What do you think?
Rate this book
Alexandra
'2018'S MOST GRIPPING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER' Stylist
'Fresh. . . fascinating' Sunday Times
She was his perfect wife, until she went missing . . .
Alexandra Southwood has vanished. Her husband, Marc, is beside himself. It isn't long before the police are searching for a body.
But Alexandra is alive - trapped, far away from her husband and young daughters.
Desperate, Marc will stop at nothing to find the woman he loves. Even if it means discovering that he never really knew her at all.
Because Alexandra is no ordinary missing person - but then neither is she quite a perfect wife . . .
_________
'An astutely written, complex debut . . . even seasoned genre aficionados will be surprised' Guardian
'So refreshing. A thriller, a page-turner, thoughtful and thought-provoking' Sabine Durrant, bestselling author of Lie With Me
'Cunning . . . Will have your brain working in overdrive as you try to second guess the ingenious plot' Sunday Express
Previously published as Exhibit Alexandra
417 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 8, 2018
405 people are currently reading
4403 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 477 reviews
March 27, 2019
“So there are no limits?”
With the overwhelming number of authors now trying their hand at suspense, churning out an intriguing storyline simply isn’t enough anymore. Readers—this one included—are brimming with expectation thanks to the mighty shadows cast by the big dogs. Trendsetters like Gone Girl, Girl on the Train or one of my personal favorites, Clare Mackintosh's debut, I Let You Go. Storytelling with a blindsiding twist, something that changes absolutely everything we’ve come to hold true until that pivotal point, is what now earns the gold star. Part-time literary sleuths expect to be outsmarted. Duped. Caught off guard. Impressed. The downside? Authors willing to unleash cockamamie or nonsensical twists in the name of trickery.
The easiest way to grab this reader’s heart is to introduce a couple that just fits, like Alex and Marc. A chance meeting, underscored by whisperings of something more, leads to vows and two daughters. Alex trading her artistic ambitions for motherhood and a part-time teaching career is explained away as a choice, rather than sacrifice. All seemingly effortless in the face of their own version of perfect.
When Alex—wife, mother, friend and former roommate—goes missing, Marc becomes the obvious suspect, if not the true culprit. The author uses an alternating timeline to unravel the mystery, allowing Alex to narrate a large portion of the novel, even as she's held captive. Marc struggles to maintain some modicum of normalcy for their girls—as told by Alex—while her future remains uncertain.
The journey to the conclusion is reminiscent of trudging through a muddy field—too much focus put on the momentum of each and every achingly slow step. Upon arriving at the final destination, you might question if the tedious trek was worth it. The truth is odd—bordering on ridiculous even—as evidenced by how much over-explaining the author feels compelled to provide. The characters voice their truth, but just in case you didn’t quite get it the first go-round or find that you're not completely sold, there’s an article to reiterate the convoluted climax.
A few tidbits I chose to take as clues along the way—in addition to the previous title the book was published under—fed into this idea that I’d figured things out. And while it turns out I was wrong, I dare to say my assumptions were much more clever and less absurd than the actual truth turned out to be. His Perfect Wife might be different in conception from other books I’ve read in the genre, but it's far from dynamic enough to leave a lasting mark.
*Thanks to Crown Publishing for the free book, in exchange for my honest thoughts.
March 5, 2018
Wow... what a fascinating and unique psychological thriller by Natasha Bell. It's so refreshing when an author has a different eye for the clever ;). And my goodness .... this one has a different eye for sure.
Alexandra Southwood is living in York with her husband Marc and their beautiful two daughters Charlotte and Lizzie. Alexandra is happily married until the day she disappears. Heart-broken Marc refuses to believe that his wife is dead even though his friends, family, and detectives are believing that she may no longer be alive. Marc embarks on a journey to find what happened to how wife Alexandra.
Natasha Bell enters into the world of art and identity. Wow... I definitely learned a few things in this novel about how in-depth you can become as an artist.
This is a very thorough character driven novel. If you enjoy a mystery within a mystery with a very excellent psychological twist then you will love this! What I really enjoyed about this one.. is it left me really thinking. There were some aspects of the novel that I was scratching my head with and I still haven't figured out minor points BUT this is what keeps your fingers turning those pages!
The story is told from Marc's perspective and Alex's perspective. I was a little confused in the beginning of who's perspective we were following but as the story progressed.... this worked itself out :).
I do have to say... this story is very hard to review without any spoilers. So.. I will leave you with this.... if you're aching for a different psychological thriller please put this one on your list! :).
Overall, 4 stars. I will be looking forward to seeing more from this author.
Thank you so much Netgalley, Crown Publishing, and Natasha Bell for an advanced arc in exchange for my honest review.
Posted to GR: 3/4/18
Publication date: 3/13/18
Alexandra Southwood is living in York with her husband Marc and their beautiful two daughters Charlotte and Lizzie. Alexandra is happily married until the day she disappears. Heart-broken Marc refuses to believe that his wife is dead even though his friends, family, and detectives are believing that she may no longer be alive. Marc embarks on a journey to find what happened to how wife Alexandra.
Natasha Bell enters into the world of art and identity. Wow... I definitely learned a few things in this novel about how in-depth you can become as an artist.
This is a very thorough character driven novel. If you enjoy a mystery within a mystery with a very excellent psychological twist then you will love this! What I really enjoyed about this one.. is it left me really thinking. There were some aspects of the novel that I was scratching my head with and I still haven't figured out minor points BUT this is what keeps your fingers turning those pages!
The story is told from Marc's perspective and Alex's perspective. I was a little confused in the beginning of who's perspective we were following but as the story progressed.... this worked itself out :).
I do have to say... this story is very hard to review without any spoilers. So.. I will leave you with this.... if you're aching for a different psychological thriller please put this one on your list! :).
Overall, 4 stars. I will be looking forward to seeing more from this author.
Thank you so much Netgalley, Crown Publishing, and Natasha Bell for an advanced arc in exchange for my honest review.
Posted to GR: 3/4/18
Publication date: 3/13/18
March 4, 2018
This is a fascinating, intelligent and twisted psychological thriller debut from Natasha Bell, with echoes reminiscent of aspects of Gone Girl. Alexandra Southwood is an academic, living in York with her husband, Marc and her two children. She is happily married until the day she disappears. Bell ventures into the world of art, referencing a number of actual performance artists, the relationship between art and life, concept art and identity. A fraught Marc refuses to believe that his wife is dead as others do after some time and armed with his determination embarks on a quest to find his wife. The narrative paints a picture of Alexandra, psychological, her memories, her history and her life amidst the meaning of art and its relevance for her. Included are the letters of Amelia Heldt, Alexandra's college room mate. Amelia is a well known New York installation artist.
It is made clear from the start that Alexandra's account of what is happening within her family after her disappearance is a piece of fiction, as she is being held by her captor in a room. For a while it is possible to discern precisely where the story is going with the morally ambiguous Alexandra. Marc is a man who comes to understand that he barely knows his wife. The ending, however, is wonderful. This is an unsettling read that provides food for thought such as how stultifying some women find marriage and raising children compared to what they feel is their real calling, and ethics within art. A great entertaining read that, whilst feeling uneven in places, I very much enjoyed. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
It is made clear from the start that Alexandra's account of what is happening within her family after her disappearance is a piece of fiction, as she is being held by her captor in a room. For a while it is possible to discern precisely where the story is going with the morally ambiguous Alexandra. Marc is a man who comes to understand that he barely knows his wife. The ending, however, is wonderful. This is an unsettling read that provides food for thought such as how stultifying some women find marriage and raising children compared to what they feel is their real calling, and ethics within art. A great entertaining read that, whilst feeling uneven in places, I very much enjoyed. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
November 12, 2018
I think the author really took a risk with this story and that's part of the reason I liked it. The themes running throughout the book are definitely thought-provoking. This is a book that is probably best suited for readers who are willing to take a chance on something different. You might not necessarily like the direction the story ends up taking but hopefully you can appreciate the journey to get there.
