the other characters and locations.
A solid four-star psychological thriller.
But a house that has done what a house should do, a house that has sheltered life, that has put its loving wooden arms around a man and his wife, a house that has echoed a baby’s laugh, and held up its stumbling feet, it’s the saddest sight, when its left alone, then ever your eyes could meet.”
From, “The House with Nobody in It,” by Joyce Kilmer
Of all the characters I encountered in Sam Baker’s “The Woman Who Ran,” there were two that stood out as my favorite, the first of which was Wildfell House, described in the story as a decaying Elizabethan mansion, situated on the Yorkshire Dales of Northern England.
We get a glimpse into the features of the house as Helen Graham, its new renter, arrives, and later as she decides which parts of the house she will live in most, (upstairs sitting room, a bedroom, and the kitchen). As Helen does her best to make the mansion as homelike as possible, we slowly come to realize that the house has its own stories to tell, and that the telling of these is expressed in the atmosphere created as she stumbles upon a previously undiscovered section of the place. The descriptions of this ancient mansion, while employed sparingly like a good spice, were exquisitely done:
There were the features that I expected might be there, such as the vast dining room with a mahogany table that could seat twenty, the study with walls lined with antelope heads, and the sash locks on the windows were among these.
And other still, might be items I’d expect to find in a long-abandoned mansion, but presented as vividly as they were, made them special:
The enormous cast iron tub supported on lion’s feet, the ornate, yet fly specked mirror, the utensil drawer that contained a family of beetles and a desiccated bat, and my favorite, the handsome French doors that when viewed from a distance, were still able to proudly show off what was left of their former glory, but upon closer inspection, it was painfully clear that the wood they were made of was rotting, and with one good kick, they would collapse in, one upon another.
But of all these, my favorite was those that most clearly demonstrated the most vivid ways that an old house can affect our senses. For example, I could literally feel the soft boom of the ancient gas stove as Helen lit it with a match, I could literally see the misshapen “funhouse mirror” images when looking through the “warp and weft” of century old glass, and I could literally feel the stiffness and hear the crunch as I sat onto the dust-stiff Indian throw, laying as it was, over the rancid sofa.
Even the artwork spoke rather dramatically:
“A huge gloomy portrait of an imperious man in breeches and knee boots glared down from above the fireplace.”
Those were but a few of the characteristics of Wildfell House that caused it to become my favorite character, also as time when on, I lamented the way that this once attractive home was abused and neglected, which seemed thematically fitting, being that the tragedy of the horrors of spousal abuse was a theme throughout this story.
The second, was “Ghost,” the black tom cat that seemed to appear, and disappear at will. As the story went on, I found myself wishing that this feline was given a larger role in the story. But even considering the few times “Ghost,” was featured, the cat proved to be unforgettable. After all, “Ghost” was not only elusive, demanding, and cool, but also, most unexpectedly, a courageous and loyal friend to Helen.
Lastly, there were a few colorful words that I was introduced to in this story, among my favorite were:
“Coving” – A curved or shaped strip of wood or other material placed as a feature at the place where a wall meets the ceiling.
“Cagoule” – British term for a lightweight raincoat with a hood.
“Barbour” and “Bellstaff” – Two iconic English clothing brands.
“Quink” – A portmanteau from ‘quick’ and ‘ink,’ a fountain pen ink developed by the Parker Pen Company.
“Clonidine” – A medication used to treat high blood pressure, ADHD, drug withdrawal, etc.
Finally, another favorite was the particularly striking term, “Mad as a Box of Frogs.” I laughed as I read this one, thinking how potent the image of this term was and how powerfully it connected with madness as described in this story.
And although I’m focusing on the parts of this story that might be otherwise overlooked, that indicates to me, that the author took the time and energy to create a believable, and most satisfying atmosphere for this story, an atmosphere which strengthened the presence of the other characters and locations.
A solid four-star psychological thriller.
August 22, 2025
3.5
I am doing a read through of as many more modern texts inspired by the Brontes as I can fit into a few months and it was a nice change to have a) something inspired by Tenant of Wildfell Hall (among a plethora of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights retellings) and b) a thriller to read.
The book keeps a few character names and, interestingly, the somewhat unique structure of Tenant of Wildfell Hall but predominantly concentrates on reimagining some of the themes. It is relatively successful in doing so though many themes are, of course, left by the wayside to focus on a particular vision of Bronte's work and to make room for some fairly gripping thriller writing. The pacing speeds up towards the end and I really did find myself unable to put it down.
It's an interesting read and I would recommend it if you're interested in a modern work inspired by Anne Bronte (they are very few on the ground!)
