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The Marriage Rule

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What to expect

Love. Honour. Obey?

'A whale of a read; a stomach-roiling page turner and a disturbing look at how women end up in such bad places…I was so invested' Observer

'A riveting domestic thriller with a fresh twist' John Marrs

'Raw, riveting and painfully timely' Kia Abdullah

***

Elle never dreamed she’d end up with a man like Dom. He’s handsome, successful, the perfect father to their baby girl.

But Elle doesn’t feel the joy she knows she should. She's struggling with being a mum, failing at work, even her post-baby body doesn’t feel like her own. Not that Dom cares. He worships Elle and craves intimacy as deeply as troubled Elle wants to shy away from it.

Elle starts relying on red wine and the attention of new colleague Gabriel to get through her day. But the morning after a team away day, a bewildered and hungover Elle wakes up with a lifeless body in her bed. She knows devoted Dom is the only person who’ll give her any chance of getting out of there a free woman.

Elle would never have ended up in such danger if she’d followed the Marriage Rule, the one thing she’s been told a wife needs to do, even if it breaks her…

Readers are gripped by The Marriage Rule:

'An intelligent, suspense-filled exploration of marriage, motherhood, and the secrets we hide'

'Heart-stopping'

'Gripping and hard-hitting'

'The twists are insane'

'Compulsive and intelligently written'

Praise for Helen Monks Takhar:

‘Nail-biting' Harriet Tyce

'Explosive' Will Dean

‘Twisted, dark and shocking’ Jo Spain

'Compelling and suspenseful' Diane Jeffrey

‘Unnerving and propulsive’ Allison Buccola

Critics Review

'A compelling and suspenseful thriller that boldly tackles the ever-topical themes of the struggles of being a new mother, bullying in the workplace and, above all, the insidiousness of psychological abuse. This is also a story of female solidarity - women supporting women. I loved this book and whizzed through it in two days!' Diane Jeffrey, author of The Crime Writer

'A new mother wakes to a dead man in her bed in Helen Monks Takhar's latest feminist thriller. Unnerving and propulsive, The Marriage Rule is a gripping exploration of family secrets, toxic power dynamics, and the snare of abuse. I tore through it.' Allison Buccola, author of The Ascent

'Few writers are able to capture human nature as incisively as Helen Monks Takhar. In The Marriage Rule, she crafts a taut psychological thriller that hums with a sense of menace. Raw, riveting and painfully timely, it takes an unflinching look at power, control and the ways in which we efface ourselves for those who deserve it least.' Kia Abdullah, author of Those People Next Door

'A riveting domestic thriller with a fresh twist on toxic relationships... a gripping tale that left me wondering how well we really know someone we share a bed with.' John Marrs, author of The Good Samaritan

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