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The Safe Place

A Novel

by Anna Downes

Narrator Anna Downes

This audiobook uses AI narration.

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Length 10 hours 32 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“When struggling actress Emily scores a job nannying on a private luxury estate, she doesn’t expect the insanity that awaits her. The residents, a bizarre mother and daughter duo with a terrible secret, turn what should be paradise into a nightmare. Perfect vacation thriller!”
— Sam • Phoenix Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Anna Downes's debut is a spectacularly page turning one! Chapters alternate between Emily, Scott, and Nina, which gives the reader the chance to see things that Emily isn't privy to or just plain doesn't notice at all. It also keeps the reader, and Emily, on their toes throughout the story. All in all, Downes does a really excelling job of building the suspense throughout! If you're a fan of audiobooks, I do have to recommend that edition of the book as well! Downes herself narrates and does a phenomenal job!”
— Becky • BookBar

Bookseller recommendation

“The Safe Place is sure to captivate readers as they look to unearth the secret within the gates of an idyllic estate on the southern coast of France. From chapter one, I was hooked and transported to the luxurious lifestyle Downes creates in the book. Her storytelling and the myriad of clues she sprinkles throughout the story made this an unputdownable page-turner. A must for your 2020 reading list!”
— Elise Lee • Away With Words Bookshop

Summary
About the author
About the narrator

"A captivating narration by author Anna Downes adds that extra spark to her neo-gothic novel...Downes knows her characters and delivers them with professional expertise, original plotting, and a masterful performance." -- AudioFile Magazine

Superbly tense and oozing with atmosphere, Anna Downes's debut, The Safe Place, is the perfect summer suspense, with the modern gothic feel of Ruth Ware and the morally complex family dynamics of Lisa Jewell.

Welcome to paradise...will you ever be able to leave?

Emily is a mess.

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.

Emily is desperate.

Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.

Emily is perfect.

Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly.

A Macmillan Audio from Minotaur Books

"Richly evocative with a dark, atmospheric heart, The Safe Place is seductive, irresistible and suspenseful. I was completely gripped from the first page to the pulse-pounding end...It's the perfect summer suspense." —Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author

“The Safe Place is a dark and wonderful debut that lulls you in with beautiful prose and complex, believable characters, then beats you over the head with a killer plot and a thrilling climax. It’s the kind of book you race through as quickly as you can so you can start it again."—Christian White, internationally bestselling author of The Nowhere Child and The Wife and the Widow

“The tension ratchets up and up in this beautifully paced thriller—an outstanding debut, populated by complex and sympathetic characters. You’ll be thinking about them long after you’ve finished reading. Destined to be a book club favorite.”—Chris Hammer, international bestselling author of Scrublands

Fiction Mystery & Thriller

ANNA DOWNES (she/her) was born and raised in Sheffield, United Kingdom, but now lives just north of Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children. She worked as an actress before turning her attention to writing. She has degrees from both Manchester University (drama) and RADA (acting). Her previous novels include The Safe Place and The Shadow House.