Through The Wall | Caroline Corcoran
REVIEWED BY KAREN BYROM
Is the grass always greener …?
In an anonymous London tower block, Lexie and Harriet live cheek by jowl. Yet they never meet. What they know about each other is gleaned through overheard conversations through their party wall and what they’ve learned on social media.
For both women are obsessed with each other. Lexie envies Harriet her elegance, her poise and her flourishing musical career. Sometimes she dreams of being invited to Harriet’s admittedly wild parties.
Harriet, on the other hand, envies Lexie her loving partner, Tom, who reminds her of her ex-fiance Luke. It seems to her that Lexie has the life that should be hers. And so she sets out to take it.
It’s a carefully planned campaign to make Harriet doubt Tom, herself and her own sanity.
Prey to their own demons
The story of Through The Wall explores topical issues of infertility, emotional abuse and the dangers of letting strangers into your life via social media.
But it strikes me that most of all it is about loneliness; about how people with partners, neighbours, colleagues and friends can yet feel themselves isolated and alone, prey to their own demons or to the vicissitudes of strangers.
Told in alternate chapters by Lexie and Harriet, the narrative flows effortlessly, as the tension ramps up to a climax that sees the two women finally come face to face.
But who will be the winner in this sinister psychological thriller?
