Under the Harrow

A Novel

By: Flynn Berry

Narrated by: Ell Potter

"A thriller for fans of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl...[with] a striking, original voice all Berry’s own.” —The New York Times Book Review

The riveting, Edgar Award-winning first novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Northern Spy and A Double Life

When Nora takes the train from London to visit her sister in the countryside, she expects to find her waiting at the station, or at home cooking dinner. But when she walks into Rachel’s familiar house, what she finds is entirely different: her sister has been the victim of a brutal murder.

Stunned and adrift, Nora finds she can’t return to her former life. An unsolved assault in the past has shaken her faith in the police, and she can’t trust them to find her sister’s killer. Haunted by the murder and the secrets that surround it, Nora is under the harrow: distressed and in danger. As Nora’s fear turns to obsession, she becomes as unrecognizable as the sister her investigation uncovers.

A riveting psychological thriller and a haunting exploration of the fierce love between two sisters, the distortions of grief, and the terrifying power of the past, Under the Harrow marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.


Named one of the "10 Best Mystery Books and Thrillers of the Year" by The Washington Post
Named one of the best books of the year by The Atlantic

Good mystery

Good mystery and details. Story did get a little stagnant in the middle but did pick up again.

Obsession, fully explored

I have two sisters. If either of them was murdered I would not lose my mind. I would let the authorities do their jobs, and I would try to help when asked. This is how I am different to Nora, the surviving sister and narrator of this book. She is unstable, unlikeable, and exhausting. No one loves a relative as much as she loves Rachel, and I ended up not liking Rachel much either.

The reader of this book is also exhausting. Breathless, slow and pitiful, she throws herself into the task of reading this book like a high school thespian. It went better after I sped up the pace, but still I only stuck with it because I am stubborn and apparently a masochist.

Save your money.

Disappointing

The plot is convoluted and the narrator is exhausting! Sorry I wasted my time and credit. Very disappointing.