April 2025 …
I recently had the pleasure of reading The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (Pan Macmillan, 2022) which falls into a genre known as ‘domestic thriller’.
It follows the life of Pippa, her husband Gabe, and their two daughters, as they deal with the consequences of witnessing the suicide of a woman. The story is set on the Mornington Peninsula where they live in a house near the edge of a seaside cliff, a bit like Millionaire’s Walk in Portsea. They discover that the path between their house and the clifftop is a well-known location for people in distress. Gabe has developed a reputation for persuading potential victims to reconsider their actions. Except, Gabe is unsuccessful with this mysterious woman. Further, after being distracted for a moment, Pippa is uncertain if the woman jumped or was pushed by Gabe.
The novel describes the consequences of the event from Pippa’s point of view, as well as the point of view of Amanda, the victim. Amanda’s story is told from her perspective as an omniscient spirit, witnessing the fallout between Pippa and Gabe, as well as the actions of Amanda’s own husband.
I found this novel interesting since it contained four timelines; those of Pippa, before and after the death of Amanda; and Amanda’s story, before and after her death; with both stories told in a first-person narrative. While, conceptually, the structure sounds risky and confusing, the book manages to maintain a steady pace and reveals interesting, interconnected characters. A story that starts out featuring a clichéd ‘nice’/perfect couple slowly reveals them to be flawed, tortured souls.
The chapters are relatively short – 87 chapters spread out over 300 pages – so there is always a sense of the story moving forward.
The novel was particularly interesting since it applied a technique I am using with my draft novel Searching. In my novel I use two timelines, one for each of the principal characters: Simon, the protagonist, and Laura, a detective. Initially, Simon’s timeline is slightly ahead of the police timeline so the reader is independently working out the real story while being privy to information from Simon as well as the police’s investigations. As my novel proceeds, the timelines, converge and story are revealed, with a twist. For me, reading The Soulmate was a demonstration of how timelines can be used to reveal a full story without it being presented in a linear chronology. The split timelines and short chapters help to create and sustain tension, encouraging the reader to ‘just’ read on to the next chapter.
The Soulmate is a great page-tuner all the way to the end. Well worth adding to your stack!