So the premise of the book is that our MC, Lara is stuck in a dull-ish marriage with a man she's not suited to. They've tried to have children and are up to their eyeballs in IVF debt. To clear the debt and give herself a bit of breathing space from Mr Boring, Lara takes a well-paid contract in London and commutes on the sleeper train from their house in Cornwall every week. On the sleeper, she meets Guy, who is totally hot and fancies her back. Unfortunately, Guy is also married and the two start up a saucy affair.
That's when this book starts spinning off into a slightly more bonkers plotline. We switch points of view to Lara's friend, Iris (who is also struggling with her past) and take off to Asia. Everything is a bit thriller, which is a genre I don't typically go for, but I'm really glad I did here. It was gripping and fun and I could totally see what the ending was going to be but I didn't care.
I've read quite a few Emily Barr books, every since Backpack (her first book) was published, and I think she's a really sound author. She's not like high literature or anything, but she writes a really good yarn with fleshed-out characters.
Also, I listened to the audiobook of this an the narrator was spot on. She did really good voices without going over the top and really added something to the narrative. I don't get on with every audiobook as sometimes the narrator can ruin it for me, but in this case the narrator was great.
The only criticism I'd have of this book is the overwhelming lack of diversity. Seriously, every single person is white, hetero, cis, able-bodied and middle class. Lazy, lazy writing. I know thrillers are all about the plot, but actually Emily Barr is really good at characterisation too, so it wouldn't have been difficult to make this book more diverse. Not every LGBT character has to have their story arc about coming out, not every BAME character has to have their story arc about overcoming racism (although these story lines are important too), there's no reason why thrillers can't be diverse. Everyone deserves to see themselves in books.
Lack of diversity aside, this was still a good book. I listen to audiobooks while I'm decorating or doing chores, and this one brightened up my boring work for a good week or so!
4 stars