She Treads Softly: Where He Left Me

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Where He Left Me

Where He Left Me by Nicole Baart
11/4/25; 336 pages
Atria Books

Where He Left Me by Nicole Baart is a very highly recommended, atmospheric domestic thriller.

Newlywed college professors Sadie Sheridan and Felix Graham teach in Iowa but are spending their sabbatical leave at Hemlock House, Felix's remote family house located in Washington State’s North Cascades. When Felix doesn't return from a work trip and storms are moving in, Sadie is stuck on the mountain worried about him. However, she is not alone. Sadie spies two people on their trail camera one night. When she sees them the next night, entering the greenhouse, she goes out to confront them. What she finds are two young people who need help, especially with the escalating storm.

This very well-written atmospheric thriller immediately sets a mysterious, menacing tone at the start and the tension increases as the plot unfolds. The pace is even through most of the novel but the tension grows while the weather worsens. The plot will hold your attention throughout and the twists and revelations will be worth it. Honestly, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story and I think the quality of the writing had a lot to do with it.

The narrative is told through two timelines. In the present following Sadie's struggles while Felix is missing and in the past when Sadie and Felix meet, leading up to their marriage. It is very clear what timeline you are in while reading. The story of Sadie and Felix meeting and falling in love helps strengthen the present day narrative where Sadie is desperate to know where he is while handling new concerns.

The characters are all portrayed as fully realized individuals with strengths and weaknesses. They all have distinct personalities that are clearly present in their interactions with each other. Sadie's character is developed in both timelines while Felix is mainly developed in the past. The final denouement is very satisfying.

Where He Left Me is a perfect choice for women who enjoy atmospheric domestic thrillers. Thanks to Atria Books/Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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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.