Book review: No One Will Know by Rose Carlyle

No One Will Know by Rose Carlyle was not at all what I was expecting. As usual I hadn’t read the backcover blurb just before starting so I got my villains wrong from the outset, thinking it involved those we’re introduced to early in the novel – namely the family of Eve’s partner. But then things take an unexpected twist – devastating Eve, until she’s offered a lifeline – a nanny job that will allow her to afford to keep and raise her child.

Eve Sylvester is young and broke and needs a job fast. After years of foster homes, backpacking and a sailing trip across the Pacific Ocean, she has lost contact with friends and family. She is alone, desperate—and pregnant.

Then she meets Julia and Christopher Hygate, a charming and glamorous couple, who seem to have the perfect life: loads of money and a breathtakingly beautiful mansion on a remote Tasmanian island. They make her a lucrative offer. Eve can move into their empty summerhouse and take up a very easy job.

Eve thinks she’s fallen on her feet—she has found a home, and her child will grow up in the aptly named Paradise Bay. But some things about the job don’t add up. Why must Eve stay out of sight? Why have the Hygates employed an ex-con to run their yacht-charter business? And what about the mysterious boats sailing in and out of the Hygates’ private marina? Has Eve made a deal with the devil? It’s too late to ask questions. Eve is already in far too deep.

I was a little surprised that Carlyle didn’t loop back to the book’s opening and Eve’s love interest (Xander), the father of her child. I kept expecting that we’d meet Xander’s family again or there would be some recourse. In some ways it made that initial (quite pivotal) plotline redundant as Eve could have been pregnant to anyone and remained committed to the safety and livelihood of her child. Though perhaps it’s meant to remind us that Eve’s been hurt in the past and more resilient (albeit more naïve) than we expect.

I enjoyed this though the pacing was a little off for me. I’m conscious that some elements need more detail and time, but then we sped forward on a couple of occasions with a very brief recap. I realise that Carlyle needed to keep the momentum by fast-forwarding but it meant I disengaged a little and felt myself distanced from what was unfolding. That said, she also drew me back into the plot quickly given we’d sped forward to pivotal moments. There’s also some inconsistency in the characters, some of whom were evil at times, with few qualms about taking a life but at others showing mercy or sympathy. I did however like that readers are challenged with characters cloaked in many shades of grey. Not necessarily all bad or all good.

The plot itself is twisty and intriguing but also somewhat surreal. Things (and people) are most certainly not who they seem, which I liked but the direction the plot takes seemed a little far-fetched… perhaps too much so? That said, I appreciated the little twist at the end which may have readers pondering later…. which is a good thing and many felt following Carlyle’s first book, The Girl in the Mirror.

No One Will Know by Rose Carlyle was published in Australia by Text Publishing and is now available.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher for review purposes.