I am doing a read through of as many more modern texts inspired by the Brontes as I can fit into a few months and it was a nice change to have a) something inspired by Tenant of Wildfell Hall (among a plethora of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights retellings) and b) a thriller to read.
The book keeps a few character names and, interestingly, the somewhat unique structure of Tenant of Wildfell Hall but predominantly concentrates on reimagining some of the themes. It is relatively successful in doing so though many themes are, of course, left by the wayside to focus on a particular vision of Bronte's work and to make room for some fairly gripping thriller writing. The pacing speeds up towards the end and I really did find myself unable to put it down.
It's an interesting read and I would recommend it if you're interested in a modern work inspired by Anne Bronte (they are very few on the ground!)
March 17, 2019
A totally predictable and cliched read - I'm amazed I finished it. Definitely not recommending.
December 18, 2015
I received this book as a giveaway from Goodreads. It is about a woman called Helen who moves into an isolated, dilapidated old property on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. She tries to avoid interacting with the locals and keeps very much to herself. Gilbert Markham the newly retired editor of the local newspaper, who lives alone, manages to strike up an unlikely friendship with Helen as he tries to find out who or what she is trying to get away from.
The book begins with Helen waking up in Paris in the flat of her estranged husband. The flat is on fire and there is a dead body on the floor but as Helen crawls across the floor to escape from the smoke and flames she realizes that she can't remember anything that happened that day. Having got the readers attention with this superb beginning Sam never lets it slip throughout the book. It is well written, enough descriptive passages but not too many. The pacing is excellent and new information about Helen and what she is doing there is revealed gradually over the course of the story.
I really enjoyed this book with its different layers. It hooked me from the start and as the story unfolded I was drawn into it more and more finding it hard to put it down. At times I wasn't sure where it was going or who had done what as it does keep you guessing. This is a romance, mystery thriller with a difference and well worth reading.
The book begins with Helen waking up in Paris in the flat of her estranged husband. The flat is on fire and there is a dead body on the floor but as Helen crawls across the floor to escape from the smoke and flames she realizes that she can't remember anything that happened that day. Having got the readers attention with this superb beginning Sam never lets it slip throughout the book. It is well written, enough descriptive passages but not too many. The pacing is excellent and new information about Helen and what she is doing there is revealed gradually over the course of the story.
I really enjoyed this book with its different layers. It hooked me from the start and as the story unfolded I was drawn into it more and more finding it hard to put it down. At times I wasn't sure where it was going or who had done what as it does keep you guessing. This is a romance, mystery thriller with a difference and well worth reading.
January 7, 2016
The Woman Who Ran is a psychological thriller about a woman in hiding, following an apartment fire in Paris. The book kept me intrigued until the final pages, as I wondered what or who she was running away from - and why.
Helen Graham can't remember why she was in that burning apartment, and runs off to a Yorkshire village to try to regain her memories of that night. She attempts to stay off the local radar, but the villagers are intrigued about this mysterious woman living in the dilapidated Wildfell Hall. Retired journalist Gil is drawn to Helen and begins to investigate her background. He soon discovers that she's an award-winning news photographer, who was married to a well-known British war journalist who died in the apartment fire. But why is she now in hiding?
The plot moves along at a reasonable pace, as Gil stumbles upon a story of trauma, passion and deception and Helen recovers her memories. You can tell this book is written by a journalist, as the main journalist character is a NICE guy, rather than being portrayed as ruthless and immoral (as in so many other books). I can see this book appealing to fans of other popular psychological thrillers, such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through Lovereading in exchange for an honest review.
Helen Graham can't remember why she was in that burning apartment, and runs off to a Yorkshire village to try to regain her memories of that night. She attempts to stay off the local radar, but the villagers are intrigued about this mysterious woman living in the dilapidated Wildfell Hall. Retired journalist Gil is drawn to Helen and begins to investigate her background. He soon discovers that she's an award-winning news photographer, who was married to a well-known British war journalist who died in the apartment fire. But why is she now in hiding?
The plot moves along at a reasonable pace, as Gil stumbles upon a story of trauma, passion and deception and Helen recovers her memories. You can tell this book is written by a journalist, as the main journalist character is a NICE guy, rather than being portrayed as ruthless and immoral (as in so many other books). I can see this book appealing to fans of other popular psychological thrillers, such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through Lovereading in exchange for an honest review.
February 25, 2016
I enjoyed the characters in this of which the house was one and of course the feline participant. It was a well thought out story and covered quite a few social situations well, forced retirement, loneliness and the dread of approaching old age, family relationship problems, domestic abuse - all of those and more but it was well done I thought. The ending was gripping, yes the reader does have to suspend belief a little to make it work but that's what fiction is all about isn't it. If we didn't have to do that then it would be pretty boring so yes, that worked well. The final paragraphs were very subtle and satisfying.
