First published 2018
Summer 1969. Frances Jellico arrives at Lyntons, a crumbling country estate, to document its gardens and architecture. Isolated and quietly desperate, she becomes obsessed with her fellow lodgers: the charismatic Cara and her boyfriend Peter. When Frances discovers a hidden peephole between her attic room and their living space, she begins to secretly observe their intimate moments, blurring the lines between research and invasion. As the summer progresses, Frances is drawn deeper into Cara and Peter's complex relationship, uncovering layers of deception that challenge her own fragile sense of self. The mansion becomes a pressure cooker of unspoken tensions, where every glance and whispered conversation carries potential danger. Frances must navigate the thin line between curiosity and moral transgression, knowing that her own carefully constructed facade could shatter at any moment. A psychological study of loneliness, perception, and the seductive power of watching without being seen.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Lyntons, Summer 1969
Period: 1969
ebook · Penguin