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    The French Girl
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    The French Girl
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    The French Girl
    Audiobook10 hours

    The French Girl

    Written by Lexie Elliott

    Narrated by Katharine McEwan

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    We all have our secrets...

    They were six university students from Oxford—friends and sometimes more than friends—spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway...until they met Severine, the girl next door.

    For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group's loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive. And there are some people you can't forget...like Severine, who was never seen again.

    Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 20, 2018
    ISBN9780525530749
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The French Girl

    3.5/5

    107 ratings25 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Thirty-one-year-old Kate has recently started a legal headhunting business and is working hard to get it established so the last thing she needs is anything which will distract her attention. However, the news that a body has been found stuffed down a well at a house in France means that her life is about to be turned upside down as she is forced to confront events which happened there ten years earlier. It was intended to be a relaxing, post-graduation holiday for her and five fellow-students, one of whom was her boyfriend Seb, but the daily appearance of the enigmatic, beautiful Severine, who lived next door but came to use their swimming pool, created tensions within the group of friends. When the holiday ended there had been huge argument, Kate and Seb had split up and Severine had disappeared on the day they were returning home. An investigation at the time had proved inconclusive but the discovery that the body in the well was Severine means that the murder enquiry has been reopened. French detective, Alain Modan is sent from France to question the group of friends, now just five because one was killed whilst fighting in Afghanistan. Not only does this investigation, with the inevitable suspicion it arouses, threaten Kate’s fledgling business, but it makes her question her own recollections of the events which took place ten years earlier, as well as those of her friends. This is not a fast-moving story but, told in first-person narrative from Kate’s perspective, explores how old, as well as new, rivalries and jealousies are exposed as the friends deal with all the pressures which emerge as the investigation gains momentum. The quality of the author’s gradual, detailed character-development is one of the central strengths of the engaging story-telling and, although the reader sees things unfold through the eyes of Kate, I felt that I got to know each of the other characters quite well. I really enjoyed the multi-faceted relationships, with their shifting loyalties, as suspicion fell first on one, then on another character and how they each adopted strategies to deal with present challenges, as well as their memories of past events. It soon became clear that each had had the means and the motive to murder the French girl although, for reasons which are gradually revealed, Kate becomes the prime suspect. As the investigation progresses, and as they feel their present-day lives begin to fall apart, their attempts at self-preservation become increasingly desperate. At a reunion of the five friends, the first since they had left France, Kate realises the extent to which she cannot trust either their memories of the week in France, or their responses now. Consequently, she becomes increasingly proactive in her attempts to find out what happened all those years ago, whatever the cost to either her friendships or herself.I thought that in this impressive debut novel Lexie Elliott captured, in a thought-provoking and convincing way, the ways in which all these shifts took place and the almost visceral need of each of the characters to shift the spotlight of suspicion onto others, especially when feeling under threat. Just as Kate did, I found myself questioning everyone’s memories and motives as the story progressed and, as a result, there were moments when I found it rather disturbing to read. As I found myself increasingly engaged with the various shifts and reassessments of the evidence, I became almost as fearful as Kate that my beliefs about what happened would be challenged and disbelieved! I liked the fact that the author didn’t use alternating “now and then” chapters to tell the story but opted to interweave the characters’ backstories with their current lives and their real-time reactions to the ways in which they are forced to confront their memories of the past. I thought that this made their gradual uncovering of memories, as well as their changing perceptions of all that had happened in France, much more realistic and powerful because, as a reader, I too was faced with trying to untangle the facts from unreliable and conflicting memories. This approach certainly highlighted the unreliability of memory and eye-witness accounts! It also added, at times, to an almost unbearable build-up of tension as buried recollections of the holiday surfaced and alliances shifted. There is an extra character in the book in