Then the story switches to Kate’s POV and things are quite different. Marisa is not comfortable with Kate who seems overly familiar, overly interested in her eventual pregnancy and seems to treat the house as her own.

But money is a teeny bit tight so they take in a lodger, Kate. Jake represents stability and solidity and she likes that. Marisa was abandoned by her mother when she was 7 years old and her father pretty much switched off after that. They haven’t known each other long but have moved in together and are trying for a baby. And, it’s a hard one to review without giving spoilers but I’ll do my best. Um… I’m in the minority here but I wasn’t really sure what the point of the book was. Magpie is a tense and twisting novel about mothers and children, envy and possession, and the dangers of getting everything you’ve ever dreamed of. Jake doesn’t know the half of what Marisa has created and what she stands to lose. In her quest to find out who Kate really is, Marisa might destroy everything she’s worked so hard to create: her perfect romance, her perfect family, and her perfect self. Who is this woman? Why does she seem to know everything about Marisa and Jake? To make matters worse, Kate’s boundary-pushing turns into an all-out obsession-with Jake, with Marisa, and with their future child. Kate will soon be gone, and it will just be her, Jake, and their future baby.Ĭonceiving a baby is easier said than done, though, and Jake and Marisa’s perfect relationship is put to the test through months of fertility treatments and false starts.

Sure, Kate doesn’t seem to care much about personal boundaries and can occasionally seem overly familiar with Jake, but Marisa doesn’t let it concern her. Marisa and Jake are a perfect couple, and Kate, their new lodger, is the perfect roommate-and not just because her rent payments will give them the income they need to start trying for a baby. Single White Female meets The Perfect Nanny in this taut, psychological suspense novel about a perfect couple and their seemingly perfect roommate-that is until she threatens to destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to create.

Magpie by Elizabeth Day