Lauren North – Safe At Home

Safe At Home by Lauren North is a psychological thriller about every parent’s nightmare. At what age do you leave your child alone in the house? We all know there is a time when you have to…but when is that time?

Anna makes the sensitive decision to leave her 11-year-old Harrie in the house alone. Anna knows she will only be about 20 minutes and Barton St Martin is a village where nothing bad happens. She is delayed getting home and is longer than she intended. When she gets in, she worryingly finds bruises on Harrie that she won’t explain. Then a local businessman is reported missing which has the village ablaze with gossip. Anna feels there is a connection and Harrie is in some sort of trouble. How can she protect Harrie if she doesn’t know where the danger is coming from?
Such an addictive read right from the start. The story is told from Anna and Harrie’s perspectives and also incorporates a what’s app group chat. As the story unfolds we are shown flashbacks from Harrie which shows us what Anna doesn’t know yet. This builds tension and suspense as the story slowly moves towards its conclusion.

My first Lauren North book and not my last! A cleverly written story with relatable and realistic characters. Anna is an anxious woman but she has her reasons and eventually, that comes to light as well. I can understand her anxiety just as a mother, we all go through that at some point. The fact that Harrie’s behaviour altered after that night is another reason for her to be worried.

This is an intriguing and suspenseful story with twists that highlighted the suspense and drama of the book. I was hooked from the start and I had to tear myself away from it to come back to my daily life.

Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Transworld Digital for my gifted copy of the book.