the form of Severine, who appears to Kate almost as soon as she discovers that the French girl’s body has been found. Initially as no more than an acute awareness in Kate’s consciousness, conjured up because so many memories have been resurrected, then as a pile of bleached bones, stacked in a pile on the kitchen worktop and finally as a very real presence. She becomes an increasingly frequent visitor in Kate’s daily life: a silent presence, as enigmatic in death as she was in life and apparently determined to oversee how the investigation into her death is handled. Although I can imagine that this literary device may not appeal to some readers, I found that Kate’s reactions to her ghostly companion added an important extra dimension to the flashback elements of the story, as well as to Kate’s struggle to both understand what went on in France and to clarify her own confused and ambivalent feelings about her changing relationships with her friends. This is an eloquently written story which explores some powerful themes – the complex dynamics of friendships, the toxic nature of suspicion, the stresses of running a fledgling business, to name just a few – in an engaging and convincing way and, as such, it would be a good choice for reading groups. With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
    • 2/5
      There was nothing really wrong with this, but I skimmed the second half after I realized where it was going. It feels as if I have read several novels almost exactly like this before. It was set in the present, with Kate merely remembering the French holiday 10 years ago, rather than with two separate timelines, which was a plus I suppose.Obviously I may have missed things just skimming, but I wondered why Kate was still so hung up on Seb (who in any case appeared to have no personality) after 10 years, when all he did was break up with her. The way she 'sees' Severine wasn't my favourite part of the story, but it wasn't bothering me too much until it emerged at the end that this was gong to continue for the rest of Kate's life. Why?
    • 4/5
      I know I'm late to the party but I really enjoyed this story. I couldn't put it down.
    • 3/5
      Kate Channing is a thirty-one year old Oxford graduate who runs her own legal headhunting firm. So far, her business is too small to be competitive. If she does not land some lucrative contracts soon, Channing and Associates will likely go under. Ten years earlier, Kate and five of her friends (one of whom has since died), vacationed in France during the summer after they finished university. They spent a week in a lovely farmhouse, where they socialized with the beautiful and enigmatic Severine Dupas, the nineteen-year-old title character in Lexie Elliot's "The French Girl." Dupas disappeared at the end of the aforementioned getaway in France and was never seen again.

      A detective named Alain Modan contacts Kate and her friends--Sebastian, Tom, Lara, and Caroline--who knew Mademoiselle Dupas, to inform them that, after all this time, Severine's skeletal remains have been found. An unidentified assailant murdered her and placed her body in a well that was subsequently filled in. Modan hopes that Kate and her companions can shed light on this terrible crime.

      "The French Girl" deals with tangled relationships, the immaturity of spoiled men and women who drink too much and act impulsively, the challenges of succeeding in the corporate world, and the lies that people tell to evade the consequences of their actions. Kate is a likeable and occasionally witty narrator who frequently flashes back to the farmhouse in France, reliving what happened a decade earlier and wondering why someone wanted Severine to die. Past misdeeds come to light with life-changing consequences. "The French Girl" is intriguing and competently written, although the conclusion feels a bit rushed and is not wholly convincing. Still, this is a diverting work of fiction that should appeal to fans of contemporary romantic suspense.
    • 2/5
      When this novel began, I found it a bit boring because nothing really happened. However, I was very excited about the premise and was waiting for when things would speed up a bit. It didn't take too long for the author to bring about the murder aspect of the story, which was good. I also liked all of the characters that the author introduced; while they were all flawed, they were well developed and easy to understand (for the most part). One thing I was really intrigued by was how Kate was constantly seeing Severine's ghost. I definitely thought the author could have done more with it than she did, and when I got to the ending and nothing happened with those hallucinations, it made me quite disappointed. The author kept building up the tension, which I really enjoyed, delving into the different connections between all of the characters. It was very interesting how the author decided to portray the story and it captured my attention. But I felt like nothing was ever resolved. Nothing was ever revealed about what exactly happened that night. On top of that, the actual solving of the crime was very abrupt and rushed and didn't give me any satisfaction at all. Everything ended up being so anti-climactic and that is really such a shame because it had all the works to be a good novel. Based on all of this, I would give it a 2/5 stars - and the 2 stars is because I liked the characters. 

