If you find that the intimate person you trust is hiding something from you, will you dig deep to find out the truth, or just turn a blind eye?  But if you insist on finding the truth, you will probably hurt yourself.  It may be heartbroken at best, or it may even cost you your life.

“Behind Her Eyes" written by Sarah Pinborough begins with Louise, a single mother, who entangled a passionate affair with her new boss David and eventually got close to David’s wife Adele.  It seems like a love triangle in which two women compete for one man.  However, when Louise knew more about David and Adele, she discovered that the couple was hiding a secret.  Starting from an extramarital affair, it triggered a series of bizarre events, and gradually turned into a supernatural psychological thriller.  Not only does it totally boggle the readers’ minds, but the reversal of the ending is even more jaw-dropping.

Each character has his or her own axe to grind.  It is difficult for you to determine who to trust and you would never guess the ultimate devil in the novel until reading to the end.  All the characters have their own secrets and some share the same secret that binds them together.  The secret that the three people have to keep is not only the sin behind the affair, but also the greed in human nature.

Humanity is portrayed in a dark way in this novel.  Louise plays with fire by immorally getting involved in her friend’s marriage with conflicting feelings.  On one hand, she felt sorry for Adele and hid her relationship with David. On the other hand, she still wanted to be friends with Adele and continued to hang out with her and kept secrets from them both.  Another character, Adele, was presented as a manipulative person who tried to do everything to take control over those around her without any ethical bottom line.  The novel alerts us that reality is cruel and we see how a person manipulates the kindness of people in order to satisfy one’s desire.

Apart from exploring the themes of control, manipulation, betrayal and moral dilemmas, it is a story that challenges our perceptions of reality and the people around us.  We can never see who a person really is underneath the skin.