Alexandra Southwood, a wife and mother, has gone missing. What makes this story somewhat unique is how it is told. You get to hear the perspective of Alexandra when she is missing and what she imagines is the reaction of her husband Marc to her disappearance. I will say it did take me awhile to get used to the style of that type of storytelling. But it definitely made it more interesting when added to the flashbacks of the years leading up to the present day as well as Amelia's letters to Alexandra.
This is a book that even though it can certainly be classified as a mystery, I think it reads much better as just regular fiction. The more you read, the more you start to get an idea of where the story is heading. I don't consider that a bad thing though because I would much rather read something that explores important topics than a book that might have a few twists and turns but overall the story is meaningless.
Overall, this was a book that made me feel uncomfortable at times but in the end it was worth it. I have a feeling I'm going to be thinking about this book for awhile. I love it when a book leaves an impression on you like that.
Thanks for the free book, Crown Publishing! I was under no obligation to post a review and all views expressed are my honest opinion.
Alexandra Southwood, a wife and mother, has gone missing. What makes this story somewhat unique is how it is told. You get to hear the perspective of Alexandra when she is missing and what she imagines is the reaction of her husband Marc to her disappearance. I will say it did take me awhile to get used to the style of that type of storytelling. But it definitely made it more interesting when added to the flashbacks of the years leading up to the present day as well as Amelia's letters to Alexandra.
This is a book that even though it can certainly be classified as a mystery, I think it reads much better as just regular fiction. The more you read, the more you start to get an idea of where the story is heading. I don't consider that a bad thing though because I would much rather read something that explores important topics than a book that might have a few twists and turns but overall the story is meaningless.
Overall, this was a book that made me feel uncomfortable at times but in the end it was worth it. I have a feeling I'm going to be thinking about this book for awhile. I love it when a book leaves an impression on you like that.
Thanks for the free book, Crown Publishing! I was under no obligation to post a review and all views expressed are my honest opinion.
March 8, 2019
Tense, Unnerving, & Chilling..
What more could you ask?
This book had all the ingredients that makeup an excellent psychological thriller. It was dark, intense, and electrifying. I couldn't put it down.
Alexandra disappeared. No one knows where she is or what has happened to her. Alexandra doesn't know why this is happening to her. What has she done to deserve this?
This book was gem. If you like psychological thrillers that are character-driven and plot-driven, this is for you. However, I do think this was more character heavy, than plot. For me, I don't mind that at all. I enjoy getting to know my characters and learning about them. It enriches my reading experience.
This was a fierce, richly told psychological thriller. It had many ideal components that made for an incredible, dark story. Highly Recommended!
Thank you to the publishers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review
What more could you ask?
This book had all the ingredients that makeup an excellent psychological thriller. It was dark, intense, and electrifying. I couldn't put it down.
Alexandra disappeared. No one knows where she is or what has happened to her. Alexandra doesn't know why this is happening to her. What has she done to deserve this?
This book was gem. If you like psychological thrillers that are character-driven and plot-driven, this is for you. However, I do think this was more character heavy, than plot. For me, I don't mind that at all. I enjoy getting to know my characters and learning about them. It enriches my reading experience.
This was a fierce, richly told psychological thriller. It had many ideal components that made for an incredible, dark story. Highly Recommended!
Thank you to the publishers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review
December 4, 2018
Alexandra has gone missing! When police investigate they find bloody clothing belonging to her ... but no body. Has she been murdered? Abducted?
Her husband, Marc, becomes the prime suspect, but he believes she is out there ...somewhere.
This is a really hard book to review. The beginning was like swimming in quicksand. It did pick up speed, but it took a while to get there. It's a convoluted story told in individual chapters by Alexandra and Marc. It's all wrapped up in her art performance ... but what is art and what is the reality? The ending is somewhat of a surprise and it felt a bit rushed to get there.
This is the author's debut novel and while it was okay, it didn't come across as thrilling. I found it a bit tedious.
Many thanks to Crown Publishing for the advanced paperback copy of this debut novel. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
April 2, 2018
I received this book for free from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.
Wow. This was a twisted story.
This is a hard book to review because I don’t want to spoil anything which is hard to do with a thriller, so if my review turns out a bit vague and abstract, that’s why.
The book started off a bit slow but really picked up about halfway through. By the time I got near the end, I was hooked.
Like the cover of the book suggests, you don’t know what is real and what is an illusion or reflection. That is the brilliance of this psychological thriller. Even at the end when you discover the truth, you don’t even know the full truth. You’re left wondering what parts are real and what parts are performance. The truth and fiction are woven together to create a captivating story about identity.
I really liked the ethical questions that this book brought up. I majored in philosophy in college and I always loved learning about ethics. This book definitely posed interesting ethical questions related to art throughout the novel.
Overall, this is an enthralling psychological thriller that dives deep and offers a fascinating look into a woman’s quest for identity.
Wow. This was a twisted story.
This is a hard book to review because I don’t want to spoil anything which is hard to do with a thriller, so if my review turns out a bit vague and abstract, that’s why.
The book started off a bit slow but really picked up about halfway through. By the time I got near the end, I was hooked.
Like the cover of the book suggests, you don’t know what is real and what is an illusion or reflection. That is the brilliance of this psychological thriller. Even at the end when you discover the truth, you don’t even know the full truth. You’re left wondering what parts are real and what parts are performance. The truth and fiction are woven together to create a captivating story about identity.
I really liked the ethical questions that this book brought up. I majored in philosophy in college and I always loved learning about ethics. This book definitely posed interesting ethical questions related to art throughout the novel.
Overall, this is an enthralling psychological thriller that dives deep and offers a fascinating look into a woman’s quest for identity.
March 18, 2018
Exhibit Alexandra by Natasha Bell
Marc's wife Alexandra has gone missing leaving him with two young children to look after and determined to find his wife. This novel is written from Alexandra's point of view as she tries to imagine how her disappearance is affecting her family. There are a few twist and turns in this story. I found the story confusing especially at the beginning and this affected my enjoyment of this book. I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
Marc's wife Alexandra has gone missing leaving him with two young children to look after and determined to find his wife. This novel is written from Alexandra's point of view as she tries to imagine how her disappearance is affecting her family. There are a few twist and turns in this story. I found the story confusing especially at the beginning and this affected my enjoyment of this book. I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 28, 2018
***Thank you to First to Read for providing me a complimentary copy of EXHIBIT ALEXANDRA by Natasha Bell in exchange for my honest review.***
Marc’s wife Alex disappears leaving him distraught and fearing the worst. The reality is far more bizarre that he could have imagined.
EXHIBIT ALEXANDRA is gimmicky and manipulative from the first page to the last. Alex narrates the chapters, even the ones where she’s not present based on how she thinks he’s reacting and what she says she hears from the kidnapper. So we know she can’t be a reliable narrator. The story switches from the present to when Alex and Marc met and fell in love and including letters from Alex’s American friend Amelia, whom Marc has never met.
***ending spoiler****
Turned out the whole story is Alex doing performance art. She created the character artist Amelia complete with social,security number, history and even hired an actress to play her. Alex was never missing, as Amelia she hopped an airplane from the UK to the USA and started a new life.
WTF? Seriously the story is so ridiculous and far fetched. Readers aren’t stupid. How are we supposed to buy into this perfect marriage with two great kids and Alex isn’t happy so she abandons her kids and husband for a character she created?
I do not recommend this book.
Marc’s wife Alex disappears leaving him distraught and fearing the worst. The reality is far more bizarre that he could have imagined.
EXHIBIT ALEXANDRA is gimmicky and manipulative from the first page to the last. Alex narrates the chapters, even the ones where she’s not present based on how she thinks he’s reacting and what she says she hears from the kidnapper. So we know she can’t be a reliable narrator. The story switches from the present to when Alex and Marc met and fell in love and including letters from Alex’s American friend Amelia, whom Marc has never met.