      Thank you to Penguin Random House and the First to Read program for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      Thank you, Goodreads’ FirstReads for my complimentary review copy.The past comes back to haunt six Oxford friends a decade after what was supposed to be a summer getaway, a week at a farmhouse in France. The dynamics amongst the group were already complicated without adding alluring neighbor, Severine to the mix. She was an unwelcome intrusion, at least to Kate Channing, the main protagonist. Despite of being dead, her body found in the well behind the farmhouse, she has managed to disrupt their lives, because now they are suspects.Kate, previously a corporate lawyer and now running her own recruiting company, narrates. Like the others in her group, she has a lot to lose if found guilty of the murder. Also, like the others, she scrambles for self-preservation at any cost. Although, I was really looking forward to reading this, I put it aside half-way through, because I found the excessive wordiness distracting. My curiosity compelled me to pick it up again and I’m glad I did. The plot was compelling and the character development was good. The ending was not completely a surprise, but plausible and conclusive.
    • 4/5
      The French Girl of the title is Severine. She went missing when a group of students were spending a holiday in France and she lived next door. Although the students were questioned about her disappearance her body was never found. Until now, that is. Ten years on her bones have finally been discovered. It brings it all back for Kate. She was one of the students and she keeps seeing Severine everywhere. She is haunting her. Not as a ghost but as a figment of her unconscious mind perhaps.I loved The French Girl. It's another book that I read in instalments on a daily basis, and I looked forward to each section. I wanted to know what had happened to Severine all those years ago. Was one of Kate's friends a murderer? Was Kate more involved than she was letting on? For much of the story these questions were swirling round in my head until the final half-expected conclusion.The story is set completely in the current day. I did wonder if we would be thrown back into the past at some point as is often the way, but I was really hoping that that wouldn't happen. I wanted to stay with the way events were unfolding in the current day so I was really pleased with the action staying with the investigation into Severine's death. I liked Kate very much. She's easily the main character and tells the story. She's just set up her own business as a legal headhunter and I really enjoyed reading the sections about her work. Obviously, the investigation into Severine's death has an impact not only on Kate's private life but on her work life too.I also really liked Tom and Lara, Kate's two closest friends from that fateful French holiday and beyond. I was hoping and praying that neither of them turned out to be responsible for Severine's death. I'll leave you to read this excellent book to see whether they were or not.The French Girl is an engrossing thriller about the past coming back to haunt you. I enjoyed the dynamics within the group, the way that none of them seem to quite trust each other and I thought the characterisations were spot on. It's an excellent debut novel, full of suspense and intrigue. I thought it was great.
    • 3/5
      Country weekends with friends are always so fun! The isolation, the quiet, the bonding time! It’s really just the perfect way to pass the time with people you like.I will admit that I like the potential for drama that this kind of story brings. Usually a weekend away, especially in thrillers, means that secrets will come out, betrayals will happen, and someone will usually end up getting hurt, be it emotionally or even physically. Given my love for this kind of tale, my interest was piqued by “The French Girl” by Lexie Elliott. Especially since a drama filled weekend seems to have resulted in a body stuffed down a well, and a cast of players who are automatic suspects! That’s a recipe for a book that I REALLY want to read. But unfortunately, given my high hopes for “The French Girl”, when it kind of fell flat it hurt a bit more than it would have had my expectations not been as high as they were.But first let’s talk about what I did like. Kate Chambers, our main character and therefore resident complex and flawed female presence, was a pretty