All good then - Ah erm. Okay - there are sections in the book where the heroine is relating her "back story" and to be brutally honest I didn't find it convincing. Even suspending belief I can't imagine anyone speaking about sexual encounters in that way. Sorry to leave this on a negative but it did spoil for me what was a good read - it just wasn't realistic. Admittedly it was a tricky thing to manage and I don't think the author quite managed it - but I still think the book was worth its four stars and yes I would read another by this writer.
All good then - Ah erm. Okay - there are sections in the book where the heroine is relating her "back story" and to be brutally honest I didn't find it convincing. Even suspending belief I can't imagine anyone speaking about sexual encounters in that way. Sorry to leave this on a negative but it did spoil for me what was a good read - it just wasn't realistic. Admittedly it was a tricky thing to manage and I don't think the author quite managed it - but I still think the book was worth its four stars and yes I would read another by this writer.
May 22, 2019
I read it because I love Anne Brontëe's The Tennant of Wildfell Hall but it is a completely different kind of book.
April 25, 2016
This was a good thriller suspense story. Helen is on the run and hiding away on the Yorkshire moors in a spooky old house with nothing except a black cat for company. As the tale unfolds and loosly connected to the famous Bronte saga about Wildfell Hall we learn Helen suffers with post traumatic stress disorder. I, for one, enjoyed the description of how it affected her as a fellow PTSD sufferer I know the migraines, temporary memory loss and horrid flashbacks are totally spot on. There was enough intrigue to keep going to the end and you could feel Helen's fear. I liked Gil too. On the whole it was an enjoyable book I would recommend and it did remind me ever so slighlty of the latest TV drama Marcella.
December 7, 2018
This is one of those books you can't put down. Well planned and so well researched. The characters are totally believable and I was left feeling for this woman and her problems.
We are thrown into the 21st century while still harking back to the Brontes and Wildfell, its ghost stories and all. Helen Huntingdon escaping from a husband who totally oppresses her decides to move far away to the Dales.
Much is made of her time as a war photographer sometimes with her husband Art and often alone, of his total dominance and of her acceptance of this.
She is unable to rely on anybody else but eventually she confides in a retired journalist who helps her sort out her life.
I recommend this to all my friends.
We are thrown into the 21st century while still harking back to the Brontes and Wildfell, its ghost stories and all. Helen Huntingdon escaping from a husband who totally oppresses her decides to move far away to the Dales.
Much is made of her time as a war photographer sometimes with her husband Art and often alone, of his total dominance and of her acceptance of this.
She is unable to rely on anybody else but eventually she confides in a retired journalist who helps her sort out her life.
I recommend this to all my friends.
July 30, 2016
Hmmmm. I wasn't convinced by this book. For a start, anyone who wants to hide is going the wrong way about it by renting a huge mansion, especially if funds are tight, and how did she manage to pay incidentally, as she booked on the Internet, credit card? The police would have been on her doorstep the next day.
Helen seemed a strong woman, a woman with a mission. But what was her mission hiding in a rented house? What was her plan? That action seems at odds with her character.
But there you go, strong believable characters kept me reading.
Helen seemed a strong woman, a woman with a mission. But what was her mission hiding in a rented house? What was her plan? That action seems at odds with her character.
But there you go, strong believable characters kept me reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2016
I found it really hard to get into this book. The narrative was chatty and 'telling' rather than 'showing', reminding me of Liane Morty and Gillian Flynn's work, which I dislike for this fact. I struggled through but found myself skipping large chunks just to get to the end which I felt wasn't that awful anyway. My main reason, I think, was because the characters were flat. I just didn't care about Helen by the time I discovered what she'd been through.
March 25, 2016
I'm afraid this book didn't grab me, I read it to the end but didn't feel the tension build as I was supposed to.
September 16, 2016
A contemporary thriller with great characters and a classic gothic atmosphere.
December 18, 2016
Lisa Das Ende hat nochmal einiges rausgeholt , aber leider baute sich keine Spannung auf . Schade , man hätte einiges aus der Story machen können
August 12, 2019
This was a pretty good thriller, but I got bored in a few spots. A few twists that held my attention, this was a relatively quick read for me.
August 25, 2021
DNF
Leider nicht wirklich spannend und was mit den Charakteren passiert, ist mir auch egal..
Leider nicht wirklich spannend und was mit den Charakteren passiert, ist mir auch egal..
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