Ponder Post: The Girl Before

The Girl Before ©2017 by JP Delaney is a strongly engaging, well-written, psychological suspense novel – even a New York Times Bestseller. It gave me the creeps. Characters were very complex and well portrayed. I liked none of them. The book was a page turner and I finished it; I did not feel it was a waste of my time but never-the-less, it was not my cup of tea. (It was set in London, so pardon my colloquialism.)

The premise is what drew me in. I have a penchant for an architecture theme, and this particular building is austerely modern with strict rules for those who must fill out a questionnaire, be interviewed, and judged worthy to be its tenant by the designing architect. The dwelling is reputed to change its inhabitants. There is to be absolutely no clutter, no books, no pillows, no plants and minimal possessions must be  kept out of site in camouflaged storage places. The very first question on the application questionnaire is,

1. Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life. 

There are no lighting or heating/cooling controls – just mood controls for the four choices of Productive, Peaceful, Playful, and Purposeful. The high tech software intrinsic to the house (dare I say home?) adjusts settings appropriate to those distinct moods. I couldn't help but wonder, "Would these four options cover all possibilities for me?"

One of the main characters, the architect Edward Monkford, is a handsome, disciplined, precise, controlling, demanding, brilliant man of few words. I would peg him as a blend of Christian Grey from the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy by EL James, Edward Cullen from The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyers, Edward Lewis played by Richard Gere opposite Julia Roberts in the movie Pretty Woman, and perhaps even real life persona Steven Jobs. Personally I somehow fail to see the allure of the strong, silent, cerebral, emotionally distant type of male. However, both the two female characters, Emma and Jane feel a strong sexual attraction toward him.

The two main female characters are very similar in physical looks and emotional needs. Each has a traumatic event in her life driving her to seek "a fresh start". Emma was a tenant in One Folgate Street prior to Jane. The chapter titles in the novel alternate between "THEN: EMMA" and "NOW: JANE". Initially confusing because the two women shared so many common traits and experienced almost identical interactions with Edward, I got used to the chronological see-sawing. I began to recognize which point of view was being portrayed by the characters actions and needed less and less to use the chapter headings as a crutch.

Between random chapters, the novel is sprinkled with questions from the intake application. Some sample questions are:

2. When I'm working on something, I can't relax until it's perfect
Agree ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Disagree

4. I have no time for people who don't strive to better themselves.
Agree ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Disagree

5a). You have the choice between saving Michelangelo's statue of David or a starving street child. Which do you choose?
◦The statue ◦The child

12. In a well-run society, there have to be consequences for those who break the rules.
Agree ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Disagree

30. Which statement best describes your most recent personal relationship?
◦More like friends than lovers ◦Easy and comfortable ◦Soulful and intense ◦Tempestuous and explosive ◦Perfect but short-lived

These thought provoking tidbits, some more of a conundrum than others, do provide a "pause to refresh" amidst the supposedly freeing, but in my opinion, stifling ambience imposed by the living quarters and its architect.

Emma came to an untimely death within the home. Accident? Murder? Suicide? Hmmm... Is Jane traveling down the same path to a similar fate? Occasionally when I read a mystery genre book I want to go back and re-read it with my newly acquired knowledge to see if all the clues were indeed present and if the text was self-consistent. I never do that, but this is one of those books where the twist at the end makes you question yourself on if you should have seen it coming. I give this book a three star rating which, in my  terminology, equals better than average and not a waste of time. I wanted to finish The Girl Before and yet paradoxically I wanted to be finished with it. I'd rather read a book where I like at least some of the characters.

If you'd like to know more about The Girl Before in order to decide if it should go on your reading list, I found https://readingbookslikeaboss.com/review-girl-before-j-p-delaney/ to be one of the better reviews. It goes into more detail than I did but, for the most part, I am in agreement with the reviewer.