When Glasgow journalist Shona McGilvery moves with her partner Mikey and their baby to an idyllic cottage in rural Scotland, they believe that all that lies ahead of them is happiness.
But with Mikey working offshore, the frightening isolation of the Aberdeenshire countryside begins to drive her insane...
That is, until she is rescued by a new friendship with the enchanting Valentina.
She has the perfect home, the perfect man, and a charismatic new best friend - or does she?
As her fairytale life begins to unravel, the deep dark wood becomes the least of her fears.
***
[She always loved fairy stories: Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood - tales of misadventure and revenge and cottages hidden in the deep dark wood] ***(Blackbird Digital Books, 1 July 2016, ebook, 294 pages, Prime Reading)
***
***
Oh boy, I did not see that twist coming. I thought I knew what this book was going to be about and how things would turn out. I felt smug in my assurance. Oh yeah, I know how this will play out. I could not have been more wrong. I wasn't sure how I felt about the book. I was about halfway through and very little had happened. I kept reading because something pulled me into the book. Valentina is well-written, compelling and strangely addictive. The reader is drip-fed tiny snippets of information. I thought I know what Valentina's real motives were. It turns out I didn't have a clue. The 'twist' is one of the most original I've read un ages. I had no idea where the book was going to go. What a corker!
