Kept in the Dark: Book summary and reviews of Kept in the Dark by Penny Hancock

Kept in the Dark Summary

At the house next door, respectability can hide all manner of sins.

When her neighbor’s fifteen-year-old nephew goes missing, Sonia is the last person that anyone would suspect. At forty-three, she is a strikingly attractive wife and mother. And like the River House, her lovely home overlooking the Thames, Sonia’s life is a picture of perfection and normalcy - until she meets Jez. From the moment he shows up on Sonia’s doorstep, the gorgeous teenage boy awakens a torrent of memories that threaten to reveal a terrifying truth. Drawn to Jez by a compulsion that she scarcely understands, Sonia takes him captive - prepared to sacrifice everything to keep him.

Kept in the Dark Reviews

"Starred Review. Stunning...Despite Sonia’s twisted actions and her sensual feelings about Jez, Hancock is careful to show that she’s not a sexual predator. Descriptions of the putrid waters of the Thames add to the gothic atmosphere." - Publishers Weekly

"This invites comparison to John Fowles' The Collector, but Hancock gives her narrator, Sonia, a more complex motive, crafting a narrative that grows darker as its level of tension builds. An accomplished first novel that lingers in memory." - Booklist

"An impressive debut from a writer we're certain to hear more about…There are hints of a young Daphne du Maurier in Hancock's cool, evocative prose as she reveals the terrifying extent of Sonia’s obsession…Beautifully worked and with a sharp eye for the menace in the commonplace, it lingers in the memory like a Schubert melody, and casts a distinctive spell." - The Daily Mail (UK)

"This creepy, well-written debut is reminiscent of John Fowles's The Collector…with Sonia, Hancock pulls off the considerable feat of 'writing mad.'" - The Guardian (UK)

"A sparklingly creepy debut thriller with the most brilliant premise. When 15-year-old Jez pops round to voice coach Sonia's to borrow some music, she can't help herself - and she doesn’t let him leave." - Mirror, 4-star review (UK)

"A clever, creepy thriller about misplaced affection and abduction...in clear, chilling prose." - Marie Claire (UK)

"A gripping account of a woman on the edge, who commits appalling crimes and offers them up in a tone of quietly rational domesticity." - Natasha Cooper, author of the Trish Maguire Mysteries

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Penny Hancock lives in Cambridge, England, with her husband and three children. She is a part-time primary-school teacher at a speech and language school and has traveled extensively as a language teacher. Kept in the Dark is her first novel.