She Treads Softly: Confessions on the 7:45

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Confessions on the 7:45

Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger
10/6/20; 368 pages
Park Row Books

Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger is a very highly recommended unputdownable psychological thriller.

Selena Murphy is commuting home, late on the 7:45. Earlier she watched on her home surveillance camera her husband, Graham, sleeping with their nanny, Geneva, for the second time in a week as their sons Oliver and Stephen are distracted watching TV. Now she is unsure what to do about this situation. She ends up sitting next to a woman, who introduces herself as Martha, on the train and the two share an immediate connection. When the train stalls on the tracks the two strike up a conversation. Martha confesses she is having an affair with her boss and Selena confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. Selena, wondering why she shared so much to a stranger is sure the two will never meet again. When she arrives at home, Selena confronts her husband who leaves for a few days. Days later Geneva is reported as missing by her sister and as her employers Selena and Graham are questioned. Even more stunning is that Martha, the woman from the train, has suddenly started texting Selena, who doesn't recall sharing information with her.

The writing is incredible. Unger has packed Confessions on the 7:45 full of nail-biting suspense and psychological manipulation. Lies and deceit are swirling around and the plot is gripping and finely layered. This is truly an unputdownable, satisfying thriller. Even when you think you know exactly what is going on, you actually don't. Oh, you may have parts figured out but this narrative is going to surprise you. Geneva's disappearance seems to be the major mystery, but it is just a part of what is going on. There are several other conundrums and questions that present themselves.

The characters are wonderfully realized and the women are strong, capable characters. The chapters mainly alternate between the narrative of two different women, with a few chapters sharing Oliver's observations. Obviously Selena is one of the characters, but the other, Anne, is a woman of mystery and many names. But don't trust anyone - every single character in this novel is hiding something and has some secret even while the outward picture they try to present to others is that of competent people with everything all together.

This is a compelling, riveting, and compulsively readable novel that will command your attention throughout the whole novel!

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Park Row Books.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.