In her memories, it was always the sound she remembered first. Marisa’s own childhood had been studded through with noise. It was this that ultimately persuaded her. “Yes, it’s got a lovely sense of calm to it.” When she commented on this, the woman who was showing her around nodded. She noticed the quiet, which was rare for London, especially when you were this close to a main road. Marisa stood on this terrace, her sandals shadowed on biscuit-colored patio stones, and she looked down to the garden below, which had a strip of lawn lined with potted plants, the soil newly turned. Someone had made the odd decision to put a bathroom on the second floor with doors that led out onto a roof terrace. The plantation shutters were plastic and layered with thin spores of dust. The flooring, which had clearly been bought in bulk by the developer, was a shade too light, the wood laminate a touch too smooth to pass for real. Well, not perfect exactly, because houses never are, but the imperfections were ones Marisa could live with. Jake doesn’t know the half of what Marisa has created-and what she stands to lose.įor fans of Gone Girl and The Perfect Nanny, Magpie is a “tense” ( The Guardian), “gorgeous” (Lisa Taddeo, bestselling author of Three Women), “completely, terrifyingly brilliant” (Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups) novel about mothers and children, envy and possession, and the dangers of getting everything you’ve ever dreamed of. In her quest to find out who Kate really is, Marisa might destroy everything she’s worked so hard to create-her perfect romance, her perfect family, and her perfect self. Who is this woman? Why does she seem to know everything about Marisa and Jake?

To make matters worse, Kate’s boundary-pushing turns into an all-out obsession-with Jake, with Marisa, and with their future child. But Marisa doesn’t let it concern her, knowing that soon Kate will be gone, and it will just be her, Jake, and their future baby.Ĭonceiving a baby is easier said than done, though, and Jake and Marisa’s perfect relationship is put to the test through months of fertility treatments and false starts. Sure, Kate doesn’t seem to care much about personal boundaries and can occasionally seem overly familiar with Jake. And Kate, their new lodger, is the perfect roommate-and not just because her rent payments will give them the income they need to start trying for the baby of their dreams.Įxcept-no one is truly perfect. “Great, plain and simple” (Stanley Tucci). Parrish comes a twisty psychological suspense novel about motherhood, obsession, and just how far some will go for the perfect family.

Magpie elizabeth day