Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris (2016)

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace.

He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do. You’d like to get to know Grace better. But it’s difficult. Because you realise Jack and Grace are never apart. Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or can’t meet for lunch - without Jack - even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.

Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.

Author:  B.A. Paris is from a Franco/Irish background and was born in 1958. She was brought up in England and moved to France when she was 21. She spent some years working as a trader in an international bank before re-training as a teacher and setting up a language school with her husband. They still live in France and have five daughters. Her first novel “Behind Closed Doors” was published in 2016 and became a tremendous bestseller.

My thoughts: After reading “The Breakdown”, which is the second book by B.A. Paris, I wanted to read this one, which is her first novel. I read it in early April and I loved it. But, to be honest, I prefer by far the first one I read. “Behind Closed Doors” is a superb psychological domestic thriller, but best suited as a summer read.

It is a surprising and suffocating story but without any spectacular twists. It is a “huis clos”, as its title evokes. It makes us think how much we know about the people we choose to marry and how much we know about the secrets of our friends and acquaintances…

It's the story of an apparently perfect couple – with the looks, career, money, a beautiful house and, as they say here, “with all the superficial things that matter”. How appearances can be deceptive!

Jack is a handsome, brilliant and dedicated lawyer and a loving husband. Grace is an elegant and gracious hostess and a devoted wife. They live in the most beautiful house in the village and they often travel to Thailand and go on getaways around the country. They are also such altruistic people; they look after Grace’s sister named Millie who has Down’s syndrome. How on earth don’t they get sympathy from us? Well, the reality is, in very subtle ways, as scary and sinister as it can be. As you know, I never give away a plot in my reviews, but put the words captive and psychopath together and you know what this domestic thriller is all about.