The Soulmate

"I saw Gabe, cliffside, talking to the woman. I saw her throw up her arms, and I saw him take a step toward her. Then I saw Gabe alone, his arms extended, palms forward. The more I think about it, there's something about his stance that bothers me. I can't get it out of my head. He was holding his hands the way you would if you'd pushed someone."

The Soulmate is the eighth novel by Australian author, Sally Hepworth. The audio version is narrated by Annabelle Tudor. For a year Pippa and Gabe Gerard have lived with their two daughters in their ramshackle clifftop cottage right near the place often known as The Drop. In that time, seven people have come there to end their lives; seven people have been talked out of it by Gabe. The eighth is another story.

Pippa is a wills and estate lawyer, and she never lies to the police. Except this time, she does, because if she told them what she saw, it would put Gabe under suspicion, and he never would … would he?

Amanda Cameron didn't expect to die. She definitely wasn't at The Drop to commit suicide, but now, here she is, dead. And she is watching the fallout of her death: her husband Max's reaction; what the Gerard family are telling the police; with much interest.

Little more can be said about the story without spoilers. Both Pippa's and Amanda's narratives switch back and forth between now and then, between before and after. Gradually revealed are the events and interactions that have ultimately led up to this tragic outcome, and the questions of whether Gabe did or did not push Amanda to her death, and why she was really there, keep the pages turning and the reader guessing right up to heart-breaking climax.

Hepworth gives the reader a tightly-plotted tale with some clever red herrings and twists. Her era and setting are skilfully rendered, and her characters are both credible and appealing for all their faults and charms.

Pippa's initial depiction of Gabe will soon have readers wondering if this charismatic man, this wonderful father and loving husband, is too good to be true and, later, she admits: "The line between normal and not normal had always been so thin for Gabe; sometimes I didn't know if I was talking to a genius or a madman." It becomes clear that what he is telling her is part fabrication, part truth, and not the entire truth, at that.

Hepworth accords her characters with wise words and insightful observations. Amanda muses: "It's as if, while living your life, you view the world through a straw. You see only the tiniest sliver, all of it from your own perspective. Other people have their motives, their backstories, their feelings, but you don't know that unless they share them with you, and even then there's every chance they're lying or prevaricating. What strikes me most now is the audacity of people, walking around with such certainty while armed with only the scantest information."

This is a novel of both the good and bad parts of marriage, of dishonesty and infidelity, of love and loyalty, of mental illness and illegitimate children, of families and finding the ability to stand strong. Hepworth's latest is a brilliant read.