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The Girl Who Came Back
The Girl Who Came Back
Jun 17, 2025 8:48 AM

Author:Susan Lewis

The Girl Who Came Back

Your worst nightmare is back on your doorstep.

When Jules Bright hears a knock on the door, the last person she expects to find is a detective bringing her the news she's feared for the last three years.

Amelia Quentin is being released from prison.

Jules's life is very different now to the one she'd known before Amelia shattered it completely. Knowing the girl is coming back she needs to decide what to do. Friends and family gather round, fearing for Jules's safety. They know that justice was never served; every one of them wants to make the Quentin girl pay.

The question is, what will Jules do; and which of them - her or Amelia - has the most to fear?

Reviews

Lewis’ depiction of inter-familial relationships in her latest novel is so accurate and powerfully emotive that The Girl Who Came Back does more than just tug at your heart strings; her characters almost reach out of the pages and pull you in to their twisted world of sadness and revenge. There’s something about the way Lewis so truthfully captures the sensitivity and uniqueness of a mother-daughter bond that makes her novel so gripping; you rather want to unravel the story as if it were happening to your very own family ... It’s dark, questioning and beautifully written; if you dare to pick it up, it will utterly absorb you into its twisted tale.

—— Good to Know

Compelling and heartbreaking

—— Peterborough Evening Telegraph

Relatable, engaging and addictive.

—— Lovereading

A gripping story of love, uncertainty and betrayal which leads to a dramatic climax. Susan Lewis at her best.

—— My Weekly

We absolutely loved this emotionally charged, heartbreaking novel – it kept us gripped all the way through. Perfect for beach reading this summer

—— Good to Know

With real life character in situations that we empathise with, the stories are engaging ones

—— Yorkshire Gazette

A book for the thousands of readers who have loved the magical realism of Chocolat and The Secret Language of Flowers

—— My Planet

Part social commentary, part mystery and part dangerous liaison, this poignant story casts an unflinching gaze at the historic treatment of mental health disorders.

—— Financial Times

Such a magnificent setting definitely demands a story that delivers, all guns blazing. It does, and then some . . . Fiction at it’s finest.

—— Irish Independent

Beautiful

—— Stylist

An exquisite love story

—— Good Housekeeping

A terrifying, moving and uplifting story

—— February Hot Read , Woman and Home

A poignant against-the-odds love story

—— Glamour

Tender . . . Hope is the emotion that unspools the delicate connections between these brilliantly drawn characters

—— Psychologies Magazine

The Ballroom is a beautifully wrought novel, a tender, heartbreaking and insightful exploration of the longings that survive in the most inhospitable environments.

—— Sunday Express 5/5 stars

Magnificent…a luminary of historical fiction…writing history from the margins, the personal stories behind the era, she delivers profound, poignant stories that stir the emotions.

—— Press Association

All the intensity and lyricism of Hope’s debut, Wake

—— Daily Mail

The Ballroom confirms her as a novelist of immense power...Exquisitely good. Sensitive, engrossing and highly recommended

—— Metro

The Ballroom is a beautiful, gripping, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking book. I was so enthralled, I read it in an evening, unwilling to put it down.

—— thewritesofwoman.wordpress.com

An atmospheric and thought provoking love story

—— bookslifeandeverything.blogspot.co.uk

An absorbing read from beginning to end . . . I'm already excited to see what Anna Hope does next.

—— thetattooedbook.blogspot.co.uk

This novel is at once romantic, thought-provoking and extremely poignant, with a rich narrative and an ending that moved me to tears

—— culturefly.co.uk

Gripping final chapters ramp up the suspense towards a hearth-wrenching conclusion ...explores the tensions and trials of the human condition with grace and insight.

—— New York Times

Absolutely fantastic . . . I'm in real awe of her writing.

—— Elizabeth Macneal, author of THE DOLL FACTORY

A romantic and fulfilling story, beautifully told. Isabelle writes with a humorous eye, and the evocative poignancy of her writing brought Holly's story vividly to life. I was hooked from first word until final page and was left with tears on my face and an urgent need for a holiday!

—— Katie Marsh, author of My Everything

A mysterious legacy, family secrets and slow-burning romance - My Map of You's the next best thing to a one-way ticket to Zakynthos, the Greek island that makes a perfect setting

—— Fanny Blake, Author and Books Editor for Woman & Home

Witty and big-hearted . . . leaves you smiling for days

—— Maria Semple, author of , Where’d You Go, Bernadette

For those unable to jet off to a Spanish island this summer, reading The Vacationers may be the next-best thing. . . . [A] gorgeously written novel . . . When I turned the last page, I felt as I often do when a vacation is over: grateful for the trip and mourning its end

—— The New York Times Book Review

Delicious . . . richly riveting . . . The Vacationers offers all the delights of a fluffy, read-it-with-sunglasses-on-the-beach read, made substantial by the exceptional wit, insight, intelligence and talents of its author

—— People (four stars)

I loved The Vacationers; funny and poignant and beautifully observed

—— Jojo Moyes, author of , Me Before You

Straub's novel is cast from the same mould as the likes of Liza Klaussmann's Tigers in Red Weather and Maggie Shipstead's Seating Arrangements . . . The Vacationers is a holiday read in every way with a gently witty narrative that slips down as easily as a beachside cocktail

—— Independent

Emma Straub is a gorgeous and witty storyteller

—— Elizabeth Gilbert

Intimate, epic, beautifully observed

—— Jennifer Egan

Witty and big-hearted ... leaves you smiling for days

—— Maria Semple

Charming and absorbing

—— Maggie Shipstead

Funny, poignant and beautifully observed

—— Jojo Moyes
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