***ending spoiler****
Turned out the whole story is Alex doing performance art. She created the character artist Amelia complete with social,security number, history and even hired an actress to play her. Alex was never missing, as Amelia she hopped an airplane from the UK to the USA and started a new life.
WTF? Seriously the story is so ridiculous and far fetched. Readers aren’t stupid. How are we supposed to buy into this perfect marriage with two great kids and Alex isn’t happy so she abandons her kids and husband for a character she created?
I do not recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2018
Alexandra and Marc have been married for 13 years. They live in York, England with their two young daughters. One day Alexandra fails to come home from work and the subsequent police investigation fails to find her. The only clues they discover suggest that she is dead, or was at least severely injured. The story of her family's actions and reactions to the disappearance is related by Alexandra who is being held in captivity by an unidentified man. There is some awkwardness in this approach to the writing, since Alexandra can only speculate about what is happening. Who knows whether we are actually getting Marc's story, but you just have to forget about that and accept it for what it is. In any event, Marc refuses to believe that Alexandra is dead and his search for more information uncovers a stack of letters written to his wife over the years by Amelia, her former art school roommate. Amelia has gone on to lead the life that might have been Alexandra's if she had not married Marc. Amelia is single and unencumbered and tremendously successful as a performance and installation artist in New York City. Amelia obviously knows Alexandra much better than Marc does and might be able to shed some light on the disappearance. Unfortunately, Amelia is notoriously private and elusive.
Post-disappearance chapters alternated with chapters (which I found unnecessary) from the time early in the couple's relationship. There are also excerpts from Amelia's letters and descriptions of Alexandra's interactions with her captor.
This book was clever with a real twist (and twisted) ending and I enjoyed it despite some unevenness and a certain lack of believability. I'd read more by this author.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Post-disappearance chapters alternated with chapters (which I found unnecessary) from the time early in the couple's relationship. There are also excerpts from Amelia's letters and descriptions of Alexandra's interactions with her captor.
This book was clever with a real twist (and twisted) ending and I enjoyed it despite some unevenness and a certain lack of believability. I'd read more by this author.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
December 8, 2019
I read this in one sitting.
Not because I was smitten with it, but because I hate giving up, so if I put it down I just knew I’d not pick it up again!
The first half of the book was slow, tedious and like walking in thick goey glue. It stuck to my feet making it harder to plough on, but......
There is also some worthy bits in this book that kept me going. So there must have been ‘something’ that kept me hanging on.
This book I read as part of my Backlist challenge. I’ve not looked if she has another book out. I’d like to give her one more try.
Not because I was smitten with it, but because I hate giving up, so if I put it down I just knew I’d not pick it up again!
The first half of the book was slow, tedious and like walking in thick goey glue. It stuck to my feet making it harder to plough on, but......
There is also some worthy bits in this book that kept me going. So there must have been ‘something’ that kept me hanging on.
This book I read as part of my Backlist challenge. I’ve not looked if she has another book out. I’d like to give her one more try.
December 17, 2017
Quite frankly, this is one of the hardest books to review for me because there's SO much I want to say but everything I want to discuss will spoil you, dear reader friends... and I REFUSE to do that.
This book journeys through Alexandra's memories of her history with her husband, building her family, what she believes her family (especially her husband) is going through in the aftermath of her disappearance and her discussions with her captor. Mixed in are letters written to Alexandra from Amelia. Her husband refuses to believe she's dead without a body to confirm it so he digs deep to try and find her. What he finds is more than he had ever bargained for and turns his world completely upside down. A unique view point is that we know from the beginning that Alex is just giving a fictional account of what her husband and family are doing, which made some parts a little bit of a head scratcher.
This is a psychological portrait of Alexandra. I found this to be a bit too slow paced for my liking. I found my interest waning in various parts and would find myself skimming through some sections regarding her husband, Marc. The writing can be a little confusing towards the end, but then starts to make sense as it everything is revealed. And the reveal, for me, just made me mad. It did NOT work for me. Now, I understood what the author did and quite frankly, it's brilliant and not what I expected to happen. However, it's hard for me to like it because of what it turned out to be. I just don't get it... Let me clarify, I understand what happened. This type of subject matter just never made sense to me so it doesn't work for me.
I do believe that there will be a lot of people that WILL like this book. It's definitely gives light to the sacrifices a woman makes as a mother and a wife. How fair is it for a woman to have to give up her dreams and put her own independence aside for her husband and children? How far would a woman go to get that back? If you love that character build with a unique perspective, then this psychological thriller will suit you well.
Big thanks to Crown Publishing for this copy in return for my honest opinion.
This book journeys through Alexandra's memories of her history with her husband, building her family, what she believes her family (especially her husband) is going through in the aftermath of her disappearance and her discussions with her captor. Mixed in are letters written to Alexandra from Amelia. Her husband refuses to believe she's dead without a body to confirm it so he digs deep to try and find her. What he finds is more than he had ever bargained for and turns his world completely upside down. A unique view point is that we know from the beginning that Alex is just giving a fictional account of what her husband and family are doing, which made some parts a little bit of a head scratcher.
This is a psychological portrait of Alexandra. I found this to be a bit too slow paced for my liking. I found my interest waning in various parts and would find myself skimming through some sections regarding her husband, Marc. The writing can be a little confusing towards the end, but then starts to make sense as it everything is revealed. And the reveal, for me, just made me mad. It did NOT work for me. Now, I understood what the author did and quite frankly, it's brilliant and not what I expected to happen. However, it's hard for me to like it because of what it turned out to be. I just don't get it... Let me clarify, I understand what happened. This type of subject matter just never made sense to me so it doesn't work for me.
I do believe that there will be a lot of people that WILL like this book. It's definitely gives light to the sacrifices a woman makes as a mother and a wife. How fair is it for a woman to have to give up her dreams and put her own independence aside for her husband and children? How far would a woman go to get that back? If you love that character build with a unique perspective, then this psychological thriller will suit you well.
Big thanks to Crown Publishing for this copy in return for my honest opinion.
April 12, 2018
It’s taken me nearly a week to be able to form my thoughts about Exhibit Alexandra into a review! This is one of those books that had the rare “pleasure” of making me think very deeply about how I felt about it. This doesn’t happen often and I can see that this is possibly a “marmite book” but having thought it through over a few days I have come to the conclusion that YES I did enjoy Exhibit Alexandra!
Alexandra Southwood is a working mother and wife who, one day, doesn’t come home from work. Once the police become involved they find Alexandra’s bike covered in blood by the canal and a murder enquiry starts. But we know Alexandra is still alive and unable to contact her family. Where is she and why did she disappear? The answers may surprise you! And that’s all I’m going to say!
Wow! What a debut! This isn’t going to be for everyone but if you like deeply flawed and unlikeable characters, unreliable narrators and a plot that felt unique and intellectually engaging then try it! I can honestly say that, although I understood where the author was going, I was intrigued enough by her stylish storyline to keep reading so I could see how it played out.
Natasha Bell has created some absolutely vile characters here and I have to say I didn’t like any of them very much but that didn’t stop me from relishing their unlikability, almost like scratching an itch when you know you shouldn’t! I wanted to dissect them, to peel back their layers and try to work out what motivated them and drove them forward in their lives. I love it when a plot really makes me think and I promise you this one will make your brain ache as it explores our need for identity and our place in society. I’m not an art fanatic but I know what I like (sorry for the cliche!) and there are some fascinating in depth artistic descriptions here that captured my interest enough to google some of it.
This is a powerful psychological thriller which will either grab you with its originality and expression or…..it won’t!!! I’m still thinking about it days later and I like that. Natasha Bell stretched my perceptions on certain issues and I quite liked that too!
An intriguing idea that’s been well executed, especially for a debut! I will be interested to see where Natasha Bell goes from here.
Alexandra Southwood is a working mother and wife who, one day, doesn’t come home from work. Once the police become involved they find Alexandra’s bike covered in blood by the canal and a murder enquiry starts. But we know Alexandra is still alive and unable to contact her family. Where is she and why did she disappear? The answers may surprise you! And that’s all I’m going to say!
