#1516 The It Girl by Ruth Ware

This is a different kind of mystery-thriller, The It Girl by Ruth Ware. Six students were beginning their first term at Pelham College, one of the colleges at Oxford. As the protagonist, Hannah Jones was the narrator for the story, and the first person she met at Pelham was April Clarke-Cliveden, and they had been assigned as roommates. Hannah and April (who was the “It Girl”) were remarkably different characters. Hannah was shy and lacking self-esteem, while April was beautiful, outspoken and very outgoing. Another important difference, Hannah came from a family that was struggling financially, and April came from significant old money. The cast of the story was filled out by Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily. By the end of their first year, April was dead.

 

April was significantly devastated by the loss of April who had become the best friend she ever had. But April was also a troubled girl. She was sexually promiscuous and was not above sleeping with someone else’s boyfriend. April was also a practical joker, but her jokes often had a very cruel aspect to them. Not everyone was as enamored with April as Hannah was. Meanwhile, Hannah dated no one although she had a secret crush on Will who was April’s main lover.

 

The reader was led to believe that the murderer was John Neville, an Oxford porter, a creepy older guy who was stalking Hannah. Hannah was with Hugh when they saw Neville coming down the stairs from Hannah and April’s room, just prior to their discovery of April’s dead body. She was the primary witness in Neville’s murder trial which resulted in his conviction and imprisonment. The only limit to the imprisonment was Neville’s unexpected death due to a heart attack when he was in his early 60s. Throughout the trial and time in jail, Neville always insisted that he was innocent.

 

Ten years had passed when Neville died. Hannah had always felt uncertain about the role she played in the conviction of Neville even though everyone around her assured her that she had done nothing wrong. By then, Hannah had moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. Never having graduated from college, dropping out after April’s death, she found a job in a book shop. Later, Will moved to Edinburgh in pursuit of Hannah. They were eventually married and at the time of Neville’s death, Hannah was pregnant with their first child. She could not believe her good fortune that the worst thing in her life, the death of April, had led to the best thing in her life, a marriage to Will. 

 

The author skillfully moved backward and forward in time, titling her passages as “before” and “after.” Everything had changed for Hannah and Will “after” April’s death. The story is about the entwinement of the lives of the six main characters and what happened to them after they left Pelham. The resolution of this story took me by complete surprise, a story line that the author had left seeming unlikely until believable explanations were given near the end of the book. 

 

Since I listened to the book in an audio format, I can tell you that hearing the various English accents by narrator Imogen Church was thoroughly enjoyable. Now I’m a fan of both Ms. Church and Ms. Ware. Her debut novel, In a Dark, Dark Wood (2015) was a New York Times bestseller, but her best best seller was her second book, The Woman in Cabin 10. She will publish her eighth novel in late 6/20/23 entitled Zero Days. So, I have another author to get excited about. Ms. Ware belongs in this blog.