Superbly tense and oozing with atmosphere, Anna Downes’s debut, The Safe Place, is the perfect summer suspense, with the modern gothic feel of Ruth Ware and the morally complex family dynamics of Lisa Jewell.Welcome to paradise…will you ever be able to leave?Emily is a mess.Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.Emily is desperate.Scott Denny, … apartment in one miserable day.
Emily is desperate.
Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.
Emily is perfect.
Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn’t play along, the consequences could be deadly.
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This is a new to me author. Her debut novel and it’s a good one. This book pulled me in and kept me turning the pages. From the start it held my attention. Wanting to know what happened next and why any of it was happening was the pull for me. I loved it. I have to admit I truly loved this book and look forward to more by this author.
Told from two different voices, Emily and Scott, this book is about some deep emotions. About a family and what they will go through for their child.
Emily’s life is really messed up. She doesn’t have anything, no job, no money and soon no place to live, when Scott offers her the chance of a lifetime. She embarks on a new adventure that will change her life forever. She will meet Scott’s wife and daughter and become a part of their lives in ways she never knew possible. A place that is far from ordinary and is most beautiful. She’s to help in many ways and just be a part of the everyday life. It’s perfect for her. Until it’s not.
Scott thinks Emily is the perfect person to help his wife and hires her as a housekeeper, grounds keeper of sorts, to care for their child, help with animals, redoing the guest house and anything that needs to be done. He goes through a lot to get her to accept the position and she is so very grateful. Until she’s not.
This book is so good. It’s setting is a beautiful place that you can visualize. The people that you meet are both good and not so good. But you will like them and you will have mixed emotions about what is happening. You will feel like you are right there through this whole story. From the edge of your seat thrills to the touching feelings of a mother’s love. It’s a roller coaster of a ride for sure. It had me turning pages at a fast rate. I wanted to know who did what and why. One thing I did figure out but mostly I was wrong on most of what I thought was going to happen. This author did a fantastic job of writing this book to keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. I applaud her for that.
It’s honestly a very good book. I could picture so many of the scenes as they played out. How they would look if it was a movie. That is what it felt like, a movie. Only in book form that had me holding my breath at each turn.
Thank you #NetGalley, #AnnaDownes, #StMartin’sPress Minotaur for this ARC. This is my own review.
I gave it 5 stars and a huge recommendation to anyone that likes a good thriller.
The title is a misnomer. The place where Emily ends up appears to be but surely isn’t. When she gets offered an unexpected opportunity by her former boss Scott, she take the chance together her life on track. Everything slowly unravels as we realize that things are not as they appear. People are not who they are supposed to be and things begin to take a frightening turn. The ending is definitely not what I was expecting but I was not disappointed just the same.
From the very start the beautiful cover of The Safe Place drew me in. It makes you think of warm summer afternoons sunning beside a beautiful pool perhaps with a fruity drink and no cares in the world. The story is much deeper than that and pulled me under from almost the start.
Emily is a failure. She has failed as an actress, lost her day job as a receptionist and even her agent dumps her. She has a non-existent relationship with her parents partially due to her own failings. Her ex-boss, Scott Denny, throws her a lifeline and offers her a job as a housekeeper/companion at his mansion in France. Besides being destitute she also feels an attraction to him so she accepts his offer. She is hired to help his wife Nina and their young daughter Aurelia.
Right from the start she senses that something is very wrong. The large mansion is creepy, Nina does not seem normal and the little girl has a mysterious ailment. Emily, however, becomes attached to the family and when Scott comes to visit for a weekend visit things take a strange turn. Emily begins to grow suspicious and from there the story picks up quickly. I must admit the last third of the book my heart was pounding a bit. Once Emily solves the mystery, which I did not see coming, things go to hell in a handbasket.
The story is told from several different views, Emily’s being the main one. Scott’s point of view is the second, and the third is left for the reader to question.
The book did lull in a couple of places, but I felt it kept my interest enough that I wanted to know what was going to happen. All in all, the author did an excellent job on her debut novel and I expect we will see great things from her in the future. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this book. I give it 3 ½ stars rounding up to 4.
