review: HE SAID, SHE SAID, Erin Kelly

• this edition published by Hodder & Stoughton 2017
• ISBN 978-1-444-79715-2
• 408 pages
• source: my local library
• Author website

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

In the summer of 1999, Kit and Laura travel to a festival in Cornwall to see a total eclipse of the sun. Kit is an eclipse chaser; Laura has never seen one before. Young and in love, they are certain this will be the first of many they'll share.

But in the hushed moments after the shadow passes, Laura interrupts a man and a woman. She knows that she saw something terrible. The man denies it. It is her word against his.

The victim seems grateful. Months later, she turns up on their doorstep like a lonely stray. But as her gratitude takes a twisted turn, Laura begins to wonder - did she trust the wrong person?

15 years later, Kit and Laura married are living under new names and completely off the digital grid: no Facebook, only rudimentary cell phones, not in any directories. But as the truth catches up to them, they realize they can no longer keep the past in the past.

From Erin Kelly, queen of the killer twist, He Said/She Said is a gripping tale of the lies we tell to save ourselves, the truths we cannot admit, and how far we will go to make others believe our side of the story.


My Take

You never think that being witnesses for the prosecution will lead to you having to hide away so that the person who is convicted on the basis of your evidence can't find you, and neither can the woman  that you testified for. But that is what happens to Laura and Kit. Laura is worried about a little lie that she told with the best of intentions. What she doesn't realise is that there are some things that Kit has not said.

For fifteen years Kit and Laura chase eclipses, Laura lives in fear of being tracked down, and she becomes more and more insecure, more and more reliant on Kit. Very nasty events occur that make her feel even more insecure. But in 2015 Kit goes to an eclipse on his own, and this brings everything to a head.

In line with the blurb on the book's cover I am trying desperately not to give the plot away.  The book flashes between several time frames: 1999, 2000, 2015. I found that a bit tiresome as a plot strategy as the jump seemed to happen almost at every change of chapter, and the reader can never really relax.

Nevertheless it is a cleverly constructed novel with a huge twist at the end that I really didn't see coming.

My rating: 4.5

About the author
Erin Kelly was born in London in 1976 and studied English at Warwick University. She has worked as a freelance journalist for ten years, specialising in women, health, sex and lifestyle.

She is the author behind Broadchurch.

Novels

The Poison Tree (2010)
The Sick Rose (2011)
     aka The Dark Rose
The Burning Air (2013)
The Ties That Bind (2014)
He Said / She Said (2017)

Series

Broadchurch (with Chris Chibnall)
1. The End Is Where It Begins (2015)
2. The Letter (2015)
3. Old Friends (2015)
4. Over the Side (2015)
5. Protection (2015)
6. One More Secret (2015)
7. The Leaving of Claire Ripley (2015)
8. Thirteen Hours (2015)
Broadchurch (2014)