The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

Publisher's Synopsis

Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It’s Gabe and Pippa Gerard’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge.

Until one day, he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate . . . lie? As the perfect façade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

My Review of The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

The location of Pippa and Gabe Gerard’s new house is beautiful with a panoramic view out over the ocean. The problem is, it sits right at the spot, known as The Drop, which is a favourite for would-be suicides. Not the best place to live for a family with two small children, but certainly great as far as spectacular views are concerned.

Remarkably, Gabe has a gift. He’s able to talk down these people hellbent on ending their lives. He just sits and talks to them, reaching them with words and a caring ear until they convince themselves they’ve changed their minds. When the story opens his number of saves sits at 7.

Gabe sounds like a helluva guy, doesn’t he?

Then one day an eighth person comes to The Drop. Gabe heads outside to confront them while Pippa remains in the kitchen with the kids to let him do his thing. But this time, things look and feel a little different. Gabe seems to be moving closer than he normally does, they seem to be having more of a conversation than usual, the woman appears to be growing more animated, not less.

Pippa is distracted for a moment, takes her eyes off the scene outside and when she looks back, the woman is gone. And Gabe is standing there alone, his arms outstretched, his eyes are wide and he’s unmoving.

The story from here is told from two main points of view, that of Pippa as she comes to terms with what has happened and that of Amanda, the woman who went over the cliff to her death. Amanda’s story from the grave is one of the more interesting parts of the story as she fills in key pieces of the story from a unique perspective.

The Soulmate is a domestic thriller that deals with mental health issues such as ADHD and bipolar disorder. And slowly, from the viewpoints of both Pippa and Amanda, we begin to learn more about Gabe and it’s a picture that starts to look a bit grim. In fact, it starts to look extremely concerning.

Sally Hepworth does an outstanding job of giving us a gradual reveal of the true story of what’s going on. Details such as Amanda’s connection to Gabe and Pippa, Gabe’s true mental condition, his troubling job history, the truth behind his shady former boss…it all starts looking very shady indeed, not to mention dangerous. Living smack bang next to a popular suicide spot is ultimately the least of Pippa’s problems, especially when there are men, really big dangerous looking men, coming around to their home and talking to their daughters.  

This turns out to be quite an involved domestic thriller that twists through a number of unexpected outcomes. The way Gabe’s mental health was used felt a little off, excusing him for some pretty ordinary behaviour and also painted Pippa in a far too naive and trusting light in just this one aspect of her life. In short, I had a few believability issues.

Being spoken to by a character after their death is a rarity for me and took a little getting used to. It certainly opens up the possibility to have some otherwise unexplainable events described in full detail. 

Overall, The Soulmate is a decent domestic thriller that moves at a rapid rate. There were plenty of hints early on suggesting the direction the story would take and, while it did indeed head in a predictable direction, there were still a number of confounding turns to ensure a tense and unexpected ending.