My Rating: .5
Content Rating: 18+
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
Published: July 14, 2020, by Minotaur Books
The Safe Place is Anna Downes’ debut novel about a woman who takes a job as a live-in housekeeper on a remote French estate. When I first learned about this book and that Downes spent one year as a housekeeper on a secluded French estate, it piqued my interest even more. As far as debut novels go, I thought this was a good one. The writing was well done, and some scenes were so descriptive I could visualize the French coast and feel the spray of the ocean on my face. Throughout the book, there was a creepy, dark, eerie feel that adds an atmospheric aspect to the book. The character development was exceptionally well done and is the driving force behind the story. The Safe Place was a bit predictable, but I don’t feel that that took away from the book’s enjoyment.
The Safe Pace is told from the two main character’s points of view. Scott Denny, a wealthy, successful CEO of a vast empire, and Emily Proudman, who works as a temporary receptionist at one of Scott’s offices. Scott is wealthy beyond all imagination. He can buy or manipulate any situation and anybody. And that is precisely what he does with Emily. Unbeknownst to Emily, Scott has her fired from her temp position and then offers her the seemingly perfect job as a housekeeper, cook, nanny, and friend for his wife Nina and young daughter Aurelia at their beautiful remote estate, Querencia, in France. Emily sees Scott as her savior and develops a strange inappropriate attraction to him.
“…and then, from out of nowhere, Mr. Denny, Emily’s ex-boss, was leaping out of the chaos like a handsome human shield, a superhero, a knight with colors flying.”
Emily was a bit of a mess and was not likable in the beginning. She was always thinking of herself as a victim, floating through life with no direction. She has a stressed relationship with her parents taking them for granted and only contacting them when she needs money. Emily has some unresolved issues with them, and her past that the author doesn’t fully explore or explain, and I would have liked a little more elucidation.
When Emily arrives at Querencia, she falls in love with everything she sees. She finds Nina and Aurelia to be odd and has a feeling that something is off about them, but this doesn’t stop her from falling in love with them too.
“She was gorgeous- of course she was- but there was something distinctly odd about Nina, something Emily couldn’t put into words.”
At one point in the book Scott shows up at Querencia for a visit, and things indeed take a bizarre turn.
“She was smiling, but he could see through it. He knew what her happiness looked like, and it was not this.”
Things are going well for a while, but slowly over time, things begin to unravel, and then towards the end of the book bam, everything goes crazy, and we have a pickup in the pace of the book.
The Safe Place was a slow burn of a thriller with an interesting premise. I did like the little gems the author put into the book—Downes names the house Querencia, which translates to haunt. I am not sure I loved the ending, but I can’t say much more than that. I did like how Emily matured and became a better person in the end. However, there were other things about the ending that left me wanting more. The Safe Place was an easy read with some tense moments but didn’t have that WOW moment; however, overall, I did enjoy it.
* Please note the quotes in my review are subject to change once the book is published. *
** I kindly received this galley by way of NetGalley, publisher, and author. I was not contacted, asked, or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion. **
#The Safe Place #Anna Downes # Minotaur Books I received this novel as an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This novel was an enjoyable story that unfolds at an even pace. It is full of enchanting but broken characters. At the beginning Emily’s life is falling apart. She just can’t seem to do anything right and nothing is coming together until her ex-boss, Scott Denny, offers her a position helping out at their family estate in the French countryside. Emily jumps at the opportunity and thinks she has died and gone to heaven when given a credit card, a home and a car in exchange for helping Scotts’ wife Nina and their young daughter, Aurelia. As time unfolds and relationships grow, not all is at it seems. There are little cracks that show what is just below the surface of both the estate and the people living there. I don’t want to give too much away so I will end this with saying it had a unexpected twist at the end. Available July 14, 2020.
If a jobs sounds too good to be true then generally there is a ketch to it. Emily is down on her luck, does not relate to her adoptive parents and doesn’t think too hard about taking the job offered to her. Everything seems to be going great but there is always the underlying suspicion that not everything is as it should be. This is an engaging read with a lot of twist. Sometimes you can guess the outcome but don’t feel bad if it wasn’t what you expected. The book starts a bit slow but picks up the pace fast which will have you keep promising yourself to read just one more chapter. The ending is both sad and good. I would like to have known a bit more about how Emily came to be adopted and why but her decision to finally leave it in the past was okay to. I feel I will keep thinking about this story for a long time.