Wow! What a debut! This isn’t going to be for everyone but if you like deeply flawed and unlikeable characters, unreliable narrators and a plot that felt unique and intellectually engaging then try it! I can honestly say that, although I understood where the author was going, I was intrigued enough by her stylish storyline to keep reading so I could see how it played out.
Natasha Bell has created some absolutely vile characters here and I have to say I didn’t like any of them very much but that didn’t stop me from relishing their unlikability, almost like scratching an itch when you know you shouldn’t! I wanted to dissect them, to peel back their layers and try to work out what motivated them and drove them forward in their lives. I love it when a plot really makes me think and I promise you this one will make your brain ache as it explores our need for identity and our place in society. I’m not an art fanatic but I know what I like (sorry for the cliche!) and there are some fascinating in depth artistic descriptions here that captured my interest enough to google some of it.
This is a powerful psychological thriller which will either grab you with its originality and expression or…..it won’t!!! I’m still thinking about it days later and I like that. Natasha Bell stretched my perceptions on certain issues and I quite liked that too!
An intriguing idea that’s been well executed, especially for a debut! I will be interested to see where Natasha Bell goes from here.
March 15, 2018
This was a suspenseful, intriguing and well written thriller. I particularly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of installation art creations and the underlying analysis of what gives a person an identity, the importance of it and how far someone may go to keep it. It's also quite twisty and mysterious, so a book that makes for compelling reading!
April 7, 2018
The premise of this novel falls within one of my favourite genres and so I happily accepted the invitation from Net Galley to review it. I must admit to finding it a bit of a slog.
Briefly: Alex and Marc live in York, have been married for several years, have two daughters and are successful in their chosen careers. All is going well until Alex suddenly disappears; police find her clothes and some blood on the river bank, and it begins to look like Alex is dead. Marc refuses to accept this, continuing to believe that she will eventually be found.
This is a strange book in that Alex, being held in a room somewhere, by someone unknown, is watching these events unfold. As she relates this to the reader she also looks back on her marriage and the time when she and Marc met. Before they met Alex was a student in the USA where she became great friends with a fellow student Amelia; they share a passion for modern art, and there is a great deal of information about this. Unfortunately I found this topic over emphasised and uninteresting.
The narration from Alex reminds me a little of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, except that right from the start we know that the narrator is dead. Is Alex? If not dead, then where is she and why? All will be revealed, I hope, if I continue, but at 45% into the book, I'm not altogether sure I will.
Okay, I've now plodded through this somewhat unsatisfactory book; I finished it because about 75% of the way through I was pretty sure I knew what was going on, so had to see if I was right. I can say – okay, a bit smugly – I was. Bang on. The construction of this makes for confusing reading: Alex narrates the story from her viewpoint, but we also have Alex talking to and about the Someone who is keeping her in a locked room. The problem is the text jumps from one perspective to another with no indication of the change. The timeline hops about, and possibly because I was reading a Kindle version, I couldn't keep track of what happened where or when. Add to this Amelia's letters – which thankfully, are in a different font - and it makes for a jumbled story.
I know I will probably be in the minority when I admit that I didn't enjoy this book; I feel it's all too contrived, with too much padding. As for Alex , she is so selfish I disliked her from the beginning to the end.
Briefly: Alex and Marc live in York, have been married for several years, have two daughters and are successful in their chosen careers. All is going well until Alex suddenly disappears; police find her clothes and some blood on the river bank, and it begins to look like Alex is dead. Marc refuses to accept this, continuing to believe that she will eventually be found.
This is a strange book in that Alex, being held in a room somewhere, by someone unknown, is watching these events unfold. As she relates this to the reader she also looks back on her marriage and the time when she and Marc met. Before they met Alex was a student in the USA where she became great friends with a fellow student Amelia; they share a passion for modern art, and there is a great deal of information about this. Unfortunately I found this topic over emphasised and uninteresting.
The narration from Alex reminds me a little of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, except that right from the start we know that the narrator is dead. Is Alex? If not dead, then where is she and why? All will be revealed, I hope, if I continue, but at 45% into the book, I'm not altogether sure I will.
Okay, I've now plodded through this somewhat unsatisfactory book; I finished it because about 75% of the way through I was pretty sure I knew what was going on, so had to see if I was right. I can say – okay, a bit smugly – I was. Bang on. The construction of this makes for confusing reading: Alex narrates the story from her viewpoint, but we also have Alex talking to and about the Someone who is keeping her in a locked room. The problem is the text jumps from one perspective to another with no indication of the change. The timeline hops about, and possibly because I was reading a Kindle version, I couldn't keep track of what happened where or when. Add to this Amelia's letters – which thankfully, are in a different font - and it makes for a jumbled story.
I know I will probably be in the minority when I admit that I didn't enjoy this book; I feel it's all too contrived, with too much padding. As for Alex , she is so selfish I disliked her from the beginning to the end.
January 30, 2018
So, in the beginning part of this book, I thought this would be a four-star read.
I liked our characters and the mystery was compelling. I thought I had figured things out – the author’s clues were subtle, but there if you were paying attention.
I was enjoying it.
Then, the author did the unforgivable…she spoiled her own book.
Roughly a third of the way through, the author introduces a peripheral character – a character completely unimportant to the book. The entire purpose of the character is to give you a clue as to what’s going on. Did I say a clue? I mean a big, honking, neon lights and arrow and fireworks and couldn’t be missed by a six-year-old clue. Then, the character disappears for a bit. And then later, comers back to give you the same clue again in case you missed it the first time.
And my enjoyment of the book was ruined.
I did continue to read, largely in the hope (however shallow a hope it was) that this was some red herring – that perhaps the author was playing with the reader and then would have some twist revealing that everything she led us to believe (or should I say hit us over the head with) was wrong.
Nope. The reason behind everything is everything that character X (the completely unnecessary to the plot character) tells us.
Not happy.
*ARC Provided by Net Galley
I liked our characters and the mystery was compelling. I thought I had figured things out – the author’s clues were subtle, but there if you were paying attention.
I was enjoying it.
Then, the author did the unforgivable…she spoiled her own book.
Roughly a third of the way through, the author introduces a peripheral character – a character completely unimportant to the book. The entire purpose of the character is to give you a clue as to what’s going on. Did I say a clue? I mean a big, honking, neon lights and arrow and fireworks and couldn’t be missed by a six-year-old clue. Then, the character disappears for a bit. And then later, comers back to give you the same clue again in case you missed it the first time.
And my enjoyment of the book was ruined.
I did continue to read, largely in the hope (however shallow a hope it was) that this was some red herring – that perhaps the author was playing with the reader and then would have some twist revealing that everything she led us to believe (or should I say hit us over the head with) was wrong.
Nope. The reason behind everything is everything that character X (the completely unnecessary to the plot character) tells us.
Not happy.
*ARC Provided by Net Galley
December 4, 2018
Are you a literary fiction fan who is crime fiction-curious? Do you enjoy crime novels, but appreciate those that are on the more cerebral end of the mystery fiction spectrum? With a special focus on women’s issues, as well as on the arts, Natasha Bell’s His Perfect Wife is an ambitious, well-written, psychologically-complex debut that will resonate strongly with many women and provoke much discussion. His Perfect Wife would certainly make an interesting selection for Emma Watson’s Goodreads book club, “Our Shared Shelf”, and/or Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club on Audible. Thank you to Crown Publishing for a free paperback copy of His Perfect Wife! This review is the honest opinion of Mystery in Minutes.
WHAT IS HIS PERFECT WIFE ABOUT?
The novel opens with husband Marc Southwood speaking on the phone with British law enforcement about the fact that his wife is missing. Marc is a bookish academic and “Uni” professor, who lives with his two daughters, aged seven and ten, and his wife, Alexandra Southwood. Alexandra is a thirty-seven year old, part-time, art history lecturer at the same University, in the north of England, where her husband teaches.