good person to follow within this story. Yes, she has her flaws and her complexities and her moments where I wanted to shake her, but she was likable enough and relatable enough that I did care about how things were going to turn out for her. She’s trying to forget about the mess of a weekend that she and her university friends spent in France, in which her toxic boyfriend Sebastian cheated on her with Severine, the French girl who lived next door to the estate. To make matters a bit more complex, Severine ended up disappearing that weekend, shortly after Kate and her friends left, which has left a sense of mystery and anxiety to Kate and her life as it moved forward. So you can imagine how she felt after a body was found in the well on the property. As she is reunited with her old friends, specifically Tom, one of her best friends whom she fell away from after he got married, she starts to think that they are all suspects, and is worried that scrutiny will fall on her. Watching her make pretty realistic mistakes and choices was kind of a breath of fresh air, since a lot of the time you get protagonists who act completely nutty just to move the plot along and completely outside of the character that has been previously established. Kate never gets there, and I liked her all the more for it. Her interactions with those around her, especially Tom and her friend Lara, were fun for me as well.But the problem I had with this book was within the plot and the mystery. Specifically, the fact that none of it (or at least very VERY little of it) takes place during that fateful weekend, and only within the period that the body has been found and during the subsequent investigation. True, we get mentions of things that went on, but it’s all through the characters in the present, and it also manages to knock a few suspects out of the way right off the bat. I had hoped that there would be in the moment insights into what happened that weekend, and that it would shed some light into the victim herself (whose presence is haunting Kate as the book goes on). But because we don’t get to see her in action, and only through the eyes of the others, we get no sense of her as a person, and she ends up feeling incredibly objectified. What’s more, we didn’t get any solid red herrings about potential motives and potential suspects, as moments of doubt felt quashed soon after they were introduced. I had no problem discerning what happened to Severine and who was responsible, as Elliott presented that character a certain way from the beginning that, to me, made it obvious as to whodunnit. And that’s not really fun for the reader, especially when the story is supposed to be about whodunnit. Because of this, I wasn’t really gripped at the edge of my seat as I read it, and my concern for Kate was the only thing that kept me going. Had she been any less appealing or interesting, I probably would have been very bored and disinterested. Characters are great, but a thriller/mystery needs to keep me interested with the action as well as the players.“The French Girl” wasn’t everything I wanted it to be, and while I think that others would probably enjoy it more than I did, it could have been stronger. There was a lot of potential there that didn’t quite get reached. But it is refreshing to see a main character that I felt fully invested in.
    • 4/5
      A gripping psychological tale of suspense. A group of friends find themselves being investigated for a suspicious death when the body of a young woman is discovered at the bottom of a well. The body is believed to be that of a girl who went missing when the friends spent a holiday together in France 10 years previously. What happened to her, why did she end up in a well dead and why is she haunting the narrator of this tale? You will will have to read it to find out!This is is a beautifully written and well paced literary thriller. I read it via the pigeonhole app and I was looking forward each day to reading the next stave. It’s one of those slowly unravelling types of story where little pieces of information are fed to the reader like a lure, so that you are awaiting eagerly to learn what happens next. Although I had my suspicions, I had no idea how it would end. It was an unusual conclusion but justice was served even if a little ambiguously! Great characterisation and internal analysis of thoughts via the narrator throughout added to the anticipation and tension. A very enjoyable mystery.
