Book Summary and Reviews of Body Double by Hanna Johansson

Book Summary

In this Hitchcockian literary thriller, two women who fall in love and move in together begin to resemble each other, while elsewhere a young woman who works transcribing recordings for a ghostwriter receives a strange message that will come to upend her life.

Naomi and Laura meet by chance at a department store café when Naomi mistakenly takes Laura's coat. A strange magnetism is sparked during this first encounter, and eventually they form a romantic relationship and Laura moves in with Naomi. She tells Naomi little about herself, and appears to have no real life outside their relationship—but Naomi, lonely despite her job, friends, and hobbies, is convinced that their love was meant to be. As time goes by, Laura changes her appearance to resemble Naomi and soon begins to take her place in the world.

In the same city, a nameless woman works for a ghostwriter, transcribing recordings of his clients recalling their lives. Her weeks all look the same, and she moves in a predictable pattern between her home, the ghostwriter's office, a café, and a movie theater. After hearing something on a recording that appears to be addressed to her, however, she gets the sense that she is being watched.

From Hanna Johansson, the critically acclaimed author of Antiquity, this alluring and propulsive thriller, explores deception and authenticity, obsession, and the uncanny.