Flash back to when Alexandra was younger: after earning both a BA and an MA from Cambridge, she left England to study art - sculpture, photography, installation, video, performance - in The United States. But then, with only one semester remaining in her pursuit of an MFA, Alexandra left her Chicago art school to return to England to be with her newish-at-the-time beau, Marc. In the years since, Marc and Alexandra have loved one another, and have created a beautiful family together, and Alexandra did indeed want to be with Marc when she left art school all those years ago. But we learn that Alexandra, being a very creative and philosophical person, who thinks about things deeply and artistically, and most definitely “out of the box”, has questioned her own life choices and self-actualization, or lack thereof, as so many have done.
Memories of her courtship with Marc, as well as stories of her family life, are juxtaposed with interactions that Alexandra is now having with the unnamed character who is holding her captive. As British law enforcement looks into Alexandra’s disappearance, Marc puts on his own detective hat, and begins to investigate, determined to find out what happened to his beloved.
His Perfect Wife is not a book to be read for fast-paced, casual entertainment. It is, for the most part, a slow burn of a crime novel that, while engaging and accessible, is meant to be savored as it explores the role of art and the artist, as well as the struggle of “perfect wives” and, especially, “perfect mothers” to find the time and the focus for creative endeavors that provide many with emotional and intellectual sustenance.
You may think that you know the direction His Perfect Wife is going to take, dear reader, but Ms. Bell has several surprises and twists and turns up her sleeve that most readers are unlikely to see coming! His Perfect Wife by Natasha Bell is an intelligent debut that I am still pondering!
WHAT IS HIS PERFECT WIFE ABOUT?
The novel opens with husband Marc Southwood speaking on the phone with British law enforcement about the fact that his wife is missing. Marc is a bookish academic and “Uni” professor, who lives with his two daughters, aged seven and ten, and his wife, Alexandra Southwood. Alexandra is a thirty-seven year old, part-time, art history lecturer at the same University, in the north of England, where her husband teaches.
Flash back to when Alexandra was younger: after earning both a BA and an MA from Cambridge, she left England to study art - sculpture, photography, installation, video, performance - in The United States. But then, with only one semester remaining in her pursuit of an MFA, Alexandra left her Chicago art school to return to England to be with her newish-at-the-time beau, Marc. In the years since, Marc and Alexandra have loved one another, and have created a beautiful family together, and Alexandra did indeed want to be with Marc when she left art school all those years ago. But we learn that Alexandra, being a very creative and philosophical person, who thinks about things deeply and artistically, and most definitely “out of the box”, has questioned her own life choices and self-actualization, or lack thereof, as so many have done.
Memories of her courtship with Marc, as well as stories of her family life, are juxtaposed with interactions that Alexandra is now having with the unnamed character who is holding her captive. As British law enforcement looks into Alexandra’s disappearance, Marc puts on his own detective hat, and begins to investigate, determined to find out what happened to his beloved.
His Perfect Wife is not a book to be read for fast-paced, casual entertainment. It is, for the most part, a slow burn of a crime novel that, while engaging and accessible, is meant to be savored as it explores the role of art and the artist, as well as the struggle of “perfect wives” and, especially, “perfect mothers” to find the time and the focus for creative endeavors that provide many with emotional and intellectual sustenance.
You may think that you know the direction His Perfect Wife is going to take, dear reader, but Ms. Bell has several surprises and twists and turns up her sleeve that most readers are unlikely to see coming! His Perfect Wife by Natasha Bell is an intelligent debut that I am still pondering!
March 2, 2018
I would like to thank Penguin Michael Joseph and Netgalley for a copy of this book. I find this story really hard to review as for its uniqueness.
Alexandra Southwood is a mother and academic and also an artist. She goes missing one day. But, her husband Marc and her family and friends don’t give up searching for her. The story is narrated by Alexandra herself and it tells of how Marc and herself met, and the lives of their friends and family and how they are all coping with her disappearance. The police are not helping much with the search. Also copies of letter that have been written to Alexandra in her past. There is a lot of references of the art world in this book which for me personally found quite boring, that I started skipping through the book and I thought the author went completely away from the subject of this book that some of the things written was unnecessary. Sorry this book wasn’t for me.
Alexandra Southwood is a mother and academic and also an artist. She goes missing one day. But, her husband Marc and her family and friends don’t give up searching for her. The story is narrated by Alexandra herself and it tells of how Marc and herself met, and the lives of their friends and family and how they are all coping with her disappearance. The police are not helping much with the search. Also copies of letter that have been written to Alexandra in her past. There is a lot of references of the art world in this book which for me personally found quite boring, that I started skipping through the book and I thought the author went completely away from the subject of this book that some of the things written was unnecessary. Sorry this book wasn’t for me.
March 3, 2018
Okay, so, I hated this.
I more or less guessed the twist pretty early on. Around 10%. I didn't know all the finer details but there was such a heavy focus on art exhibition, plus the blurb and the title. So all of this was a piece of performance art, basically. This woman, Amelia, ruined Marc's life and scarred her children forever, for the sake of controversial art. It's disgusting. And why did she do it? Because she felt that she had lost a part of her identity in being a mother? So congratulations to this story for perpetuating the idea that women who wish to have identities outside of motherhood are monsters. One star.
I more or less guessed the twist pretty early on. Around 10%. I didn't know all the finer details but there was such a heavy focus on art exhibition, plus the blurb and the title. So all of this was a piece of performance art, basically. This woman, Amelia, ruined Marc's life and scarred her children forever, for the sake of controversial art. It's disgusting. And why did she do it? Because she felt that she had lost a part of her identity in being a mother? So congratulations to this story for perpetuating the idea that women who wish to have identities outside of motherhood are monsters. One star.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2018
I would like to thank Netgalley and Pengiun UK - Michael Joseph for an advance copy of Exhibit Alexandra, a psychological thriller set in York.
Marc Southwood returns home one Thursday to find his wife Alexandra missing. This is very unlike her as she is a loving wife and a bit of a homebody. The police investigation gets nowhere but gradually a rather different picture of Alex emerges.
I would like to say I thoroughly enjoyed Exhibition Alexandra but I'm very divided about it and that is probably the point. The novel is told from Alex's point of view as she relates how Marc and her daughters react to her disappearance. Much of what she says is educated guesswork but it makes for a compelling, mostly third person narrative. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens to her as this plotline is intercut with interactions between her and her captor. To add to the interest the author also includes letters from Alexandra's college roommate, Amelia Heldt, now a famous but reclusive New York installation artist and events from Alexandra's past which coincide with the dates on the letters. Normally I don't like a switching timeline but in this novel every scrap of information adds to the reader's knowledge and builds the mystery and tension.
In direct contrast to the compulsive nature of the mystery of Alexandra are the discussions on modern art, its meaning and relevance. Alex is a frustrated artist who gave it all up willingly for love and marriage so now she lectures. She is so up herself on the subject that it's cringeworthy. The arguments are so irrelevant to my life that they barely registered with me and bored me rigid. Ditto for the middle class women who can't be satisfied with what they have and moan on about their husbands and the sacrifices they made for them. I still haven't worked out if Ms Bell is having a laugh with this but whichever it certainly provokes a response.
I am impressed by the way Ms Bell slowly unpeels Alex's life and personality as she slowly morphs from likeable and slightly anodyne into a very dislikeable character. it is cleverly done as the reader sees it all through Marc's eyes but in the knowledge that it is Alex doing the telling. It is an interesting approach and works extremely well. The ending, however, is a masterclass. I can't explain it further without ruining the rest of the read but it's worth waiting for.
Exhibit Alexandra is a very clever novel, quite unsettling in parts and thought provoking in others. I suspect it will be a love it or loathe it read for most readers with very few sitting on the fence so while I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed it I admire what Ms Bell is trying to do and have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.
Marc Southwood returns home one Thursday to find his wife Alexandra missing. This is very unlike her as she is a loving wife and a bit of a homebody. The police investigation gets nowhere but gradually a rather different picture of Alex emerges.