    • 4/5
      Debut novelist, Lexie Elliott always wanted to be a writer. Thinking back on a summer vacation with her friends to a farmhouse in France, the idea for this novel was formed. Kate Channing, along with her boyfriend Seb, and three other friends spend a week at their friend Theo's farmhouse in France. It's the perfect reward for surviving Oxford University. The six of them are the best of friends with Seb and Tom, cousins, Lara and Kate being best friends, Caro a childhood friend of Seb and Tom and Theo. Then the beautiful French girl, Severine, who lives next door, shows up. She changes the dynamics of their friendships and the day the friends are all set to return to London, Severine disappears.Fast forward ten years later. Kate is living in London starting her own headhunter business. Seb is married...to someone else and is moving back to London. Tom and Lara are still Kate's best friends and Caro is ending up being a new potential client of Kate's. But, Severine has come back to haunt them. Her body has just been found at the bottom of the well at Theo's farmhouse. Theo can't be questioned because he was killed in Afghanistan. The five are now thrown back into what happened that week at the farmhouse and realizing someone isn't telling the truth.I chose this novel because I love stories of friendships and secrets. When Severine's body is found and the timing points to one of the six likely committing the murder, the questions start to circulate in everyone's minds. Who isn't being truthful, what really happened that last night in France, and who is going to ultimately be the murderer? The story starts to unravel as Elliott takes you back to the week in France and into the minds of the five friends that are left to answer the detective's unending questions. Elliott immediately starts to put you in the mode of questioning every character's motive. Why is Caro suddenly back in Kate's life? Why is Seb moving back with his new wife? Since Theo can't be questioned, can he be trusted? Elliott throws you into the lives of these thirty-something professionals who thought they could put that week in France behind them and now their lives and careers are hanging in balance as the investigation gets more and more intense and the French are pushing to make an arrest.The interesting part of the story that really intrigued me was the introduction of Severine's ghost that only Kate could see. Severine loomed in Kate's periphery joining her at home, at work, after work at the bar, at dinner with friends, and while she was being questioned. At first, Kate can only see her bones or her skull, but then as the investigation moves forward, Severine becomes a crucial character in the story of her murder. She hovers around Kate, insistent that she isn't forgotten.Even though I guessed the murderer and the story has a common second attempt at murder that I see in many novels as the murderer gets desperate, I was still surprised by the conclusion of the investigation. I thought it might leave me feeling angry, but it actually left me feeling like it was a bit more realistic than some other conclusions. Is this a fast-paced thriller with a shocking twist? No. It's more of a slow mystery that builds as you get to know the characters and their motives for keeping the secrets that have been inside them for ten years. I think Elliott has talent and creativity. Since she used bits of her own idyllic trip to France back in college for this story, I am hoping she has other recollections that she can fall back on for more twisted mysteries.
    • 4/5
      The French Girl is Lexie Elliott's debut novel.Six Oxford students spent a summer vacation together in France ten years ago. They were friends - and friends with benefits.. Their getaway doesn't go quite as planned - a beautiful French girl named Severine who lived next to the villa changes the dynamic of the group. And now she's changing the future. Ten years on, the police have found Severine's body in a well on the vacation property. The group is now part of a murder investigation by the French police.Kate Channing is one of those six and she is our narrator. Elliott slowly ekes out the details of what happened that summer week. Something happened that irrevocably changed each of the six. Kate herself sees Severine as a presence and although she does not speak, Kate gives her emotions."Severine glances at him with disdain, and suddenly I wonder: if Severine is a creation of my mind, are her reactions my own deeply hidden feelings?"The friends are still in contact with each other. Our sense of who they are is coloured by Kate's views. I found them to all be flawed and not overly likable. But could one of them be a murderer? It is the relationships between them that takes center stage in the book. Elliott's depiction of those bonds, memories, interactions and current sparring is excellent. She is a gifted writer.The publisher has described The French Girl as "exhilarating psychological suspense". I enjoyed The French Girl, but found it to be a bit of a slow burn rather than a fast paced suspense read. But, that slow burn absolutely works for exploring the relationships. For this reader, that was more of a draw that the actual whodunit.
    • 3/5
      2.5 They find her body in a well, Severine, the girl next door to the farmhouse where a group of college friends were staying. Ten years after they were first questioned by the police, when it was just a missing persons case. For Kate it was a difficult Remembrance, because it is after that they she and Seb parted, by his request. Now a policeman from France is coming to question them once again. What secrets are being hidden and who in the group knows the fate of the French girl?What this book wasn't: It was not very suspenseful for one. Second, these people showed very little growth of character, acting more like they were still back in there college days, than the age they actually we're now. Although there is a ghost or spirit of the murdered French book, I could never quite figure out why she was even there, it wasn't eerie at all. It wasn't convincing, I sussed out the killer and the reason quite early.It was, however, thankfully a rather quick read and it was another sisters read with our usual wonderful discussions, though Jan and I were the outliers in the group who liked it much better than we two. It happens and may happen for you. Always best to form your own opinion on each and every book.ARC from Edelweiss.
