Hung her sister with a rope
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother's happy life
"It wasn't me," Lenora said
But she's the only one not dead
In 1929, the state of Maine was shocked by the brutal murder of three-fourths of the wealthy Hope family: the powerful patriarch, his wife, and their older daughter, Virginia. The police suspected the sole survivor, 17-year-old Lenora, who was found covered in blood, but they were never able to prove it.
While the crimes fascinated the public, Lenora never left her family’s mansion again. As she grew older, she suffered a series of strokes which left her almost completely paralyzed and unable to speak. She can only move one hand, with which she can tap out yes or no answers to questions, as well as type.
In 1983, Kit is a home-health worker who is hired to care for Leona. She is troubled by what she thinks are footsteps in Leona’s room late at night, even though that can’t be possible. Then one day Leona asks to use the typewriter and offers to tell Kit everything.
As Leona slowly types out the events leading up to the murders, Kit realizes there’s much more to the story than she ever thought. But as other shocking discoveries are made, Kit can’t be sure whether Leona is telling the truth and she is innocent, or whether Kit is being manipulated by a master.
Riley Sager’s books are hit or miss for me. I probably wouldn’t have read this if it wasn’t the selection for our book club. It was an entertaining read, although I thought the pacing was slow until the end, when Sager dropped a million twists nearly simultaneously.
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