Now an Amazon Prime TV Series starring Robin Wright, Olivia Cooke and Laurie Davidson
A girl. A boy. His mother. And the lie she’ll wish she’d never told.
The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances is a gripping and chilling debut psychological thriller, based on the fall-out following an unforgiveable lie. It looks at the potentially charged relationship between girlfriend, boyfriend and his mother, which most women can identify with, and locates it in an extreme but believable setting.
Laura has it all. A successful career, a long marriage to a rich husband, and a twenty-three year-old son, Daniel, who is kind, handsome, and talented. Then Daniel meets Cherry. Cherry is young, beautiful and smart but she hasn’t had the same opportunities as Daniel. And she wants Laura’s life.
Cherry comes to the family wide-eyed and wants to be welcomed with open arms, but Laura suspects she’s not all that she seems.
When tragedy strikes, an unforgiveable lie is told. It is an act of desperation, but the fall-out will change their lives forever.
Book Info: Print length: 369 pages. Publisher: Pan. Publication date: 6th April 2017
My Thoughts.
This book has been sitting quietly on my kindle since 2017, forgotten and neglected, but when I saw Amazon Prime had commissioned a drama series based on the book it jumped straight to the top of my TBR pile because I absolutely, can not, won’t ever, refuse to, read a book AFTER I’ve watched the TV version.
I devoured it over one day on holiday last month and dissected each chapter with my friends who had seen the series but NOT read the book (yes I do have friends who don’t read!). They were under strict instructions NOT to spoil the drama or tell me the differences between the two.
The Girlfriend has everything I love in a psychological thriller. A batsh*t crazy female character (or 2), an unreliable narrator (or 2), a split second decision that is life-changing and catastrophic and a fast paced gripping plot that keeps the reader glued to the pages.
Laura, the matriarch of the family, Daniel’s mother is a very strong female character. Obsessed with her only son, stuck in a loveless marriage and struggling to keep her business afloat, to say she idolises her son is an understatement.
When he meets Cherry, a stunning young woman working in a local estate agent, they instantly click and start a relationship.
However, mummy isn’t impressed and starts trying to sabotage their romance. It’s unclear how unstable Laura is, because I’m not sure any potential girlfriend would meet her high standards for her darling son.
What Laura doesn’t realise is that Cherry may (or may not) have her own agenda and is more than capable of defending herself. Concealing a very dangerous and manipulative persona, the two women find themselves at war.
The book does have quite a few differences to the drama series and whilst it does remain true to the original story both are equally compelling, addictive and gripping.
If you are going to ask me whether the book is better than the TV series, the answer is always going to be YES 100%, but both are worth reading/watching.
