The New Girl

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What to expect

She's borrowed your life. But what if she decides to keep it?

Glamorous Margot Jones is the fashion editor at glossy women's magazine Haute, and pregnant with her first child. Margot's used to her carefully curated life being the object of other women's envy - who wouldn't want her successful career, loving husband, beautiful house and stylish wardrobe?

Maggie, a freelance journalist, certainly knows she doesn't measure up. So when Margot gets in touch to suggest she apply for her maternity cover at Haute, Maggie seizes the chance at living a better life - even if it's only temporary.

But the simultaneous arrival of Margot's baby and a brutal end to her oldest friendship sends Margot into a spiral of suspicion and paranoia. Are Maggie's motives as innocent as they seem? And what happens at the end of the year when Margot wants her old life back - especially if Maggie decides she doesn't want to leave?

(P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

Critics Review

Taut, stylish, utterly gripping . . . satisfied all my thriller cravings and my love of fashion world gossip
Lucy Foley
Keenly observed and brimming with tension, The New Girl is a must-read
Clare Mackintosh
Her blistering first novel . . . a disturbing psychological thriller . . . Walker's inside knowledge of the fashion world will fascinate civilians, while her superbly paced plot keeps you up all night, compulsively turning pages
The Times
A Devil Wears Prada-meets-Gone Girl mash-up, this is a deliciously heady concoction of fashion and fear, best gobbled down whole, over one lockdown weekend
Pandora Sykes
I was so absorbed by The New Girl. In this suspenseful debut, Harriet Walker applies the finest of brushes to those shades of grey between friendship and rivalry - not so much domestic noir as domestic gris. I recommend
Louise Candlish
I have not been as gripped and stunned by a story since reading Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I could not put it down. This is a masterpiece
Emma Gannon
Female friendship, fashion and intense rivalry makes for an unsettling and unputdownable debut novel
Grazia
A harsh look at the deep insecurities of women in an intriguing debut from The Times fashion editor
Woman & Home
Single White Female meets The Devil Wears Prada, this is an ingenious thriller that I couldn't put down. A beautifully written, tense and chilling story of toxic friendships, insecurities and guilt. This deserves to be huge
Claire Douglas
A taut psychological thriller, and a chilling and intricate examination of the complexities of female friendships and rivalries
Charlotte Philby
A sleek and stylish thriller
Red
i devoured it. I could never predict the ending, which takes immense skill. This book is going to be a huge hit
Bella Mackie
New wave of postnatal punk
The Sunday Times
Harriet Walker's The New Girl, set against a backdrop of magazines, explores female friendships while ramping up the tension and is ideal for lazing in the sun with
Stylist
Movingly portrays the fragility of friendship and the corrosive effect of mistrust and recriminations in a wickedly funny psychological thriller that's in turn brutal and tender
Publishers Weekly
A tense, sophisticated exploration of female friendships fraught with insecurities set in the ruthless world of fashion magazines. Gripping and thrillingly unsettling, it kept me reading through the night
Ruth Hogan
A magnificent rollercoaster of a book
Celia Anderson, author of 59 Memory Lane
This gripping tale of friendship and motherhood is the perfect summer read
MSN
A taut and tense debut . . . with a plot that is both pacy and rich with tension and a cast of unreliable and flawed characters. The New Girl is suspenseful and stylish writing at its very best.
The Literary Edit
Wonderfully drawn . . . Reveals something deep and real about the isolation of new motherhood. There were moments when I held my breath in this twisty tale, and moments when I caught my breath in sharp recognition.
Georgina Clarke, author of Death and the Harlot
As smart and stylish as a fashion week catwalk show, this gripping debut kept me hooked late into the night!
Annie Lyons
Wonderfully twisty and richly psychological - a compelling read
Leaf Arbuthnot
A compulsive and gripping story that delves into the female psyche and explores how despite appearing to have everything we can be our own worst enemies. With a twisty plot and deftly drawn characters this was a compelling and all-consuming lockdown read
Hannah Persaud, author of The Codes of Love
Ideal for lazing in the sun with
Stylist
Offers a pacey account of modern paranoias . . . a cleverly observed study of the pressure on women to identify as professionals or parents
The Sunday Times
A proper page turner
The Mail on Sunday’s YOU Magazine
A smart page-turner [which] tackles female rivalry
i Newspaper
The New Girl does what the very best psychological thrillers do: takes a scenario that many of us know well and twists it so that it becomes utterly terrifying. Choosing a maternity leave rivalry as a plot device was a masterful stroke and it's executed perfectly; the writing is beautiful and the storyline constantly refuses to head where you think it is going. I flew through this book in a few days (or should that be nights that were later than they were meant to be, as I read 'just one more chapter')
Caroline Corcoran
This stylish psychological thriller brilliantly portrays female friendships and rivalries, new parenthood and the glamorous world of fashion . . . this is essential reading for anyone fascinated by fashion shoots, page layouts, catwalk shows and high-end designers
Independent

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