They came for me, just like I knew they would. Luke had been dead for just three days. Rose Wilks life is shattered when her newborn baby Joel is admitted to intensive care. Emma Hatcher has all that Rose lacks. Beauty. A loving husband. A healthy son. Until tragedy strikes and Rose is the only suspect. Now, having spent nearly five years behind bars, Rose is just weeks away from freedom. Her probation officer Cate must decide whether Rose is remorseful for Luke s death, or whether she remains a threat to society. As Cate is drawn in, she begins to doubt her own judgement. Where is the line between love and obsession, can justice be served and, if so... by what means?
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Review
An enthralling psychological thriller - perfect for fans of Sophie Hannah --Bestselling Author Sam Mills
Dark, disturbing and authentic --CWA Debut Dagger judging panel
Impressive in its unflinching realism - Crime Time
This novel is an extremely addictive debut... a real page-turner... As a debut novel, this is a remarkably assured and well-written book. - Petrona
Authentic... diverting debut - The Daily Mail
Always a page-turner... Just when I thought I'd got it sussed, I'm proved wrong. This is a clever and suspenseful story told in an engaging style. - thebookbag.co.uk
a young British crime-writer who uses her career in the Probation Service to stunning effect... a bleak, dark psychological thriller, at times quite hypnotic... gripping and powerful. --Mike Ripley --Shotsmag
Dark, disturbing and authentic --CWA Debut Dagger judging panel
Impressive in its unflinching realism - Crime Time
This novel is an extremely addictive debut... a real page-turner... As a debut novel, this is a remarkably assured and well-written book. - Petrona
Authentic... diverting debut - The Daily Mail
Always a page-turner... Just when I thought I'd got it sussed, I'm proved wrong. This is a clever and suspenseful story told in an engaging style. - thebookbag.co.uk
a young British crime-writer who uses her career in the Probation Service to stunning effect... a bleak, dark psychological thriller, at times quite hypnotic... gripping and powerful. --Mike Ripley --Shotsmag
From the Author
How can we escape what others have created? We all become what our pasts make us. Whether it's in replication or rejection, rebellion or duty, our life's journey is written on our skin like a tattoo, the map to the heart of us. What has the teacher learnt? What does the barrister wish to defend? Those who hold others under lock and key, what do they seek to control?
(The Woman Before Me)
(The Woman Before Me)
We are all just one event away from the loss of love, of the status quo, of the illusory balance in our lives.
The characters in The Woman Before Me are ordinary people made extraordinary by an unusual situation or an unusual choice. I am interested in extremities, situational and emotional, which would include crime but also madness, sexual deviance, and obsessive love....
Happiness is a fragile, transitory thing. In some ways only when it is gone can we truly discover what we are made of, the very essence of our self: integrity, courage; or the opposite. Whether or not we can be survivors. I'm compelled to explore human emotion (especially grief, jealousy, anger) and the tentative grip any of us have on our lives.
I spent years working with criminals, including murderers and sex offenders, and every novel has been inspired by a true event. Although there is often a crime or violent incident at the core of my writing, my novels explore the real consequences of crime. In much genre crime fiction, when the perpetrator is successfully caught, natural order is restored. If anything, my writing is the opposite of such escapism.
The Woman Before Me is (I hope!) a reflective novel. A careful exploration of loss and love, an emotional insight into ourselves. I want the reader to close the book and hug their child a bit tighter, kiss their lover more softly. To feel they have actively participated in the journey, arriving with a different view of their own surroundings...
...If only for a moment.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
133 of 138 people found the following review helpful
By S'lander1
Format:Paperback
I have to begin this review with a caveat. I rarely read crime fiction, so know little about the conventions of the genre. Nevertheless this book was highly recommended to me so I thought I would break with habit and read it. I'm glad I did.
THE WOMAN BEFORE ME was instantly engaging and kept me gripped throughout. I'd go so far as to say it's unputdownable. Partly this is due to the clear and precise prose, partly the carefully structured and controlled plot. Not a great deal happens (if you're looking for lots of murders or car chases I suggest you pick up something else) yet the author manages to take the ordinary lives of people and make them truly captivating.
The novel's greatest strength is Rose Wilks. She narrates the majority of the book in flash back and despite being a convicted child killer emerges as a complex but sympathetic - ultimately even tragic - character. Ruth Dugdall has written her with great psychological insight and captures Rose's descent into obsession with chilling precision. I found myself desperate for Rose to do the right thing and yet simultaneously understanding her needs, even empathising with them. It's quite an achievement and left me disturbed long after I had put the book down.
This is an impressive debut and I would recommend it without reservation.
THE WOMAN BEFORE ME was instantly engaging and kept me gripped throughout. I'd go so far as to say it's unputdownable. Partly this is due to the clear and precise prose, partly the carefully structured and controlled plot. Not a great deal happens (if you're looking for lots of murders or car chases I suggest you pick up something else) yet the author manages to take the ordinary lives of people and make them truly captivating.
