The Drowning Woman

By: Robyn Harding

Narrated by: Brittany Wilkerson, Henriette Zoutomou

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

From the bestselling author of The Party comes a deliciously twisted story of friendship, retribution, and betrayal following a homeless woman fleeing a dangerous past—and the wealthy society wife she saves.

Lee Gulliver never thought she’d find herself living on the streets—no one ever does—but when her restaurant fails, and she falls deeper into debt, she leaves her old life behind with nothing but her clothes and her Toyota Corolla. In Seattle, she parks in a secluded spot by the beach to lay low and plan her next move—until early one morning, she sees a sobbing woman throw herself into the ocean. Lee hauls the woman back to the surface, but instead of appreciation, she is met with fury. The drowning woman, Hazel, tells her that she wanted to die, that she’s trapped in a toxic, abusive marriage, that she’s a prisoner in her own home. Lee has thwarted her one chance to escape her life.

Out of options, Hazel retreats to her gilded cage, and Lee thinks she’s seen the last of her, until her unexpected return the next morning. Bonded by disparate but difficult circumstances, the women soon strike up a close and unlikely friendship. And then one day, Hazel makes a shocking request: she wants Lee to help her disappear. It’ll be easy, Hazel assures her, but Lee soon learns that nothing is as it seems, and that Hazel may not be the friend Lee thought she was.

©2023 Robyn Harding (P)2023 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"As twisty and pacey as it gets, The Drowning Woman is a dark and wild ride of redemption, betrayal, and friendship between two complex women caught in a tangle of secrets—a total page-turner."—Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push

"With deceitful characters who are not what they seem, a myriad of unexpected twists and turns, and a story that moves along at high speed, The Drowning Woman is everything I love in a thriller. Robyn Harding keeps readers hooked until the end.”—Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing

"This edge-of-your-seat thriller combines wildly intricate plot twists and turns with complex, carefully developed characters—and reading it made me wonder if there’s anything Robyn Harding can’t pull off! I had no idea where I was headed, but knew I definitely wanted to be on this propulsive, suspenseful, often shocking ride that explores the ways in which we betray ourselves and others—and just how far we’ll go for redemption."—Marissa Stapley, New York Times bestselling author of Lucky

Thoroughly enjoyed

Good book with good twists. Great character and story development. The narrator was good and made the characters come to life with her ability to project emotion into the narrative.

Could have been better

It had great potential but i was left feeling disappointed. The ending was bla. There were no really intense moments where you’re afraid of what’s going to happen.

Best book I have listened to in years

I'm an audiophile. I have hundreds and hundreds of suspense, thriller, psychological thrillers and it's hard to get a twist past me. I didn't see a lot of this coming, and the story itself was well written and moving! Definitely buying all her stuff now!

LOVED IT

Super sad when this book ended but it really kept me engaged. Awesome story and a great thriller.

It was a fine book.

I didn’t mind the book at all. Was it mind blowing or completely jarring? No, but it was a fine quick read.

Twist

A Twist I didn’t expect! Great story!! Plan to listen another by this author! Thanks

Really Good Listen!

Definitely has some great twists and turns. I had a hard time stopping… and couldn’t wait to start again.

Worth the listen!

Good twists and turns. Kept me interested the whole way through. The narrators did a great job.

Better than I predicted

Better than I thought it was going to be!! I kept thinking someone was going to (spoiler alert) be faking it!! Wow, lots of twists! Who to believe! Great, crazy story!!

Cringey writing and narration

I did like the plot but found the decisions by the characters to lack authenticity. Such poor judgement and not in line with the things they’ve been through. Also the writing was young and too spell- it- out for me, especially coupled with the narration. I imagined the narrators squinting their eyes while
Delivering soap opera performances. Three stars because somehow I still cared very much to see what happened next!