Instead, the author chooses to give you just enough information to piece things together for yourself and leaves the rest to your imagination. C urtis's book is much more than a study of children, families and social services: it is an MRI scan of society as a whole and its interconnected dysfunctions. A perfect balance between academic and popular history … In a sense, this is history on the scale of the famous square of ivory on which [Jane] Austen claimed the ideal novel should be created: graceful, delicate, sparkling with sprezzatura … This book is almost too pleasurable.

Behind Closed Doors examines what it means to love and be loved and how to make a life when there is no security at home. Hired to keep Claire Winston's sister under surveillance, Quinn Gerard was stunned to find he was following the wrong woman when he and Claire came face-toface…body to body. This institution which has 1000's of members has succeeded where other secret societies have failed - concealing its secrets and mysteries from the outside world. The chatty, first-person narrative allows Lucy to entrust her innermost thoughts to us, so we feel close to her.I needed to find a way out — and, since I never fail to finish a book, the only way out was through. To the outside world, everything about Grace Angel is perfect: perfect house, perfect husband, even the perfect surname. Behind Closed Doors is a page-turner on one hand and a thoughtful meditation on the other: dispassionate, balanced and brave. When talk turns to Jack's job as a lawyer, everyone congratulates him on his most recent conviction. Brandie's review was the first time I noticed this book and she made me completely curious about it.

In fact, the feigned harmony of their marriage, and the saccharine sweet love story that preceded it, are simply covering up a horrible truth.Amanda Vickery is Professor in Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London, and the author of The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England, which won the Whitfield, Wolfson, and Longman History Today prizes. As moved through the novel, the utter abhorrence I felt when I started it evaporated like water from the dead sea. Behind Closed Doors was highly commended by the judges of the Hessell-Tiltman prize for history and described as "outstanding in every way.

One could argue that sociopaths and sadists exist in real life and don’t have any other motives than “I like hurting people,” but that doesn’t fly in fiction. There isn't much mystery to speak of in this domestic thriller; its focus lies heavily on the struggle of our heroine and her desperate measures of combat. When he comes to commiserate with her, his guard is down and she slips sixteen crushed-up pills into his drink.But what energizes this story is the uncanny desperation that you feel for not being able to look away. The writing was fantastic, the pace of the story perfect for this kind of read and overall the story had a realistic vibe that made me think and almost gave me the chills. Every parent, every politician, every social worker should read this brilliant book on our present state.