I would like to say I thoroughly enjoyed Exhibition Alexandra but I'm very divided about it and that is probably the point. The novel is told from Alex's point of view as she relates how Marc and her daughters react to her disappearance. Much of what she says is educated guesswork but it makes for a compelling, mostly third person narrative. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens to her as this plotline is intercut with interactions between her and her captor. To add to the interest the author also includes letters from Alexandra's college roommate, Amelia Heldt, now a famous but reclusive New York installation artist and events from Alexandra's past which coincide with the dates on the letters. Normally I don't like a switching timeline but in this novel every scrap of information adds to the reader's knowledge and builds the mystery and tension.
In direct contrast to the compulsive nature of the mystery of Alexandra are the discussions on modern art, its meaning and relevance. Alex is a frustrated artist who gave it all up willingly for love and marriage so now she lectures. She is so up herself on the subject that it's cringeworthy. The arguments are so irrelevant to my life that they barely registered with me and bored me rigid. Ditto for the middle class women who can't be satisfied with what they have and moan on about their husbands and the sacrifices they made for them. I still haven't worked out if Ms Bell is having a laugh with this but whichever it certainly provokes a response.
I am impressed by the way Ms Bell slowly unpeels Alex's life and personality as she slowly morphs from likeable and slightly anodyne into a very dislikeable character. it is cleverly done as the reader sees it all through Marc's eyes but in the knowledge that it is Alex doing the telling. It is an interesting approach and works extremely well. The ending, however, is a masterclass. I can't explain it further without ruining the rest of the read but it's worth waiting for.
Exhibit Alexandra is a very clever novel, quite unsettling in parts and thought provoking in others. I suspect it will be a love it or loathe it read for most readers with very few sitting on the fence so while I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed it I admire what Ms Bell is trying to do and have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.
Read
March 17, 2018"The very worst things in life, our most fearful nightmares, they don't happen all at once. They creep up, lodge themsevles gradually in our brains..."
I just finished reading this, in one sitting, because I could not put it down. From the blurb, believe me when I say that you can't imagine what a ride you're getting on. I would say that this psychological thriller will be very polarizing and that you'll either love it or hate it. I fall on the love side because it was quite unique, despite the inevitable (and so tiring) comparisons to GONE GIRL and the like. It seems I read so many books in this genre that are full of secrets and lies between husbands and wives, etc. Well, most have nothing on this one.
I'm trying to figure out how to review this without ruining it for future readers -- the initial point is "explaining the absolute abnormality of a woman who had always come home...not walking through our front door that night," says Marc when Alexandra Southwood goes missing. The family, living in York, has two young daughters. The police get involved quickly and begin an intense hunt, but this is not a typical 'detectives searching for a missing person' novel. The narrative is so bizarre as Alex tells an unidentified man her story "more honest than the police reports and newspaper articles. If it is not an actual truth, it is very much a human one." Interspersed between Alex's account are other points of view -- that of Marc, letters from her college friend, Amelia, and flashbacks painting a picture of their married life together. Bizarre, right?
Right away the reader senses something really off about this whole scenario. Where is Alex? What happened? Why? Lots of questions. Along with the forward motion of the story describing how Marc, his friends and family react to Alex's disappearance and the search for at least a body so they can have some closure, there is ART. ALL CAPS ART. I don't pretend to know much about art other than to be able to say whether or not I like a particular piece of it or not. It's not my thing, so I learned a lot about it from a much more learned source! I must say that was the least compelling part of this book to me until I got further in and found out more about Alex and what makes her tick. I can't say I liked her at all, was totally empathetic to Marc all along, and the other characters in the story were only peripheral to their relationship. Alex's main relationship was with herself.
So forgive this meandering and probably pointless review and take a chance on reading the book itself as it is far too complex for me to reduce to these few paragraphs to try to explain my reaction. I think the ending was quite a masterpiece even as I anticipated what was coming as I rushed to the conclusion. Certainly it would make an excellent book club book as there are so many ideas and issues that could be discussed and debated. Definitely one that was thought-provoking and I'll be pondering some of it for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the e-book ARC to read and review.
I just finished reading this, in one sitting, because I could not put it down. From the blurb, believe me when I say that you can't imagine what a ride you're getting on. I would say that this psychological thriller will be very polarizing and that you'll either love it or hate it. I fall on the love side because it was quite unique, despite the inevitable (and so tiring) comparisons to GONE GIRL and the like. It seems I read so many books in this genre that are full of secrets and lies between husbands and wives, etc. Well, most have nothing on this one.
I'm trying to figure out how to review this without ruining it for future readers -- the initial point is "explaining the absolute abnormality of a woman who had always come home...not walking through our front door that night," says Marc when Alexandra Southwood goes missing. The family, living in York, has two young daughters. The police get involved quickly and begin an intense hunt, but this is not a typical 'detectives searching for a missing person' novel. The narrative is so bizarre as Alex tells an unidentified man her story "more honest than the police reports and newspaper articles. If it is not an actual truth, it is very much a human one." Interspersed between Alex's account are other points of view -- that of Marc, letters from her college friend, Amelia, and flashbacks painting a picture of their married life together. Bizarre, right?
Right away the reader senses something really off about this whole scenario. Where is Alex? What happened? Why? Lots of questions. Along with the forward motion of the story describing how Marc, his friends and family react to Alex's disappearance and the search for at least a body so they can have some closure, there is ART. ALL CAPS ART. I don't pretend to know much about art other than to be able to say whether or not I like a particular piece of it or not. It's not my thing, so I learned a lot about it from a much more learned source! I must say that was the least compelling part of this book to me until I got further in and found out more about Alex and what makes her tick. I can't say I liked her at all, was totally empathetic to Marc all along, and the other characters in the story were only peripheral to their relationship. Alex's main relationship was with herself.
So forgive this meandering and probably pointless review and take a chance on reading the book itself as it is far too complex for me to reduce to these few paragraphs to try to explain my reaction. I think the ending was quite a masterpiece even as I anticipated what was coming as I rushed to the conclusion. Certainly it would make an excellent book club book as there are so many ideas and issues that could be discussed and debated. Definitely one that was thought-provoking and I'll be pondering some of it for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the e-book ARC to read and review.
March 2, 2018
Book reviews on www.snazzybooks.com
This wasn't quite what I expected; I feel like the synopsis reads more as a thriller/ mystery (and did really make me excited to read this, to be fair) but in reality is more of a slow burning analysis of Alexandra and her family/ relationships from when she met her husband Marc in college to the present day. I don't want to give anything away so I'll keep this brief, but we find out a lot more about Alexandra and the book is sort of a psychological evaluation of her at times. We see how her family is coping and there is always that mystery of what has actually happened to her; this is what kept me reading on, as I found a lot of the chapters about their past a little long and uninteresting.
This is definitely not your average psychological thriller, and if you're a little bored of the same kind of book in this genre over and over again then this will definitely provide a different kind of read. I unfortunately struggled to keep attention until the end part, which I really enjoyed! Once I'd got to the end, I flicked back and looked over the parts which I hadn't picked up on at the time but which now made more sense, and I love it when a book makes me want to do that. It's definitely clever and I liked some of the themes and theories it puts forward, particularly around how art and life mix - it made me really think.
Overall, this is something a little different which I appreciate, but the first 2/3 of the book just didn't hold my attention properly. I would, however, recommend if you like your thrillers a little slower but still rather clever.
[Rating: 3.5/5]
Many thanks to Michael Joseph for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
This wasn't quite what I expected; I feel like the synopsis reads more as a thriller/ mystery (and did really make me excited to read this, to be fair) but in reality is more of a slow burning analysis of Alexandra and her family/ relationships from when she met her husband Marc in college to the present day. I don't want to give anything away so I'll keep this brief, but we find out a lot more about Alexandra and the book is sort of a psychological evaluation of her at times. We see how her family is coping and there is always that mystery of what has actually happened to her; this is what kept me reading on, as I found a lot of the chapters about their past a little long and uninteresting.
