The Body Lies
Jo Baker2019

A dark, thrilling new novel from the bestselling author of Longbourn: a work of riveting suspense that grapples with how to live as a woman in the world - or in the pages of a book - when the stakes are dangerously high.

What if you realised the subject your student is studying is you?

When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it’s meant to be a fresh start, away from the big city and the scene of a violent assault she’s desperate to forget. But despite the distractions of a new life and single motherhood, her nerves continue to jangle. To make matters worse, a vicious debate about violence against women inflames the tensions and mounting rivalries in her creative writing group.

When a troubled student starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as a main character in his book - and he has written her a horrible fate.

Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late?

At once a breathless cat-and-mouse game and a layered exploration of violence against women in art, The Body Lies is an essential book for our times.