    • 5/5
      The French Girl from Lexie Elliott is an intriguing look at how we grow and mature, as well as how we often don't, through the lens of a missing/murdered girl. While the story is set at a moderate pace there are many tidbits throughout to keep the reader wondering exactly what happened ten years before the time of most of the narrative. The flashbacks here are less the true flashback that puts us there and more the recollection from the mind, and the perspective, of Kate. This serves to keep us unsure whether what she remembers is indeed what happened, or perhaps only part of what happened.I have seen some refer to a paranormal element in the story, and that is certainly one way to understand it, but I did not view it that way. I think a person under stress, especially when they are coming to grips with things with which they are uncomfortable, can create many ways to cope. Those coping mechanisms can also try to bring to consciousness that which the subconscious thinks, which accounts for any seemingly "knowing actions" on the part of the "apparition."I don't think this will appeal to anyone intent on liking characters, even the most likeable can annoy you here. If you are more open to viewing these characters as real people going through a tough period then I think you will find a lot to enjoy. They won't all become likeable but they can be understood on their own terms and that is more important than whether or not I would want to hang out with them.Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.
    • 2/5
      I have seen this book popping up all over the internet. When I first heard about it, I instantly put the book on my wish list. I could not wait to read this book. Thus, when I got the chance to read this book, I was very excited. Right away I picked it up and started reading. The story was slow to start. It was this way to grab me and draw me into the mystery surrounding what happened to six friends long ago. After, the first several chapters, I was ready to jump to the past. Yet, I was just fed some tidbits of details. While, I don't mind this, it did not work for me as I found myself disinterested in the characters. In fact, I was kind of turned off by some of them. I found their petty and self centered attitudes a turn off. Although, I did not care for this book, there was a sliver of a gem underneath it all that makes me want to try another book from this author.
    • 3/5
      This was good twisty read but also a very slow moving read. So, while I wouldn't personally categorize it as a thriller, nor particularly suspenseful because of the slow pacing, it was definitely a very good mystery and very well done. Thanks are given to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion.
    • 4/5
      Ten years ago, 6 college-aged friends from England spent a week at a French farmhouse. Severine Dupas was the French girl from the cottage next door and the 7 people spent a lot of time together. The 6 friends were the last people to talk to Severine on their last night in France. The next day she went into town and was seen getting on a bus and was never seen again. Now her body has been found in a well at the farmhouse and a dogged French detective has come to England to question the friends about Severine's death, despite the fact that there is zero evidence linking any of them to her death.The book is told from the point of view of Kate Channing, a former lawyer who is now a legal headhunter. Once Kate learns that Severine is dead, the ghostly image of Severine constantly hovers around Kate. Other than that presence, Severine remains a complete enigma in this book. One of the friends has since died, but the remaining 5 are still bonded by their various romantic entanglements, as well as by the events of their week in France. The detective's repeated questioning raises suspicions and creates fissures in their relationships. The pacing of this book was a little slow and perhaps the villain was a little too obvious, but I was enjoying this psychological suspense novel up until the end when the author got a tad melodramatic and I also wanted a more satisfying resolution. However, she got the law firm details exactly right, the characters were credible and I didn't detect any plot holes. I'd be willing to read more by this author. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
    • 3/5
      Kate Channing is stressed out with starting her own business and looking so far in the future that she is blindsided when the past catches up to her. 10 years ago, she and some friends went on a holiday at a farmhouse out in the country, not everyone survives. What happened that day has haunted the survivors for the past ten years and now the case has been reopened. The investigation brings most of that group back together but so much has changed. This brings them each to ask the same questions: What happened that day? How well can you really know your friends?I enjoy reading murder mysteries as well as stories about secrets within friendships. This book was well paced, however, I could tell who the murderer was fairly early in the story and the other red herrings were not strong enough to sway me. I did not really care for any of the characters, least of all pathetic Seb. I did not particularly like the narrating character, Kate, although her dark humor did have me chuckle a time or two. Another thing that I did not particularly care for about the book was that justice does not really ever come for the deceased. The story is confessed but there is only social reprimand for the villain, not anything legally, which could have caused a stronger conclusion in my opinion.Two things were rather distracting for me: Kate's business and the ghost haunting. Kate started her own business but it is on the verge of bankruptcy and she often takes off work to grab lunch, drinks, or coffee with a friend or two. Furthermore, there is an instance where she does not show up for work on time because she simply does not want to go in. Perhaps I'm a