The People at Number 9
UK Publisher
HQ (World)
Date Published
March 9th, 2017
Dramatic Rights
Under Option
‘Have you met them yet, the new couple?’
When Gav and Lou move into the house next door, Sara spends days plucking up courage to say hello. The neighbours are glamorous, chaotic and just a little eccentric. They make the rest of Sara’s street seem dull by comparison.
When the hand of friendship is extended, Sara is delighted and flattered. Incredibly, Gav and Lou seem to see something in Sara and Neil that they admire too. In no time at all, the two couples are soulmates, sharing suppers, bottles of red wine and childcare, laughing and trading stories and secrets late into the night in one another’s houses.
And the more time Sara spends with Gav and Lou, the more she longs to make changes in her own life. But those changes will come at a price. Soon Gav and Lou will be asking things they’ve no right to ask of their neighbours, with shattering consequences for all of them…
Have you met The People at Number 9? A dark and delicious novel about envy, longing and betrayal in the suburbs…
Reviews
This was clever, relentless and utterly recognisable. I absolutely loved it!
- Katie Fforde
A cautionary tale of what happens when you get caught up with the in-crowd… razor sharp dialogue, detail straight out of a Sunday supplement and a gimlet eye for social comedy. The characters and the games they play are instantly recognisable to anyone who has stood at the school gates and felt slightly out of place. I gulped it down quicker than a dirty Martini.
- Veronica Henry
Beady insights into female friendship. Irresistible, excruciating and unputdownable.
- Fanny Blake
Incisively witty, painfully true… draws the reader in with the voyeuristic joy of gossiping about our friends and neighbours, with a shocking sting in the tail to catch us all out.
- Samantha King
Very occasionally, a novel that's not in the crime genre grips me as much as the best thrillers do. The People at Number 9 held me in its vice-like grip from first page to last. It's a fascinating analysis of an unhealthy friendship based on insecurity and delusion, and the characters are so vividly drawn that I sympathised with them and despaired of them in equal measure.
- Sophie Hannah
Compulsive reading…seeing the world through Sara's eyes is like staring into other people's windows at dusk - you just can't look away. A cracking read.
- Liz Fenwick
I LOVED it. Such an unsettling read, with a whole grass-is-greener vibe that makes it really quite creepy. The People at Number 9 has a really voyeuristic feel – like spying on your neighbours through a window. Perfect reading for a cold, dark night!
- Lisa Hall
Wonderfully dark
- The Bookseller