Thank you Minotaur Books and BookishFirst for the chance to read this ARC. Book publishes on July 14, 2020. #TheSafePlace
Emily is a hot mess. Her acting career is going nowhere fast and she just got fired from her latest temp job. She goes home to find out she and her roommate are being evicted because the rent check bounced. Then, Scott, her employer who ordered her to be fired, has a job offer for her. He wants to hire her to be a housekeeper at a French villa where his wife and daughter live. She agrees and adjusts quickly to living in “paradise” but also feels that something isn’t quite right.
What is Scott and his wife hiding? Why can’t Emily go into the “main house”? Is she in danger?
I received this ARC from the publisher Minotaur Books and the Author Anna Downes for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Suspense/thrillers are one of my favorite genres so psychological thrillers also fall into that catogery. Once I actually started reading the book it was hard to put down. Emily has lots of issues the major one she loses her job, and is easy prey for her former boss. What follows is a unpredictable read with many twists and turns, if was able to keep my attention and pull me into its web. By the end of the book I had figured out the final outcome but that didn’t detract from the enjoyment of reading the book. I would certainly recommend this book to those that enjoy this genre of book.
3.5 Stars
To be honest, when I first read the blurb for this book I was super excited and quickly applied for an advanced copy via Netgalley. I held off on reading it for a while as I’m always a bit tentative reading new authors and I’m a bit disappointed as it didn’t grab me the way I thought it would. I feel like the hype inflated my expectations and then when I was reading, I felt like the writing style was a bit childish for my taste and I lost interest and wasn’t drawn into the story further
I’ll definitely think about trying to read this story again in the future and see if my opinion changes, but for now I’m thinking I might skip anything else by this author and stick to the ones I know.
I received an advanced copy via Netgalley and leave my honest review voluntarily.
I really really really loved this book. But let me tell you why…
I really love those books that kind of feel creepy without being obvious or transparent. You just start to feel “Off” while turning the pages. Its like deep down you know there is something really freaking wrong but you havent a clue what it is…. thats how I felt when I started reading A safe place. I felt creeped the F out and anything but safe. But as I read all these odds and ends came together to form this insane picture that somehow the main character remains abysmally ignorant to. Realistic? No. Did it make for a good story? Yes, honestly if she didnt take the job there would have been no story to tell.
From the start the characters add to the unsettling feelings. Scott sent off major creep vibes from the moment we meet him. Emily ( ohhh girl…what were you thinking?!) is obviously naive and going to have a crude wake up call. Nina and Aurelia… hello creepy helicopter mom and strange child that live in BFE. But in all the setting, the characters, the descriptions, the “creepy” vibes meld together to create a fast paced thriller.
I recieved a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Emily is a quiet, sometimes flustered, aspiring actress. She is trying to get her foot in the door and instead is met with disaster after disaster. She freezes at an audition, loses her job and is soon to be evicted from her apartment. Not knowing where to turn…she ends up being chased down by Scott (her ex-boss) with a job proposal…one that sounds too good to be true.
Emily is whisked away to France to become the au pair for Aurelia and house assistant to Scott’s wife, Nina. At first everything is perfect and Emily can’t believe her good fortune. Soon, perfect sways to suspicion as Emily begins to see that all may not be as it appears.
I saw this ARC all over Bookstagram and had to snag a chance to read it. It has such a slow buildup that I thought about DNFing but stuck with it. For me, it took until about 80% before it started to gain momentum. This is definitely not a thriller. More like a domestic drama with a very predictable bit of mystery. While I did enjoy the writing style and imagery, the extremely slow burn made it hard to fully enjoy, however the last 10% of the book will definitely have you flying through the pages. #thesafeplace #netgalley
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This was such an interesting plot. The character development was spot on. I was hooked the minute I saw the cover. Beautiful design that invites the reader into thinking we’re on a glorious vacation of a lifetime! Reality was kind enough to punch you in the face, however. There’s a wolf somewhere ready to pounce…
The beginning of the story did well with digging it’s wonderful claws into me. It wouldn’t let me go until I finished.
