It’s nice to finally meet you, Jemima, Rebecca Sheridan says, her voice soft. I force a smile, and tug at the hem of my faded black dress. I need this job so badly, but I can’t let her see that. Just like she can’t know I have no money, that this isn’t my real accent. That most of my friends are gone… or dead.

I say yes when she offers me the role. I'll soon learn Rebecca's polished smile masks secrets far darker than my own.

Every day I rehearse. I spend hours running lines with the other lead, whose vacant expression and tearful outbursts make me uneasy. I try to ignore how Rebecca cuts me down then builds me up. How the others stop talking when I enter the room.

Why am I really here? Am I just a pawn in some twisted game?

No. There’s no way she can know who I really am.

What I did. What I'm capable of…

Right?

A breathtaking page-turner about secrets, lies and what really goes on behind closed doors. Perfect for fans of Anatomy of a Scandal, The Girl Before and The Silent Patient.

Josie Charles