Her

De: Harriet Lane

Narrado por: Julie Maisey

Two women; two different worlds. Emma is a struggling mother who has put everything on hold. Nina is sophisticated and independent - entirely in control. When the pair meet, Nina generously draws Emma into her life. But this isn't the first time the women's paths have crossed.

Nina remembers Emma and she remembers what Emma did. But what exactly does Nina want from her And how far will she go in pursuit of it?

©2014 Harriet Lane (P)2014 Orion Publishing Group

It's the little things....

In a chance meeting on a London street, sophisticated Nina encounters old acquaintance and harried new mum Emma. Nina has a much longer memory than Emma and begins to court lonely, forgetful and isolated Emma, 'Her', as Nina thinks of Emma: HER.

Harriet Lane's story is told in two voices, one calculating the other rather oblivious and sweet. There are no real surprises in 'Her', but in the two narratives, Lane makes you care about the finely wrought characters- she makes you hope the inevitable and cataclysmic ending can somehow be averted.
There's no fancy footwork here, no unreliable narrative, misdirection or obstrufication- just taut, excellent storybuilding through two distinct points of view. In fact, 'Her' kind of crept up on me; I was on the fence, thinking it might be a return but after a couple of hours was surprised to find myself utterly engaged.

Narrator Julie Maisey is superb as both characters, but the audio recording of 'Her' needs two distinct voices: a few times I picked up the story in the middle of a chapter and waited or rewound to figure out whether it was Nina or Emma's narrative.

Despite the misjudgment in production, 'Her' ranks somewhere near the top of the 400+ books in my library.