Emily’s character, for me, was quite believable. I understood her and was able to relate to her in certain areas. More so than I had anticipated. Who isn’t blinded by wealth and the possibility of a fresh start when they’re at rock bottom? Scott definitely picked the best girl for keeping his secret (no worries folks; I’m not one to let loose secrets, either. No spoilers here!). She was gullible, easily manipulated into believing she was safe, loved, and offered the chance of a lifetime. I was curious about her past and was torn when I didn’t learn more about her trauma. I wanted to know more, but was afraid to ask for more. Was her past like Aurelia? Food for thought…
Nina and Scott… *sigh*. They attacked my heart. I loved them as much as Emily did, Nina more than Scott. Scott from the beginning I thought was weird and I someone who couldn’t be trusted. I felt betrayal just as deep as the love, though. I want to say they will remain in my heart. But I can’t say I forgive them. When you can’t trust your help there’s a problem. Why hire someone you can’t extend an ounce of trust to? Their relationship between themselves was ominous and… just felt uncomfortable. I don’t understand how Scott kept his mouth shut. It’s sad that he thought money would pay for everyone’s silence. And it did for a long time. Until miss Emily brought her can opener to the party. You could sense from the beginning that this can of dark worms wouldn’t stay shut for long.
All in all, a wonderful read. It kept me enthralled. I wanted answers right away and was teased from the beginning. It does make me second guess a chance of a lifetime job. But then again, would I be as naive as Emily in a time of desperation?
My thanks to Minotaur Books for my advanced copy for an honest review. And for introducing me to a new author! You now have an obsessed reader.
I really enjoyed this book as it pulled me into this heroine’s semi dysfunctional life. All the machinations that are required to put her exactly where she needed to be and when she needed to be there kept me glued to the pages. Her journey is well constructed and the relationships she builds along the way added to the emotions I experienced at this book’s end. This story definitely took me out of my comfort zone and plopped me down in a remote location only to lure me into relaxing before throttling me with what was really going on.
This story will be lingering in my mind for a good while.
Emily, adopted as a small child just cannot seem to catch a break or get ahead in life. It feels as if things are always against her. She lost her job, got home and saw that she only has a month left in her apartment, and her acting agent is moving and no other agent is picking her up. She doesn’t think she can call Juliet, her adopted mother and ask for money once again. They must regret adopting her, all she does is screws up.
She is breaking down, not sure where to go next. She doesn’t want to crawl back to her parents but that might be her only option at this point. The failure, once again. They were never thrilled she was trying to get into the acting scene. After her agent had broken the news, Emily took off upset and on the verge of a panic attack.
Someone is calling her name. Who is that person? How does he know her name? She steps into the street and quickly gets yanked back. She almost was hit, if it wasn’t for this man who had been calling her name saving her. Scott, is his name and he says he has a job offer for her. That’s if she wants it.
She will be sort of a live in nanny, helping his wife with their child, as well as helping with any other needs around the house. Cooking, cleaning, painting, re-modeling. Whatever is asked of her, but it is very isolated and off the grid. There is a good chance there will be no internet or working phone. But she will have a roof over her head, food and not want for any necessities.
This offer sounds strange, but how can she turn it down. Helping with a child and any other needs doesn’t sound that hard. Emily gets there, and fits right in with his wife Nina, however their daughter is a little strange but she has lots of medical issues. According to Nina; allergy to the sun, tantrums, outbursts, doesn’t like to be touched and it takes a long time for her to warm up to anyone new.
The three settle in together and Emily proves to be a great help around the place. Helping paint and re-model and it seems that Aurelia even slowly takes a liking to her. Nina and her seem to become good friends as well. It is almost too good to be true, but as the weeks go by and Emily is able to get a little closer to Aurelia, she starts to question her true medical issues.
Emily decides to finally take a day off, after weeks of work and heads into town. She finds a coffee shop and decides to do some research about the few things that Nina claims Aurelia has. What Emily stumbles across, stuns her but all the pieces of the puzzle now make sense. She’s torn. She did sign a non-discloser agreement, but this potentially breaks that. How can she go back and act knowing the truth, now? Is this the reason Scott chose her…
This novel had a slow start to me, but it did pick up and then I could not put it down. The author really did well, with not giving away any clues ahead of time and you really had no idea where the story was going to go. Thank you to Minotaur Books for the arc!
As the blurb promises, Emily is indeed a mess. She’s klutzy, she talks too much when she gets nervous, and she’s a bit of a drifter who has trouble keeping a job. But this new job her boss sends her to is perfect. Gorgeous house, property, and an amazing friend in Nina, it’s everything she could ever want. Sometimes when things seem too good to be true, we overlook the warning signals because of the sudden euphoria, and that’s exactly what happens to Emily.