This is definitely not your average psychological thriller, and if you're a little bored of the same kind of book in this genre over and over again then this will definitely provide a different kind of read. I unfortunately struggled to keep attention until the end part, which I really enjoyed! Once I'd got to the end, I flicked back and looked over the parts which I hadn't picked up on at the time but which now made more sense, and I love it when a book makes me want to do that. It's definitely clever and I liked some of the themes and theories it puts forward, particularly around how art and life mix - it made me really think.
Overall, this is something a little different which I appreciate, but the first 2/3 of the book just didn't hold my attention properly. I would, however, recommend if you like your thrillers a little slower but still rather clever.
[Rating: 3.5/5]
Many thanks to Michael Joseph for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
December 20, 2017
"Exhibit Alexandra" is a different take on a psychological thriller - very clever and somewhat insightful and highly likely to divide opinion. The central theme, if you like, is a little niche and will appeal wildly to some readers and leave others scratching their heads. Life imitating art imitating life - although I saw very early on where the author was going with this, the journey was all the more fascinating for that.
I'm not an art critic and literally know nothing about it. I see paintings I like sometimes that appeal to me but it can just as easily be kid's random splash of colour as it can be a Rembrandt or whatever, however in this novel I learned a good deal about art as an idea both in the concept and in the storytelling.
The main thing though is if you like a good character study with a twist, a mystery within a mystery you'll probably love this novel, it has a strange way of drawing you in to the seemingly cliched tale of a wife gone missing and a husband's search. That search though is only as imagined by the one who is lost. It is a multi-layered twisted tale which in it's final resolution asks of the reader a question. One that I shall ponder my answer to.
Very difficult to review without spoilers so I'll leave it there. I loved this for it's differences, for the intuitive writing that takes you on a journey through the mind of one wife, mother, artist and explores the depths of the human condition.
Recommended.
I'm not an art critic and literally know nothing about it. I see paintings I like sometimes that appeal to me but it can just as easily be kid's random splash of colour as it can be a Rembrandt or whatever, however in this novel I learned a good deal about art as an idea both in the concept and in the storytelling.
The main thing though is if you like a good character study with a twist, a mystery within a mystery you'll probably love this novel, it has a strange way of drawing you in to the seemingly cliched tale of a wife gone missing and a husband's search. That search though is only as imagined by the one who is lost. It is a multi-layered twisted tale which in it's final resolution asks of the reader a question. One that I shall ponder my answer to.
Very difficult to review without spoilers so I'll leave it there. I loved this for it's differences, for the intuitive writing that takes you on a journey through the mind of one wife, mother, artist and explores the depths of the human condition.
Recommended.
January 15, 2018
A lot of what I'm writing almost definitely never happened. I wasn't there, obviously, I was missing. Gone.
Hmm, this is a difficult book to review: by the end we can appreciate how audacious it is, and the ideas at its heart are underpinned by postmodern theory about the wavering, porous lines between art and life, performance and identity - yet, for all this good stuff, the majority of the narrative is laboured and dull.
Way too much time is spent in playing an obvious Gone Girl game, switching between Alex's past story of her marriage, her imaginings of what her husband, friends and kids are doing and feeling once she's disappeared, and Alex in an obscure present that rather crassly tries to pull the wool over our eyes (surely, as readers, we know better by now?)
And yet, the material that Bell is playing with is clever and provocative, it just feels like she's prevaricating, unsure about how far to go, perhaps fearing that readers will shy away from what she's really trying to write about and so wraps it all up in an easy-peasy, derivative domestic noir?
The end point is more startling even than I had predicted (and I'd spotted all the twists pretty much from the go), and a book that had really capitalised on the debates about aesthetics and femininity could have been marvellously gripping.
For all my disappointments, I'm going with a generous 4* (it's January, I'm feeling benevolent) but that's to reflect the potential rather than the actual execution.
Thanks to Penguin for an interesting ARC via NetGalley.
March 11, 2018
With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin books for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.
Alexandra Southwood is happily married to Marc with two children Charlotte and Lizzie. One evening Alex leaves work to ride home on her bicycle and is never seen again. Marc is absolutely devastated and knows Alex would never leave her family. Meanwhile Alex is being held by an unknown man against her will. She is shown TV footage of Marc's despair and her captor tells her she is there to learn about herself.
Days later Alex's bike is found along with a large amount of blood matching her blood type. When the police investigate the disappearance they find out Alex was going to New York when she was supposedly visiting her sick mother. When Marc goes through Alex's letters he finds some from her college friend Amelia. What he reads causes his life to turn upside down.
The story is told through the thoughts of Alexandra and how she imagines Marc and her family are coping. The story also goes back to when Alex and Marc met one summer and fell in love.
This plot line for Exhibit Alexandra was definitely a unique concept. To be honest I did not enjoy the amount of information about artists and conceptual art. I can appreciate it was relevant because Alexandra was an academic but it was a bit to airy fairy for me.
I enjoyed this book but the story was very slow and did not get going for me until I was 40% into the story. I don't want to give too much away but the story really came alive for me at that point. I intended reading for an hour before bed but ended up reading all night, I slept for a couple of hours and finished the rest in the morning.
Exhibit Alexandra was a brilliant twisty turny psychological thriller. I was absolutely sure I knew who had taken Alex but I was wrong. The ending of this book was far fetched but with a stunning conclusion I did not see coming. I would definitely read more from this author in the future.
Alexandra Southwood is happily married to Marc with two children Charlotte and Lizzie. One evening Alex leaves work to ride home on her bicycle and is never seen again. Marc is absolutely devastated and knows Alex would never leave her family. Meanwhile Alex is being held by an unknown man against her will. She is shown TV footage of Marc's despair and her captor tells her she is there to learn about herself.
Days later Alex's bike is found along with a large amount of blood matching her blood type. When the police investigate the disappearance they find out Alex was going to New York when she was supposedly visiting her sick mother. When Marc goes through Alex's letters he finds some from her college friend Amelia. What he reads causes his life to turn upside down.
The story is told through the thoughts of Alexandra and how she imagines Marc and her family are coping. The story also goes back to when Alex and Marc met one summer and fell in love.
This plot line for Exhibit Alexandra was definitely a unique concept. To be honest I did not enjoy the amount of information about artists and conceptual art. I can appreciate it was relevant because Alexandra was an academic but it was a bit to airy fairy for me.
I enjoyed this book but the story was very slow and did not get going for me until I was 40% into the story. I don't want to give too much away but the story really came alive for me at that point. I intended reading for an hour before bed but ended up reading all night, I slept for a couple of hours and finished the rest in the morning.
Exhibit Alexandra was a brilliant twisty turny psychological thriller. I was absolutely sure I knew who had taken Alex but I was wrong. The ending of this book was far fetched but with a stunning conclusion I did not see coming. I would definitely read more from this author in the future.
July 25, 2019
Every once in a while I pick up a book and I am hooked on it - thinking - what the heck is going on or what is going to happen next. Then nothing happens or it gets boring. But, I say to myself.. there MUST be something here - so I keep on reading ----- and then I get so far into it, that my curiosity gets the best of me. Then I finish and I say to myself - WHY, DID I EVEN BOTHER. Well, this was that book. I thought (silly me) something really worth while was going to happen and that if I stopped reading it I'd be sorry. I'm sorry I even started this, never mind finishing it ! Sheesh!!
June 12, 2020
When loving wife and mother Alexandra Southwood doesn't return to her York home, her husband is devastated. He pushes for a police investigation into her disappearance and tries to hold his family together for the sake of his daughters. As more information is found out about Alex, the more it seems nobody really knew her at all. This was a great thriller and the ending was mindblowing. I loved how the storyline developed.
