A Narrow Door

By: Joanne Harris

Narrated by: Alex Kingston, Steven Pacey

Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Now I'm in charge, the gates are my gates. The rules are my rules.

It's an incendiary moment for St Oswald's school. For the first time in its history, a headmistress is in power, the gates opening to girls.

Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely 40, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered.

But Rebecca is here to make her mark. She'll bury the past so deep it will evade even her own memory, just like she has done before.

After all...you can't keep a good woman down.

©2021 Joanne M Harris (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"A dark world of emotional complexity and betrayal, where twist follows twist and nothing is what it seems. A masterful narrative voice, and a compulsive thriller from one of our greatest writers. I absolutely loved it." (Alex Michaelides, number one best-selling author of The Silent Patient)

"A psychological thriller you can't put down and an antiheroine you won't forget." (Harlan Coben)

"A dark and richly enjoyable novel that already feels like a classic." (Elly Griffiths)

"A dark world of emotional complexity and betrayal, where twist follows twist and nothing is what it seems." (Alex Michaelides)

Great story, somewhat spoiled by performance

I absolutely love Joanne Harris's books, and maybe that was the challenge for me! usually, I cannot put them away until I finish, while this title took me a while to go through... I have to admit it may have been because I really struggled with the performance of the female narrator.
Still a great read!

Brilliant narration

Steven Pacey and Alex Kingston where brilliant. Thank you for the most incredible narration and character building

So many questions

It was initially a difficult book to get into, going back and forth in time, and moving from one character to another but was definitely worth it.

Then end is quite shocking and I am left with many questions but this makes me rethink what happened in the beginning of the book. It is definitely a book that needs discussion. I really enjoyed it a lot.

Great plot and perfectly chosen narrators

Really enjoyed this book / Joanne Harris’s writing is wonderfully evocative, the characters and the backdrop of school and home carefully drawn and the plot intricate. Another masterpiece from Joanne; up there with Chocolat!

A lacklustre story saved by the narration

The first two novels in this series were great, but this feels like a cobbled together attempt to milk the cow dry.
Despite that, Steven Pacey’s narration shines. I was, however, less impressed by Alex Kingston, who is normally excellent, but she had a very unlikable character to work with. Overall I was glad to finish this.
Disappointing.