stickler for work ethic but that was distracting and irritating for me. Then the lingering ghost of the deceased was also distracting at times and even the main character states that she cannot figure out the purpose of the character's presence.On a more positive note, I did enjoy the eventual romance of two of the characters (I won't say which in order prevent a spoiler) and thought that was authentic and sweet.I would recommend this book for readers who like a murder mystery as well as a story on friendship. I would also recommend this book for those who are in/enjoy reading about the field of corporate law practice as that is included in the plot. Lastly, I would recommend this book for those who adore London as that is the setting for this book. This also makes room for some jokes about Americans that even I snickered at, despite being an American.I would not recommend this book for those who may be offended or triggered by foul language, jealousy, manipulation, alcohol use, drug use, mild sexually suggestive scenarios, murder, and infidelity.Please note: An electronic advanced reader copy of this book was generously provided by the Penguin First To Read Program in exchange for an honest review. This book is not expected to be released until February 20, 2018.
    • 3/5
      hmm... not sure about this one. I could sort of figure out where this was going, plot-wise.... but the characters were so unpredictable and odd. I figured out who did it, but I'm not sure I approve of the ending.
    • 4/5
      So I had a few days of not so great books I won’t even mention right now. But this one won. Pulled me in and kept me almost until the end. I did guess the guilty party (parties), but it was fun getting there.
    • 5/5
      The French GirlByLexie ElliotWhat it's all about...Ten years ago six friends went on a vacation in France. While there they met a French girl...Severine...who died and was never found...until ten years later when her bones were found in the bottom of a well. A French detective has reopened the case and is in London to interview everyone again. Remember...this is ten years later...careers are being established, relationships have changed and memories are a bit shaky. Why I wanted to read it...This book was interesting from the start. Kate seems to be the focus of this book...her budding career is in question and this detective seems to be relentless. What made me truly enjoy this book...There were so many different scenarios as to what happened to Severine. When the truth finally surfaces...it’s almost as though nothing can be done about it. But then life changes for everyone...some for good reasons...some for quite the opposite reasons. Why you should read it, too...Readers who love intriguing mysteries should enjoy this book. It had great flawed characters and lots of complicated relationships. I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.
    • 4/5
      Six friends celebrate their graduation from Oxford University at a farmhouse in France. The last night of their alcohol-fueled party turns disastrous after an uninvited nineteen-year-old neighbor goes missing from the house. The female, named Severine, had driven a wedge between the friends with her sexy looks and flirty disposition. The women felt threatened by the younger woman while the men returned her attention. After an investigation, it is not clear if anyone at the farmhouse had anything to do with her disappearance. Ten years later, Severine’s body is found in a well outside of the farmhouse. Each of the friends is questioned by a French detective. Kate Channing is not concerned with the investigation but begins to unravel after repeated interrogations. Accusations and frictions slowly grow as each group member reveals what they remember from that night.The French Girl is a debut novel by Lexie Elliott. I enjoyed this book and was quickly pulled into the story after reading the first chapter. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
    • 3/5
      It‘s been ten years since their legendary summer holidays in France. Now, the six friends reunite in London. They have all pursued their careers, found new partners and almost forgot what happened on their last day in France that summer. The French girl who spent a lot of time with them went missing, already back then a murder investigation was set up by the French authorities, yet, without success. But now, her body has been found, buried in a well on the premises and she obviously did not fall into it by accident. Kate does not have a clue what might have happened, she only remembers her quarrel with her then boyfriend Seb. But now things are different and soon, Kate finds herself prime suspect in a murder case.Lexie Elliott tells the strange murder case only from one point of view, Kate’s, which adds a lot to the suspense of the novel. Kate is telling her story, we, as the reader, only know what she knows, we only get her thoughts and thus are limited in getting the whole picture. Additionally, during the course of the story, you start doubting your narrator - is Kate reliable or is she lying to us and leading us to false clues? I liked this play with uncertainty and the fact that only bits and pieces of the whole story are revealed.The strongest aspect of the novel are the characters. First of all, Kate who is quite lively drawn, second and even more interesting is Caro whom you cannot trust which is obvious right from the start. But also the other characters are suspicious, Kate’s friend Lara and her affair with the French investigator or Tony who is making advances towards Kate. The story itself, however, does not advance at a high pace, at times you wait impatiently for something to happen. The fact of only giving one perspective, on the one hand, adds to the suspense, on the other, it temps to skip pages you to learn what actually happened because the information you get is quite limited. The end and the solution was not really convincing for me, for me, the motive was too weak to justify such an act.
