Claire is a hardworking doctor leading a simple, quiet life in London. She is also the daughter of the most notorious murder suspect in the country, though no one knows it.
Nearly thirty years ago, while Claire and her brother slept upstairs, a brutal crime was committed in her family’s townhouse. The next morning, her father’s car was found abandoned near the English Channel, with bloodstains on the front seat. Her mother insisted she’d seen him in the house that night, but his powerful, privileged friends maintained his innocence. The first lord accused of murder in more than a century, he has been missing ever since.
When the police tell Claire they’ve found him, her carefully calibrated existence begins to fracture. She doesn’t know if she’s the daughter of a murderer or a wronged man, but Claire will soon learn how far she’ll go to finally find the truth.
Loosely inspired by one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of the 20th century – the Lord Lucan case – A Double Life is at once a riveting page-turner and a moving reflection on women and violence, trauma and memory, and class and privilege.
I loved Under the Harrow so I was excited to read this and it did not in any way disappoint.
I love how Flynn Berry creates and breathes life and soul into a character- in this case Claire, whose father killed her Nanny, attempted to kill her Mother then disappeared seemingly into thin air…
There is such an atmosphere here as Claire researches and travels , takes care of her brother, goes into a kind of life catatonic state every time the police believe they’ve caught up with her errant Father . I love how its really not about whether he’s guilty or not but about how the lives he left behind him are indelibly altered. His friends who covered for him, their children and at the heart of it all Claire who watches and waits and plans..
Themes of privilege, victim blaming, history and consequences run throughout the narrative and it is at turns chilling and emotionally resonant. Beautifully written, stand out characters and a hugely immersive sense of place and time make A Double Life an absolute must read.
Highly recommended.
You can purchase A Double Life (Orion) Here.
Happy Reading!
