Review - Who She Was by Tony Parsons

Who She Was by Tony Parsons

Publisher: Random House UK

Release date: 17 August 2023

Back cover blurb: A bonfire burns on a Cornish beach in the middle of the night. Nearby, a young woman waits for morning, and for the estate agent to arrive with the keys to her new life in the peaceful fishing village. She carries with her no trace of her previous life or the past she has left behind. Quickly she becomes an object of fascination among the locals; one in particular finds that he is falling in love with her. But can anyone really have a new life? What happened to this woman's old life? And what price did she pay to escape it? When secrets long buried explode into the light, they will change the lives of everyone around her.

This is a very different and very enjoyable novel from Tony Parsons. Standalone from his Max Wolfe novels (which are amongst some of my favourites), this is a novel with a twist that you definitely won't see coming! 

When a young woman is found at night warming herself beside a bonfire on the beach, the locals of the idyllic Cornish town aren't surprised. Tourists are always doing it. Unaware of the dangers that the face from the incoming tide.

Will and Bet Farthing offer her a place for the night, whilst she waits to collect the keys for her rental property the following day. She gives nothing away despite her name, Clementine. Their gentle questioning curiosity getting them nowhere fast.

Clementine is a woman who is as mysterious as she is beautiful and quickly becomes a source of fascination for the locals, and a source of obsession for some of the local men. 

Clementine however is a woman who is used to male attention and largely ignores them. But looking as she does, she is not going to stay single for long.

Which is why Tom Cooper, owner of the Lobster Pot restaurant is so quick to make his move. He knows that she is the only woman that could make him happy. Although he knows next to nothing about her, he already knows that he would do anything for her.

A fact that Clementine may well use to her advantage, because of course, she is used to men doing exactly what she wants. Even if what she wants is inconceivable, perhaps even deadly. And it wouldn't be the first time...

Who She Was is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.