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Books by Sarah Mitchell
The Lost Letters
The Couple
Available in audio
The Lost Letters (UK listeners | US listeners)
A Letter From Sarah
I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read The Couple. There are so many books to pick from these days that I really appreciate the fact that you decided to read mine. If you did enjoy it and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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The psychological thriller has become so popular in recent years and as I wrote The Couple it was easy to see why. As an author it is very liberating to have as a main character somebody with dark depths to her personality who is strong – or bad – enough to take matters into her own hands and seek revenge against those who have wronged her. Some readers may well find Claire a disturbed or evil character, while others may have a little more sympathy for the decisions she makes. A few may even wonder if, in the right set of circumstances, they could possibly be tempted to behave in a similarly shocking way themselves! I think a big part of the pleasure of books like this is the licence they give us to explore these shadowy yet tantalising boundaries within the safety of fiction.
Lots of psychological thrillers have a legal setting, and for most of them that setting is the criminal court. In The Couple I chose instead to use the backdrop of the Immigration Tribunal. Since so many recent news stories are about people fleeing from terrible situations in other countries I thought it might be interesting to tell you a little about what happens to their claims when they get to the UK. And also the particular kind of vulnerability faced by immigrants seemed to me to make a very good basis for a crime story. I ought to emphasise, however, that although the examples of cases referred to in The Couple are typical of the kind of work done by the immigration tribunals, of course none of them are based on real people.
I hope you loved The Couple and, if you did, I would be very grateful if you could write a review. I’d be so pleased to hear what you think, and it makes such a difference helping new readers to discover one of my books for the first time.
I also really appreciate hearing from my readers – you can get in touch through Twitter. When I am beavering away at my desk it is always wonderful to get a message and realise that somewhere people are actually reading what I’ve written!
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Thank you
Sarah
Acknowledgements
The seedling for The Couple was planted in a crime-fiction class at UEA several years ago. I am greatly indebted to Professor Henry Sutton for believing in it from the very start and for his whole-hearted encouragement and guidance as the novel took root and began to blossom. I would also like to thank my lovely agent and editor – Veronique Baxter and Jenny Geras. I am incredibly lucky to have such expert and professional support, and their input has enabled the book to flourish and become the best version of itself that it can be. Another huge thank you is owed to my friend, Clare Barter, who manages to combine wonderful, insightful comments on the text with gentle corrections to my spelling and grammar! Finally, to my husband Peter – thank you for all the big and all the little things (and for solving my computer problems every single time…).
Published by Bookouture in 2019
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An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
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www.bookouture.com
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Copyright © Sarah Mitchell, 2019
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Sarah Mitchell has asserted her right to be identified
as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-789-1
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Couple: An unputdownable psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist Page 30