The Woman in the Lake begins in 1765 after a terrifying night with her abusive husband Lord Eustace Gerard, Lady Isabella tells her maid Constance to destroy the golden gown he has given her. She has no wish to wear it, despite its beauty and wants nothing to remind her of that night. Constance can’t bring herself to do as she’s asked and keeps the dress. The family doctor comes to tend to Isabella and offers her help, but although she doesn’t take it, she does though do as he recommends and moves to Lydiard Hall in the country to recover.

A few months later a woman wearing the golden dress is drowned, we know it isn’t Lady Isabella, so who is it?

Moving forward two hundred years we see schoolgirl, Fen stealing a golden gown from a stately home on a school trip. In the present day we learn that Fen is recovering from her own abusive relationship. She’s had to rebuild her life after divorcing her husband Jake. And although she tried to hide the dress from herself it’s now been returned to her along with her compulsion to steal.

At first the two lives seem unconnected, but as the story moves on you can see the parallels of their lives and the ways that the golden gown is involved in what happens to them. I love this author’s books. I think I took a little time to get into this story because I didn’t take to the characters, especially Fen. However, as the story progressed, I couldn’t put the book down. It’s a clever, captivating and atmospheric story and I would definitely recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.