    • 4/5
      Do we ever know our friends? Kate Channing isn’t sure. A decade ago, she had spent a week with her friends in a French farmhouse. Severine is a French girl who lives next door. The case of her disappearance remains unsolved. But now the case has been reopened because Severine’s body has been found in the well at the farmhouse. Kate and her friends are pulled back into the memories of what happened in France and the deceptions that have been kept secret since then.Kate Channing isn’t the usual “girl in distress” type that predominates today’s suspense novels. She’s a smart lady who is doing her best to go it on her own as head of her legal recruitment company. I liked and admired her and emphasized with her stress of dredging up past memories with all its accusations and questioning of her friends. Could one of them have killed Severine? Why would they have wanted to? There are no great twists or surprises here, just good narration and fleshing out of characters. I found the book to be addictive and kept wanting to read just a little more. If I had had the time to just sit down for a few hours, I would have flown through this one. A captivating novel about friendship. Recommended.This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Well done Lexie Elliott! The French Girl is brilliant. I love the psychological suspense/thriller genre when the story is done well, and Elliott hits it out of the ballpark on her first try (amazingly enough, she is a debut author). The plot is clever, the main character is very likeable (how often does that happen in a thriller-most of the time I am saying who does this kind of stuff??), and the pacing of the story is perfect. I was turning the pages as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next.Elliott managed to keep me on my toes as I was reading – characters were slowly falling apart, secrets were revealed, and loyalties were constantly being tested. The presence of Severine was ingenious and added an interesting layer to the story. The ending was outstanding; I don’t want to spoil the ending so I will simply say I was worried it might go one way and thankfully it did not (and the book was much better for it). I loved that the main character Kate was likeable and made decent choices. I get frustrated when I am reading in this genre because the main characters are so frequently crazy or highly unlikeable. Kate was a welcome and enjoyable change.The French Girl addresses the issue of how memories and events can be skewed by the facts we know (and the facts we do not know) which is certainly a thought-provoking concept. This idea plays out well in this book and made me think about how that issue plays out in everyday life.I highly, highly recommend The French Girl – it is a fantastic read. Block out time in your schedule before you start it because you will not want to put it down once you begin. Thanks to Berkley Publishing for my copy; all opinions are my own.
    • 4/5
      Who can remember exactly what happened ten years ago?After Kate and her friends returned to England and new careers after their holiday in France, Severine, the girl next door to where they stayed, was declared missing. They were all interviewed at the time to establish a timeline of when Severine was last seen, but she was never found.Now her bones have been found down a well on the property they were staying in. One of their group has died in the war in Afghanistan and the rest have been apart establishing their careers. A policeman has come from France to interview them again, and Kate is made to feel that she is under suspicion. The policeman advises that she should "get a lawyer".Events occurred that night that fractured their group forever and the real significance of some events has never been explored.There is a paranormal element to this story that plays a significant role, but I didn't much like it.