The French Girl

By: Lexie Elliott

Narrated by: Katherine Lee McEwan

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

I Know What You Did Last Summer meets the French countryside in this exhilarating psychological suspense novel about a woman trapped by the bonds of friendship - perfect for fans of The Widow and The Woman in Cabin 10. 

One of RealSimple's and Cosmopolitan's Best Books of the Month

Everyone has a secret.... 

They were six university students from Oxford - friends and sometimes more than friends - spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway...until they met Severine, the girl next door.  

But after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate Channing knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive. And there are some people you can't forget...like Severine, who was never seen again.  

A decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts all around her. Desperate to resolve her unreliable memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the memory of the woman who still haunts her, Kate finds herself entangled within layers of deception with no one to set her free.... 

©2017 Lexie Elliott (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“The French Girl commands attention. The author provides the perfect dose of character development before unveiling eerie details from her cast's past, ensuring that we're properly unnerved when their lives begin to unravel.” (Associated Press)

“The shifting dynamics within the group will keep the reader guessing until the end. First novelist Elliott has done a phenomenal job of combining a whodunit with a Big Chill vibe.” (Library Journal, starred review)

“A gripping mystery that delves into the past and the darker side of friendships, this book will have you questioning everything you think you know. The French Girl is a fantastic debut about tangled relationships, shifting perceptions, and the memories - and people - that haunt us. I was completely captivated from beginning to end.” (Megan Miranda, New York Times best-selling author of The Perfect Stranger) 

An up and coming mystery & suspense author

Any additional comments?

Lexie Elliot gives us an excellent debut. I won’t go into plot points or who-is-who as reviewers have already covered that ground. But I do want to address some of the negative review points with the understanding that so much of this is subjective.
First, if you like fast action or thrillers, this isn’t for you. THE FRENCH GIRL is a character-driven story with an ensemble of six friends who ten years ago were Oxford University students. First, working with that many characters is one of the most challenging ways to create a story. Second, the setup of this story requires numerous flashbacks to the idyllic week the students spent in a French farmhouse, when, Severine, the French beauty they met disappeared. For a debut novelist, Lexie Elliot handles these situations with ease. I always knew where the setting was and whom she referenced.
I didn’t think the story dragged. I approached it more as a mystery, very English, with sobering moments, when suspicions keep the story more internal. From this I developed a clear understanding of what Kate Channing, the protagonist, was going through, especially her conflicted feeling towards her friends. Giving Kate the ghost of Severine felt to me like showing Kate’s sensitivity and awareness that the holiday in France wasn’t just about her and her romantic problems. College-age students ten to have a pretty myopic view. Having a beauty “disappear” might offer relief. Ten years later, this brings up Kate’s long-buried feelings for one of the men. I don’t want to give anything away, but the story seemed to reach for the atmospheric. I think if the author pared down the language it would have shown the gems in this novel.
I do have to say I knew who killed Severine early on, but that didn’t matter to me. I was more interested in what happened to the five remaining friends. As in most noirs, the end does not give a full plate of justice, and that’s the case in this novel.
For those who favor love stories served up with their mysteries—along with a French detective—you’ll find a few here.
For those who might have trouble with Kate seeming somewhat naïve, well, figure that “ten years later” means she might be only in her late twenties or early thirties, certainly not fully fledged yet.
For my review of Audible’s narrator, Katherine McEwan, I think she does a terrific job. I stumbled more with the overwriting than her reading.
Overall, I look at Lexie Elliot as an upcoming suspense and mystery writer who will only get better. I’m eager to read her next novel.

Slow, poor narration

First, the narrator isn't very good. She has a flat voice and it isn't pleasant to listen to. The story started off with a good set-up, but then started a downward slide to a very unfulfilling finale. If you like stories with a tidy ending / justice served, skip this, because that doesn't happen.

Great book, with a great ending.

I almost didn't buy this book because of the reviews saying the ending was horrible. The ending is great, no mystery to ponder after you finish the book. Great narrator and compelling plot.

Couldn’t stop listening!!!

This book was so good! Loved the narration also. I highly recommend if you enjoy a good “who did it” story.

I loved this book!

Don’t pay attention to the negative reviews. This is a wonderful, interesting, exciting and believable thriller.

Intriguing

Good book. Thrown by accent at first but enjoyed it. Intriguing if a tiny bit unsatisfying.

Really good!

Kept me listening late into the night, and didn’t want it to end. Loved it.

Good but dragged

This was a good book to listen to as I enjoyed the performer but parts of the story were extraneous and dragged out some to the point I zoned out. I hate doing that when I pay for a book.

I liked the accents, but...

This book was boring from beginning to end. Things happened but there was no suspense, no excitement. I was barely interested in what the character was experiencing. Even the climax was written in a ho-hum sort of way

enjoyable easy read

little slow to start good story just left me wanting a little more detail and more information about what actually happened.

Good story

This was a well-rounded thriller with no artificial or sensational plot lines. Just five people confronting the reality of a ten year old mystery. Unfortunately the narrator had a very dull flat voice with little light and shade.

Excellent listening

I really enjoyed listening to this audio book. The story is unusual and quite enthralling- I was anxious to listen to the outcome.
Would thoroughly recommend listening to this book and will look out for more by this author. Narrator was excellent too !