The House Guest

The perfect family. The perfect chance. The perfect lie.

A stunning novel about motherhood and betrayal, for readers who love Sarah Vaughan and Louise Candlish.

‘Deliciously dark and totally twisted’ ERIN KELLY

‘Very acute on class, aspiration, women and status’ SARAH PERRY, author of THE ESSEX SERPENT

Kate trusts Della, and Della trusts Kate.
Their downfall is each other.

When Kate moves to London after the disappearance of her sister, she’s in need of a friend. A chance meeting leads Kate to Della, a life coach who runs support groups for young women, dubbed by Kate as ‘the Janes.’

Della takes a special interest in Kate, and Kate soon finds herself entangled in Della’s life – her house, her family, and her husband. It’s only when she realises that she’s in too deep that Della’s veneer begins to crumble, and the warnings from ‘the Janes’ begin to come true.

Why is Della so keen to keep Kate by her side? What does Kate have that Della might want? And what really lies beneath the surface of their friendship?

A twisty psychological thriller for fans of Louise Candlish and Harriet Tyce.

‘This twisty thriller is jam-packed with tense moments and a growing sense of unease’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

‘Dark, smart and classy’ GILLIAN MCALLISTER

‘Northedge is good at portraying the distinction between the real insecurities of some young women and the minor problems of the privileged type’ DAILY MAIL

‘Charlotte Northedge turns the psychological thumbscrews with relish’ THE TIMES

‘Full of twists, The House Guest spirals towards its dark conclusion, wrong footing the increasingly uneasy reader at every turn.’ THE OBSERVER




Genre: Mystery

"A dark and intriguing debut that simmers with tension and unease." - Lucy Clarke

"The House Guest is that delicious kind of novel, a slow-burn thriller that carefully draws the reader in, catches fire in the middle and burns with an intensity until the end." - Fiona Cummins

"Compelling, dark and twisted!" - Karen Hamilton

"Creepy and unsettling." - Louise Jensen

"A deliciously dark and totally twisted look at the lengths some people will go to project a perfect life. The tension starts with the first line and doesn’t let up until the jaw-dropping last page." - Erin Kelly

"Dark, smart and classy – I was totally gripped by The House Guest." - Gillian McAllister

"An electrifying debut." - Robin Morgan-Bentley

"This is ace. Very acute on class, aspiration, women and status and all those agonising negotiations and anxieties." - Sarah Perry

"A dark and addictive thriller with compelling characters and an original story exploring motherhood, obsession and lies." - Jenny Quintana

"Complex and gripping, the darkest revenge-noir I’ve read since Gone Girl." - Polly Samson

"Deliciously dark." - Victoria Selman

"Fabulously twisted, disturbing slow burn of a thriller that explores the relationship between a life coach and her protegee where nothing is as it first seems." - Nikki Smith

"Raced through the creepy and disturbing The House Guest by Charlotte Northedge. Kate’s descent into Della’s Stepford-like world is believable and chilling." - Roz Watkins