The Book of You: A Novel - Softcover

Kendal, Claire

3.58

13,489 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006232666X ISBN 13: 9780062326669

Publisher: Harper Large Print, 2014

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A mesmerizing tale of psychological suspense about a woman who must fight to escape an expert manipulator determined to possess her, Claire Kendal’s debut novel is a sophisticated and disturbing portrait of compulsion, control, and terror that will appeal to fans of Before I Go to Sleep, The Silent Wife, and Into the Darkest Corner.

His name is Rafe, and he is everywhere Clarissa turns. At the university where she works. Her favorite sewing shop. The train station. Outside her apartment. His messages choke her voice mail; his gifts litter her mailbox. Since that one regrettable night, his obsession with her has grown, becoming more terrifying with each passing day. And as Rafe has made clear, he will never let her go.

Clarissa’s only escape from this harrowing nightmare is inside a courtroom—where she is a juror on a trial involving a victim whose experiences eerily parallel her own. There she finds some peace and even makes new friends, including an attractive widower named Robert, whose caring attentions make her feel desired and safe. But as a disturbingly violent crime unfolds in the courtroom, Clarissa realizes that to survive she must expose Rafe herself. Conceiving a plan, she begins collecting the evidence of Rafe’s madness to use against him—a record of terror that will force her to relive every excruciating moment she desperately wants to forget. Proof that will reveal the twisted, macabre fairy tale that Rafe has spun around them . . . with an ending more horrifying than her darkest fears.

Masterfully constructed, filled with exquisite tension and a pervasive sense of menace, The Book of You explores the lines between love and compulsion, fantasy and reality, and offers a heart-stopping portrait of a woman determined to survive. Claire Kendal’s extraordinary debut will haunt readers long after it reaches its terrifying, breathtaking conclusion.

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From the Back Cover:

"No other man can do to you what I can. No other man will love you like I do . . . "

His name is Rafe, and he is everywhere Clarissa turns. At the university where she works. Her favorite sewing shop. The train station. Outside her apartment. His messages choke her voicemail; his unwanted gifts keep arriving at her door. Since that one regrettable night, his obsession with her has grown, becoming more consuming with each passing day. And, as Rafe has made clear, he will never let her go.

Masterly constructed, filled with exquisite tension and a pervasive sense of menace, this darkly sophisticated, utterly compelling debut explores what happens when the lines between love and compulsion, fantasy and reality, become dangerously blurred. A heart-stopping story about a woman determined to survive, The Book of You will haunt readers long after it reaches its terrifying, breathtaking conclusion.

About the Author:

Claire Kendal was born in America and educated in England, where she has spent all her adult life. Her first novel, The Book of You, was translated into more than twenty languages. Claire teaches English literature and creative writing, and lives in England’s South West region with her family.

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