While it didn’t feel like a thriller until we got towards the end, the suspense element is truly at play. The reader isn’t sure what’s going on with Scott, Nina, or Aurelia. You question what is up with Scott’s scheming, Nina’s strange behavior, or the fact that Aurelia has these violent tendencies. As things at the house got worse, first with the loss of wi-fi and then with the inability to call out, the alarm bells were ringing.
I felt there was a bit of a missed opportunity when it comes to exploring mental health a bit deeper. Nina was clearly suffering, and while that was addressed, there was only a bit of a reference to Emily’s issues at the very end. Perhaps it would have taken away from the book, I don’t know. While some elements were a little predictable, it didn’t detract that this is a well-written book, with wonderful characters and the perfect setting. I’m always a fan of alternating viewpoints, and Downes did this well. It was practically a one-sitting read for me. Thank you, St. Martin’s for sending this one along!
3.5 stars. I was really excited about reading this book. I read the blurb and the “perfect summer suspense” caught me and with the country in a tailspin right now, I needed a perfect summer suspense to distract me from everything going on.
I enjoyed this book, but it didn’t really offer anything new or different as far as the suspense trope goes. Emily herself initially comes across as a hot mess, and anything and everything that can go wrong does, from disastrous auditions to losing her job. Come to find out the losing the job part was orchestrated by her ex-boss who offers her a job on his estate in France taking care of his wife and daughter. On the way to this estate she remarks about how far away it is from civilization, it’s so remote and then finds out there’s no internet, no way to contact the outside world but she doesn’t think this is strange? Hmmm..
Reading fiction books, I am all for suspending belief on some things or giving an author literary license, but there were a few things that I just wasn’t able to get on board with in this story. Mainly some of the things Nina has done which Scott is apparently okay with? I think I was expecting a jaw dropping plot twist as well, which occurs in most twisty suspense stories, but I didn’t get one here.
The book did keep me glued to the pages to see what was going to happen and surprisingly I finished it in just a day when usually it takes me 3-4 days to read a book. The story was just predictable though, and the ending was not satisfying so it was a bit of a let down. There was so much potential with this story, I just don’t think it was executed correctly. I am grateful that I was given an advanced review copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review, and I definitely look forward to what Ms. Downes has in store for readers in the future.
Entertaining with a dash of weird. The writing is well done and the characters are fully developed. Each holds their own and portrays their role well. There are dashes of predictability and odd reactions, but the way everything comes together is creative and enjoyable. I do wish the ending had a bit more detail as I wanted to know what happens next for Emily & the child.
Thank you for the chance to read this book and share my opinion.
The Safe Place is a honeymoon of luxury and thrills. What’s more romantic than time away from a life that is falling apart at the seams- literally- at work, with family, socially, financially? When Emily’s boss gives her an offer of a lifetime to live with his wife and sick child at a remote, exotic location (with strings attached) she surely can’t pass this up! Readers will be gobbling this book from the first page to get to the finish line.
I received this in advance from St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books. All reviews are mine alone.
Emily’s life is out of control. She loses her job, her apartment and her acting agent all in one day. She is a good but flaky person who has trouble with keeping a job and has flashbacks to some kind of early trauma. Her circumstances make her desperate and she takes a job with her former employer Scott Denny. She is to be the house-keeper, grounds-keeper, nanny, and personal assistant to Scott’s wife Nina and his daughter Aurelia on their enormous isolated waterfront estate in the south of France. It sounds too good to be true.
At first, Emily is entranced by Nina and her daughter and the wine-soaked evenings by the pool, but cracks start to appear in the façade. Without revealing spoilers, this book is full of drama, suspense, twists and turns. I could not put it down.
What a read! It is suspenseful and sometimes just plain weird. Emily Proudman aspires to be an actress but somehow always seems to screw up her auditions. She is also the receptionist for Proem, an investment company, but ends up getting fired. Facing eviction from her apartment, her former boss and head of Proem, Scott Denny, offers her a job at his estate in France. The job would be as housekeeper, gardener, part-time nanny, decorator, etc. She accepts the job and is in awe at the beauty of the estate although some of it seems to be in disrepair. Emily is to live in the guest house and is told by Scott’s wife, Nina, that she is never to come into the main house. Daughter Aurelia is nonverbal and supposedly has a sun allergy so she is dressed in long clothing and a large hat at all times. As times goes on, Emily notices how strange things are around there and she decides to go into the main house and do some snooping. There are lots of surprises in this book which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book, which turned out to be a page turner for me, in exchange for an honest review.