Thursday 5 July 2012

Gone Girl

Finished July 3
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, read by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne

This thriller is one of the creepiest books I've ever read. Why? Because you think that maybe there are really people like this out there.
On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne arrives home after a neighbour's call to find his front door wide open, his living room a mess, and his wife Amy gone. After a panicky search, he calls the police.
Nick doesn't display the usual emotions that come with such a disappearance though, and his voice shows that their marriage wasn't doing well. As the days move forward in the investigation, and Amy remains missing, we discover Nick is hiding some things too, and he begins to realize that Amy knows him better than he ever realized.
Juxtaposed to his voice as the days move forward are earlier entries from Amy diaries. They portray a perfectionist, eager-to-please woman, but paint Nick in a bad light. 
Halfway through the book, things suddenly change. The reader does get some hints of this, but the reality is still somewhat shocking.
This is a story about a marriage, about expectations in relationships, about how we try to portray our better self to others, but not always to those we are most intimate with. It raises some interesting issues around relationships, and society. It deals with society's fascination with true crime and the media hoopla that accompanies certain cases.
I'd love to discuss this book with others who've read it.

1 comment:

  1. I should say that I found myself getting very caught up emotionally in this novel as I listened. I was literally gasping as some bits.
    Definitely one of the books of the season.

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