Read
March 10, 2019Was asked to be on the blog tour for this one but having received the book I realised this is actually Exhibit Alexandra which I've read and reviewed already. So you can find my review under that title from when it was previously published. The blurb is fairly generic psych thriller fayre so it would probably have been helpful if they'd mentioned the title change.
January 10, 2019
Abandoned around chapter 6. I was listening to the audiobook and couldn’t stand any more of the vocal performer’s insipid voice . (What Yorkshire woman would say the F-word like that?) Okay, the protagonist was supposedly being held captive by a maniac but in fact, all we were getting litany of boring domestic scenes and an icky romance. I’m sure, from the positive reviews, that it eventually gets exciting, but I just don’t have the patience for it.
May 17, 2018
Undoubtedly ambitious, Exhibit Alexandra is certainly a different and very daring take on the psychological thriller genre and delivers the ultimate in unreliable narration.
When Dr Marc Southwood returns home from his job as a lecturer in the English department at the University of York he assumes there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for his wife of thirteen years delayed return home. Married with two daughters under the age of eleven, thirty-seven-year-old Alex works as a part-time lecturer of art history and juggles her responsibilities with a career and the PhD she is a working towards. In a novel written entirely from the perspective of the missing Alex she makes clear that much of what she envisages might never have happened and remains unknown with certain details the result of her own imaginings. However there are two sides to this story and in a direct contrast to her envisaging Marc’s world shattering and his utter devastation at losing the love of his life, a second strand of the narrative detailing her own preoccupations, dreams and sacrifices begins to paint a very different picture of Alex and her settled life in York. When just days after her disappearance a sizeable quantity of blood and her discarded bag are found by the local river the expected discovery of her dead body does not follow but the realistic conclusion of the Southwood’s friends, colleagues and wider family is that there can be little chance that Alex is still alive.
As the weeks and months pass without the police making any significant inroads into the search for answers or to confirm Alex’s fate the narrative voice of Alex imagines Marc’s turmoil, her daughters sense of loss and family life suspended. Alongside this is Alex’s own take on her meeting with Marc and relationship from the abandonment of her place at a prestigious graduate school for art in New York to family life and motherhood. In a picture which builds slowly and takes a more unsettling turn in the second half the early mix of couples dinner parties and the joys of family life are also set alongside a one-sided correspondence from her fellow student contemporary in New York, Amelia Heldt, now a renowned and reclusive figure in the world of feminism and postmodern art. The contents of Amelia’s eye-rollingly self-important drivel proves infuriating and gets in the way of the characterisation of Marc whose grief is evident and daughters whose mix of confusion and anger is well conveyed and the picture of Alex as a woman who has spent over a decade as a wife and mother is difficult to equate with what emerges and it is this divergence which concerned me. With Marc remaining loyal and praying for Alex’s return even as staggering revelations and lies start to emerge when he finally comes to read Amelia’s letters and questions whether he knew his wife at all, yet his concern for her never diminishes. With the second half hammering home its message I spotted its direction but was blindsided by the startling denouement.
The premise rather oversells the tension surrounding Alexandra’s confinement and whilst she is seemingly held in a room devoid of stimulus and waiting for an unidentified captor to visit, bring her food and provoke thoughts of the life she has left behind, it is in actual fact a far more mundane captivity, less occupied by her despair for her family and heavy on ego. The reader is told nothing of her whereabouts, daily routine or presented with a motive for why she has been taken. Only much further into the novel does it become appreciable just how inaccurate a depiction of her situation this is and Natasha Bell does not play fair with her readers.
Think Gone Girl with an element on postmodern art and a detour into the compromise entailed by motherhood and its importance to a woman’s identity. The opening shows real promise and is both well-written and refreshing different. However well before the halfway mark it runs out of steam, becoming repetitive, tediously self-involved and so pretentious it alienates a mainstream audience. I doubt my scorn for modern art or the artists who justify their exploits in the name of creative genius can have helped my enjoyment of this novel and it is that, as opposed to the more understandable trade-off of marriage and motherhood that dominates the narrative. However with a title that gives much away from outset and readily conjures up images of installation art, the rushed denouement offers no examination of the repercussions of such behaviour or an individual’s social responsibility and this frustrates. Hits and miss execution of a stellar premise that required more of Alex’s actual emotion as opposed to theory to keep me invested. As it stands there is a whole raft of stultifying claptrap seeking to justify Alex’s actions which failed to arouse my empathy. Different, yes, but a mixed reading experience for me and in all honesty pretty unsatisfying.
When Dr Marc Southwood returns home from his job as a lecturer in the English department at the University of York he assumes there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for his wife of thirteen years delayed return home. Married with two daughters under the age of eleven, thirty-seven-year-old Alex works as a part-time lecturer of art history and juggles her responsibilities with a career and the PhD she is a working towards. In a novel written entirely from the perspective of the missing Alex she makes clear that much of what she envisages might never have happened and remains unknown with certain details the result of her own imaginings. However there are two sides to this story and in a direct contrast to her envisaging Marc’s world shattering and his utter devastation at losing the love of his life, a second strand of the narrative detailing her own preoccupations, dreams and sacrifices begins to paint a very different picture of Alex and her settled life in York. When just days after her disappearance a sizeable quantity of blood and her discarded bag are found by the local river the expected discovery of her dead body does not follow but the realistic conclusion of the Southwood’s friends, colleagues and wider family is that there can be little chance that Alex is still alive.
As the weeks and months pass without the police making any significant inroads into the search for answers or to confirm Alex’s fate the narrative voice of Alex imagines Marc’s turmoil, her daughters sense of loss and family life suspended. Alongside this is Alex’s own take on her meeting with Marc and relationship from the abandonment of her place at a prestigious graduate school for art in New York to family life and motherhood. In a picture which builds slowly and takes a more unsettling turn in the second half the early mix of couples dinner parties and the joys of family life are also set alongside a one-sided correspondence from her fellow student contemporary in New York, Amelia Heldt, now a renowned and reclusive figure in the world of feminism and postmodern art. The contents of Amelia’s eye-rollingly self-important drivel proves infuriating and gets in the way of the characterisation of Marc whose grief is evident and daughters whose mix of confusion and anger is well conveyed and the picture of Alex as a woman who has spent over a decade as a wife and mother is difficult to equate with what emerges and it is this divergence which concerned me. With Marc remaining loyal and praying for Alex’s return even as staggering revelations and lies start to emerge when he finally comes to read Amelia’s letters and questions whether he knew his wife at all, yet his concern for her never diminishes. With the second half hammering home its message I spotted its direction but was blindsided by the startling denouement.
The premise rather oversells the tension surrounding Alexandra’s confinement and whilst she is seemingly held in a room devoid of stimulus and waiting for an unidentified captor to visit, bring her food and provoke thoughts of the life she has left behind, it is in actual fact a far more mundane captivity, less occupied by her despair for her family and heavy on ego. The reader is told nothing of her whereabouts, daily routine or presented with a motive for why she has been taken. Only much further into the novel does it become appreciable just how inaccurate a depiction of her situation this is and Natasha Bell does not play fair with her readers.
Think Gone Girl with an element on postmodern art and a detour into the compromise entailed by motherhood and its importance to a woman’s identity. The opening shows real promise and is both well-written and refreshing different. However well before the halfway mark it runs out of steam, becoming repetitive, tediously self-involved and so pretentious it alienates a mainstream audience. I doubt my scorn for modern art or the artists who justify their exploits in the name of creative genius can have helped my enjoyment of this novel and it is that, as opposed to the more understandable trade-off of marriage and motherhood that dominates the narrative. However with a title that gives much away from outset and readily conjures up images of installation art, the rushed denouement offers no examination of the repercussions of such behaviour or an individual’s social responsibility and this frustrates. Hits and miss execution of a stellar premise that required more of Alex’s actual emotion as opposed to theory to keep me invested. As it stands there is a whole raft of stultifying claptrap seeking to justify Alex’s actions which failed to arouse my empathy. Different, yes, but a mixed reading experience for me and in all honesty pretty unsatisfying.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 477 reviews