Pictures of Him

After loving Broken Country, I couldn't wait to read more from from this author, I thought this was going to be another winner — but I was wrong. Catherine has a beautiful life outside London with her husband, Sam, and their two children. But when we meet her, she is hospitalized after suffering a breakdown that has left her unable to speak. The story unfolds through multiple timelines; the present, Catherine at university fifteen years earlier, and four months before her collapse. There are definitely buried secrets here, but I wouldn't call this a thriller. It was much more about first love, guilt, and the way the past can come back to haunt you. I loved the romance and eccentric cast of characters surrounding Catherine and Lucian. But the constant jumping between timelines was eventually exhausting and repetitive. I anticipated much of what was being withheld before it was revealed and by the end, I had that disappointing feeling of wanting the book to just be over! An interesting bit of publishing info: Pictures of Him isn't a new novel. It was published in 2018 as Him under the author's married name, Clare Empson. The author said those earlier books were marketed as thrillers, a category she never felt entirely suited her writing. (She was right!) After reinventing herself as Clare Leslie Hall with the success of Broken Country, Him was rereleased. This one didn't come close, but I still enjoyed Hall's writing and will absolutely read whatever she comes up with next.