Ruth Kelly

After reading Ruth Kelly's previous novel, The Villa, I was really looking forward to reading The Escape and I've come to realise that this is an author who writes absolutely addictive stories.

The Escape follows Adele and Jack. Adele is an aspiring influencer but living on a housing estate and working in a hotel doesn't quite do it for her. She wants more and on a whim posts a video asking for crowdfunding to buy a run-down French chateau. Not everyone is behind her but it only takes one enigmatic donor and she has her dream home. It's when Erin, Adele's sister, stops hearing from her and goes to France to find out what's happened that it becomes apparent that all is not what it seems.

A small town enclosed community, a sprawling chateau, secrets, rules, mysterious gardeners. It's all in The Escape and I found it hard to put down. It seemed pretty clear that nothing was quite what Adele and Jack were expecting but as the story unravelled it took me on a sinister and unexpected journey into depravation and affluence. It's all very well being an influencer, but that often means laying your life wide open for all to see and that can be a very dangerous thing to do, as Adele soon finds out.

Ruth Kelly is now an author whose books I will pick up without knowing anything about them. She writes very twisty stories which enthral me and I've loved the focus on how social media and reality shows can bring anyone their fifteen minutes of fame. I'm excited for what comes next from this talented writer. In the meantime, I heartily recommend The Escape which is dark, original and totally gripping.… (plus d'informations)

One reality show set in a villa on a sun-soaked island. Nobody knows where, not even the ten contestants. The twist is that this is not a mainstream TV show but one which is streamed live on the internet to an audience who call all the shots. To be honest, I can't imagine anything worse. I've never watched Love Island but I imagine The Villa to be like an extreme version of it with very little in the way of safety measures for those taking part.

Laura is a reporter whose boss gets her an audition for the show so she can get an inside scoop. This means pretending she is somebody else, a dangerous game to play, especially as the makers of the programme seem to have very little in the way of scruples. It's difficult to like the contestants who are, understandably I suppose, in it for themselves. Laura is perhaps the best of the bunch and I couldn't help but feel she stuck out like a sore thumb amongst some of the other rather more vacuous contenders.

I was gripped by this book from the off and the scenes in the villa had me turning the pages apace. Interspersed with the goings-on in the Villa are sections from later featuring the producer, and sections showing the reactions of some of the viewers. The whole set up of this book worked so well and the viewers in particular showed just how much we get whipped into a frenzy these days by voyeurism and the downfall of other people.

I thought this was a fantastic debut novel from Ruth Kelly. She writes with experience from her work for Endemol who created Big Brother and it shows as there's a strong sense of knowledge and understanding of the reality show set-up. I was cringing through much of the time in the villa because of the behaviour of the contestants. Each to their own, I suppose, but one thing is for sure: if The Villa was a real-life show you wouldn't see me anywhere near it. As for The Villa: the book - well that comes highly recommended by me as a fast-paced and exciting psychological thriller.… (plus d'informations)