The first wife
(Book)

"Did you think I'd just disappear?"--Cover

"I moved closer to the little girl, afraid that our voices would be caught by the monitor. 'What happened to you, Lucy? Can you tell me?' When Sophie's life falls apart, she accepts an invitation from a childhood friend, Caroline, to visit her family's beautiful beach house, situated at the mouth of an isolated cove, miles from the nearest town. The silence is broken only by the rhythmic crash of the waves against the jagged black rocks below. But when Sophie arrives, she finds her friend much changed. Caroline - who used to be so warm and confident - is secretive and on-edge, spending long, unexplained hours away from her family. And then there's Caroline's little daughter Lucy - who stopped speaking soon after they moved in. Caroline assures Sophie that it's only a phase, but Sophie thinks Lucy looks a little uncared for, a little afraid ... Then one night Sophie is woken by a scream and runs to find Lucy, out of bed and at the attic window, staring in terror at the view below. When Sophie goes to look, her blood runs cold ... What secrets hide behind closed doors in this isolated house by the sea?"--Provided by publisher