The People Before: A gripping, twisty suspenseful psychological thriller for 2023 that will keep you up all night!

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The first part of the novel which is narrated by Jess, had a lovely sense of creeping unease and eeriness that I really liked. The family, out of their comfort zone, and with a large house that was falling apart around them, was an effective plot device. I thought I was settling down for a supernatural tale. But then it all changed with it being told from another character’s point of view and the mood changed. And we see Jess through her eyes,’ dressing like a children’s TV presenter’ and sneering at her attempts to be creative. It isn’t long before she is playing mind games with Jess. and the importance of land ownership to the family is madeapparent in a number of phrases in the story. The narratortells us that „my father took on that farm‟, he refers to theimportance of „Land of your own,‟ which becomes „yourown little kingdom‟. The suggestions of the history of theland come through the discovery of the greenstone adzes King’s improvised sermon continued for nine minutes after the end of his prepared remarks, and his stirring words would be remembered as undoubtedly one of the greatest speeches in American history. At its conclusion, King quoted an “old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'” King’s speech served as a defining moment for the civil rights movement, and he soon emerged as its most prominent figure. Civil Rights Act of 1964, July 1964 I read through the night to finish this thriller… Spooky, tense, richly atmospheric and profoundly moving’ ERIN KELLY

So I did find this very slow going and quite tedious. It also didn’t help that the characters were not very likeable Jess came across as self-absorbed and fixated on how everything affected her whilst her husband Pete was largely bland uninterested and absent both physically and emotionally. I didn’t feel much of a connection with anyone and because of my growing apathy, I wasn’t even that bothered about anyone’s well-being or even the eventual conclusion which if I’m honest was a tad ridiculous.The People Before tells the story of Jess and Peter, a couple from London desperate to be seen as doing the right thing, and their move to the country. They’d always been happy in London, until the break-in that has left Jess and her daughter scared. The move to Maple House in rural Suffolk seems like the answer to their prayers. The characters were excellent. With the way it was written you just weren't sure who to trust and whether what you were reading was as straightforward as it made out. I loved that we had the two viewpoints so we were able to really get to know the two main characters. They were certainly complex people with secrets that they were trying to keep hidden. I was emotionally invested and was satisfied with the ending. Around the same time, the mechanization of spinning and weaving had revolutionized the textile industry in England, and the demand for American cotton soon became insatiable. Production was limited, however, by the laborious process of removing the seeds from raw cotton fibers, which had to be completed by hand. The characters were excellent. With the way it was written you just weren't sure who to trust and whether what you were reading was as straightforward as it made out. I loved that we had the two viewpoints so we we

Charlotte Northedge creates a riveting psychological study of self-deception and creeping dread.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES I have given it three stars, only because I didn't like Jess very much. If I'd felt more for the main character it would have been four stars. I would happily look for more novels by this author and would recommend the read as something twisty and atmospheric.The movement swelled to a critical juncture on May 25, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic when 46-year-old George Floyd died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by police officer Derek Chauvin.

Northedge’s book is in two voices; Jess’ story and then Eve’s perspective. Though the sense of malevolence is strong, with a small cast of characters it is not difficult to see where this story is going and from the middle of the book not all of Jess’ actions ring true. It’s not hard to second guess what’s going on and the tension dissipates somewhat as a result. The people before”, though not in the story as characters, influence much of the story and the attitude of the characters. The father has no time to think of them except when Jim displays the greenstone adzes. Even then the father does not relate to the “people before”; his thought is only about how much they could be worth. The people before were so intimately connected to the land that they have carried the old man to the spot where he was born so that he could see it one more time before dying. The narrator’s father on the other hand frequently talks of selling the farm when the going gets tough. The land is just something that he owns and puts to work.

Tony L. Clark holding a photo of George Floyd among protestors in front of the Cup Food Store where George Floyd was killed.  All of this makes for an increasingly disturbing first half of the book, as the atmosphere gets more intense and Jess begins to feel she is going off the rails. The reader is drawn into her perspective and as things get more bizarre and creepy there is the realisation that it is not going to end well. A native of Connecticut, John Brown struggled to support his large family and moved restlessly from state to state throughout his life, becoming a passionate opponent of slavery along the way. After assisting in the Underground Railroad out of Missouri and engaging in the bloody struggle between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Kansas in the 1850s, Brown grew anxious to strike a more extreme blow for the cause. Desperate to make a new start and leave London behind them, Jess and Pete are inexorably drawn to Maple House despite its isolated location, dire state of repair, and knotweed-infested garden. Sure, the renovation work seems daunting now but, once the work is done, it will be the perfect family home: a rural idyll in which Archie and Rose can grow up and Jess and Pete can leave behind the shadows and secrets of their past.