Magpie by Elizabeth Day @elizabday @4thEstateBooks #Magpie #ElizabethDay #TheClqrt #BookReview #BookBlog

September 2021 4th Estate Books

Book Description

Sometimes Marisa gets the fanciful notion that Kate has visited the house before. She makes herself at home without any self consciousness. She puts her toothbrush right there in the master bedroom, on the shelf next to theirs.

In Jake, Marisa has found everything she’s ever wanted. Then their new lodger Kate arrives.

Something about Kate isn’t right. Is it the way she looks at Marisa’s boyfriend? The way she sits too close on the sofa? How she constantly asks about the baby they are trying for? Or is it all just in Marisa’s head?

After all, that’s what Jake keeps telling her. And she trusts him – doesn’t she?

But Marisa knows something is wrong. That the woman sleeping in their house will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Marisa just doesn’t know why.

How far will she go to find the answer – and how much is she willing to lose?

My Thoughts

A hugely anticipated read for me, so much so that I treated myself to a signed copy of Magpie shortly after publication. In true booklover’s fashion the book then had to sit on my shelf for a little while prior to being read, despite this being a book I absolutely NEEDED. That is the process right for a true bookie?!

But here we are in December and the book is in hand, I knew I was in for a treat, it was Elizabeth Day after all, however I casually mentioned on Twitter what I was reading and was flooded with comments from people saying how good Magpie was. And folks, they were not wrong.

Marisa and Jake meet and they know, so much so that within 3 months they have rented a place together and are trying for a baby. When you know, you know, yes? Financial problems cause them to seek a lodger and along comes Kate… and a whole host of problems for Marisa.

I love Elizabeth Day’s writing, it has a sharpness to it which results in a gritty edgy read to her contemporary writing. She writes a twisty story and I thought I had this one figured out quite early on, feeling smug I read on only to discover ( unsurprisingly) that it was not what I thought at all, it was so much darker.

Magpie is a gripping story of infertility, love, family and mental illness, with a strong central plot but also sub plots relating to family and acceptance. This was a book I flew through and I saw others comment the same, best described as domestic noir perhaps, not quite a thriller but undoubtedly a thrilling read. Tense and compelling, this was an absolute page turner. Elizabeth Day never disappoints with her writing, but like a fine wine, I wonder if she improves with age!

Read my review of The Party here and How to Fail here.

About the Author

Elizabeth Day is the author of four novels and the Sunday Times bestselling memoir, How to Fail. Her acclaimed debut Scissors, Paper, Stone won a Betty Trask Award and Home Fires was an Observer book of the year. her third, Paradise City, was named one of the best novels of 2015 in the Evening Standard, and The Party was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, She is an award-winning journalist and presents BBC Radio 4’s Open Book and the Sky Arts Book Club. She is also the creator and host of the iTunes chart topping podcast, How to Fail.