Review: Through the Wall by Caroline Corcoran

Lexie’s got the perfect life. And someone else wants it…

Lexie loves her home. She feels safe and secure in it – and loved, thanks to her boyfriend Tom.

But recently, something’s not been quite right. A book out of place. A wardrobe door left open. A set of keys going missing…

Tom thinks Lexie’s going mad – but then, he’s away more often than he’s at home nowadays, so he wouldn’t understand.

Because Lexie isn’t losing it. She knows there’s someone out there watching her. And, deep down, she knows there’s nothing she can do to make them stop…

Through the Wall is dark, tense and very compelling. Short sharp chapters make it very easy to read, and very hard to put down. The story is told through dual narrative from Lexie and her neighbour Harriet, both of whom have a very skewed opinion of what the other's life is like, despite living right next door to each other. Lexie thinks Harriet has the perfect life. A famous musician and composer with an active social life. Harriet thinks Lexie has the perfect life. A gorgeous boyfriend, a happy relationship. Both of them could not be more wrong. As the two women become increasingly obsessed with each other one of them decides to take things a step too far...

Harriet is, in a word, deranged. You know from the start that she has a dark secret in her past, but the real twist is not what she did (which wasn't as bad as I was expecting), but what she went through. She has been damaged by her past, and this ought to make the reader sympathetic towards her and her actions, but it doesn't, and you get the sense that she is truly irredeemable. Lexie is a more likable character, and although her behaviour can be erratic, given her situation you do understand why. Tom, Lexie's boyfriend, caught in the crossfire, is a decent chap at heart, and I appreciated the occasional diary extract giving you his perspective on situations too. I was rooting for him the whole way through to do the right thing.

The main thing I took away from this book was its commentary on the dangers of social media - however perfect you think someone's life is, chances are they are fighting their own battles you know nothing about. There is no such thing as the perfect life, and obsessing over such a thing can be very unhealthy. This is something I think we're all guilty of - I know I certainly am - and this novel has made me think twice, not only about my perceptions of others, but about what I post on social media myself. It had me ramping up my privacy settings too!

Through the Wall is a dark tale of obsession in the digital age.

**Thanks to Ellie Pilcher at HarperCollins for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a review!**