A review by ljesica
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

 

Freddie is an Australian in Boston.  She is there on a grant to write a novel.  She is sitting in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library when she hears a woman scream.  She and her tablemates look up and start talking about what could’ve happened.  And then later a body is found.

This one is an interesting format.  You read a chapter of the “story” and then it is followed by an email critiquing what has been written.  A famous author is writing the story from Australia, and an aspiring writer is sending her his notes from Boston.  Helping her with saying trunk instead of boot, etc, and telling her what Boston looks like.  At first he seems pretty benign, but as the story progresses, he gets somewhat proprietary over “their” work.  So there are two stories in this book.

I enjoyed it.  I halfway guessed the bad guy.  Which isn’t really saying much as there aren’t too many suspects.  But there are a lot of red herrings.  I kind of feel like maybe some things were left unanswered, but I think that was on purpose.  It was definitely done in a way that will keep you thinking about the book