The novel's greatest strength is Rose Wilks. She narrates the majority of the book in flash back and despite being a convicted child killer emerges as a complex but sympathetic - ultimately even tragic - character. Ruth Dugdall has written her with great psychological insight and captures Rose's descent into obsession with chilling precision. I found myself desperate for Rose to do the right thing and yet simultaneously understanding her needs, even empathising with them. It's quite an achievement and left me disturbed long after I had put the book down.
This is an impressive debut and I would recommend it without reservation.
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By wendy
Format:Paperback
Crime novels are 'not my scene' so this is a book I would not have read had it not been selected for our book club. I am glad it was.
At one level, The Woman Before Me does not sit easily into the crime genre ; for me, one of its great strengths is that it is a study of loss - all types of loss - and particularly the conflicting emotions that loss engenders in women. In particular, two women are contrasted - one a superficial woman whose life revolves around the ephemera of our time, and the other a deep, insightful but impoverished spirit, who sinks further into obsession as the story progresses.
Ruth Dugdall draws her characters with consummate skill, using her personal experience as a Probation Officer in a women's prison to bring them to life. She holds the reader's atention through to the end, with its horrifying twist.
I have no hesitation is recommending this to any reader.
At one level, The Woman Before Me does not sit easily into the crime genre ; for me, one of its great strengths is that it is a study of loss - all types of loss - and particularly the conflicting emotions that loss engenders in women. In particular, two women are contrasted - one a superficial woman whose life revolves around the ephemera of our time, and the other a deep, insightful but impoverished spirit, who sinks further into obsession as the story progresses.
Ruth Dugdall draws her characters with consummate skill, using her personal experience as a Probation Officer in a women's prison to bring them to life. She holds the reader's atention through to the end, with its horrifying twist.
I have no hesitation is recommending this to any reader.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Bookie
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a cracking tale. I haven't come across this author before, but the reviews looked interesting and I was gripped from the start.
Dugdall's narrative flows along at exctly the right pace; she builds tension as the story develops. The narrative reveals an ear for detail; it's authentic and I would say draws on personal experience of prison life and attitudes. The macho, sexist chauvinism is particularly well observed.
The central character is a sorry individual. One trying to make the best of a poor lot in life. Her obsessive behaviour takes over leading to appalling consequences. She is a deeply flawed individual, but manipulative and cunning in the extreme. Her way of exacting revenge on those she hates is both rational and irrational.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, polished it off quickly because it was completely engaging and on the strength of that, bought the next in the Cate series. That's shaping up well too! Go for it.
Dugdall's narrative flows along at exctly the right pace; she builds tension as the story develops. The narrative reveals an ear for detail; it's authentic and I would say draws on personal experience of prison life and attitudes. The macho, sexist chauvinism is particularly well observed.
The central character is a sorry individual. One trying to make the best of a poor lot in life. Her obsessive behaviour takes over leading to appalling consequences. She is a deeply flawed individual, but manipulative and cunning in the extreme. Her way of exacting revenge on those she hates is both rational and irrational.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, polished it off quickly because it was completely engaging and on the strength of that, bought the next in the Cate series. That's shaping up well too! Go for it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good twist
I enjoyed this book & i enjoyed the twist that I was not expecting. A little creepy that someone could enter your house while you are asleep & feed your baby though. Read more
Published 2 days ago by kenty
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth reading
This is the first book I have read by Ruth. Was an Interesting book. A little heart-breaking and emotional. Well written.
Published 3 days ago by shabnam
3.0 out of 5 stars
Should I give it more?
I'm not sure about this story. It is written in a way that normally I would enjoy - intelligent, interesting characters, challenging setting - but somehow I found these people... Read more
Published 6 days ago by misty meanor
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
Loved this book and have now since read another by this author and was not disappointed. Great stuff and very gripping. Would recommend this!
Published 6 days ago by Mrs C J Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars
The woman before me by Ruth Duvall.
Excellent read. I was totally hooked and emersed after the first page. I story of love,loss and the need to be loved and accepted. Read more
Published 7 days ago by lesley wakeling
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual but haunting.
A very sad story but I couldn't put it down.I didn't see the ending coming. When I finish a book I usually forget it immediately but this one is in my mind still.
Published 8 days ago by jinty
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great story
Really impressed - this is not the sort of book I would tend to pick up but it was a great read. Fascinating character(s) and brilliant twists.
Published 8 days ago by loobie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Utterly un-putdownable
I bought this after reading the reviews of other readers and am so glad i did. It is compelling, tragic and very disturbing at times, and I would definitely recommend this to... Read more
Published 9 days ago by K. Mcgrath
4.0 out of 5 stars
quite a good read
I enjoyed this book, good read and very good story .
I will read another book from this author , great.
I will read another book from this author , great.
Published 12 days ago by ann hall
3.0 out of 5 stars
Worth reading
I enjoyed reading this book from the start. Would have been even better if we got to know Cate's life a bit more. Suspense to the end.
Published 16 days ago by D. Jones
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