Under Her Roof by A.A. Chaudhuri #BookReview #BlogTour

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It seems too good to be true…

When struggling writer Sebastian finds a room to let in a palatial Hampstead residence he cannot believe his luck. The rent is ridiculously cheap and he immediately feels a connection with his beautiful widowed landlady, Adriana.

It is.

Things take a dark turn when he finds out what happened to the last lodger. Could this be why the house is a fortress of security, and why Adriana seems so fragile? Adriana doesn’t want to talk about the death and sadness that seem to follow her wherever she goes and Sebastian has secrets of his own.

Now someone is watching their every move and there is nowhere to hide.

This house of light becomes a dark nightmare as the threat ramps up - what does the watcher want? And how far will they go to get it?

It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Under Her Roof by A.A. Chaudhuri today. Many thanks to Hera Books and Love Books Tours for inviting me and for my advance digital copy of the novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed A.A. Chaudhuri's previous novel, The Final Party, when I read it last year and in my review said that although it was the first book I'd read by her, it definitely wouldn't be my last. I didn't hesitate, therefore, when it came to reading Under Her Roof and I'm delighted to say that I wasn't disappointed by this intriguing, twisty psychological thriller. 
I love books with a creeping sense of dread and Under Her Roof certainly delivers on that score. Like The Final Party, readers follow the perspective of a few characters here, although the cast is smaller this time. For the most part, the narrative is shared between Sebastian and Adriana, however, there are also chapters told from the point-of-view of an unknown but clearly malevolent character. Adriana and Sebastian have both obviously been damaged by events from the past and as a result, have taken steps to keep their dark secrets safe. A.A. Chaudhuri ensures they are sympathetic characters throughout but their fear of being exposed means there is always an element of doubt surrounding them too, and because of their guardedness, it does take a while to warm to them.
The start of the book is slower paced, as Sebastian moves into Adriana's beautiful home as her lodger. However slow doesn't equal boring, and as they both start to receive chilling messages from somebody who knows far too much about them, the drip-feeding of tension is expertly handled as Sebastian uncovers unsettling revelations about his new landlady, while Adriana is also given cause to question if she can really trust her instincts about him. Although as readers we are privy to some of the dilemmas facing them, there are still several shocking moments, some of which lead us closer to the truth whereas others are clever misdirections. 
As the sense of danger becomes more intense, readers will almost certainly consider what they would do in a similar situation, but even at their most frustrating, Sebastian and Adriana remain believable  – we may not agree with the choices they make but we accept the reasoning behind them. 
Alongside the main narrative, there are scenes set in the past which gradually help piece all the many parts of this engrossing puzzle together. We learn more about Adriana's tragic backstory at first but eventually the reasons behind Sebastian's actions and the shame he feels is laid bare too, and in both cases, A.A. Chaudhuri's empathetic understanding of guilt and trauma is excellent. I don't want to give anything away about the conclusion, except to say that despite being encouraged to develop theories throughout, I didn't come close to figuring out what was really happening! The exploration of what might drive somebody to such terrible extremes is scarily convincing, and as the various strands are drawn together, it's easy enough to accept even the strange coincidences. There are some dark, harrowing topics examined here but nothing is gratuitous and the worst of the horror is kept off the page. 
Under Her Roof is a tautly plotted, nuanced suspense thriller; claustrophobic, gripping and poignantly thought-provoking – I highly recommend it. 

Under Her Roof is published by Hera Books, purchasing links can be found here.

Follow the blog tour, details are below.

About the Author
A.A. Chaudhuri is a former City lawyer. After gaining a degree in History at University College London, she later trained as a solicitor and worked for several major London law firms before leaving law to pursue her passion for writing. She lives in Surrey with her family, and loves films, all things Italian and a good margarita!

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