The Nitty Gritty…
Before You Knew My Name is a powerful story that leaves us knowing that every human being has a story whether it seems so or not at first glance. We’ve got two women – Ruby who is alive and Alice who isn’t. What connects them is that Ruby is the one that found Alice by the river. Alice remains unidentified but knows that Ruby is the one who can give her a voice and her name back. For Ruby it was traumatic and she wants it to all go away but she can’t forget what she saw and Ruby feels like it’s her responsibility to learn who she was. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Penelope Rawlins. I have listened to her before and I felt she lent such an authentic voice to Alice. She brought out the emotion in this story and had me feeling those emotions deeply. I found Before You Knew My Name emotional and heartbreaking and so very good. Highly recommended!
Summary from Simon & Schuster
Winner of Crime Debut and Readers’ Choice Awards—Sisters in Crime
Editors’ Choice/Staff Pick by The New York Times Book Review
“A brave and timely novel.” —Clare Mackintosh, internationally bestselling author of Hostage
This is not just another novel about a dead girl. Two women—one alive, one dead—are brought together in the dark underbelly of New York City to solve a tragic murder.
When she arrived in New York on her eighteenth birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city’s latest Jane Doe. She may be dead but that doesn’t mean her story is over.
Meanwhile, Ruby Jones is also trying to reinvent herself. After travelling halfway around the world, she’s lonelier than ever in the Big Apple. Until she stumbles upon a woman’s body by the Hudson River, and suddenly finds herself unbreakably tied to the unknown dead woman.
Alice is sure Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her short life and tragic death. Ruby just wants to forget what she saw…but she can’t seem to stop thinking about the young woman she found. If she keeps looking, can she give this unidentified Jane Doe the ending and closure she deserves?
A “heartbreaking, beautiful, and hugely important novel” (Rosie Walsh, New York Times bestselling author), Before You Knew My Name doesn’t just wonder whodunnit—it also asks who was she? And what did she leave behind?
Review copy provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.
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