Taut and suspenseful, How You See Me examines the terrifying power of the mind to deceive, not only others but – most destructively of all – ourselves.
Read first chapter
‘I’ve probably lied to you. That’s habit. I lie to everyone about my family…’
Daniel Laird has returned to Norfolk after a nine-year absence to care for his ailing artist father. He describes his uneasy homecoming in a series of letters to his sister, his boss, and to Alice, his one true love.
But it is not until he discovers a hidden cache of his father’s paintings that the truth begins to surface about why he left all those years ago. The more Daniel writes, the more we learn about his past – and the more we begin to fear for those he holds dear.
A gripping thriller by S E Craythorne.
Reviews
It truly is an impressive feat of characterisation, narration and execution... an absolute marvel of a novel, a triumph of subject, form and storytelling.
We Love This Book: Book of the Week
Read full reviewThe architecture of the novel is tight and spare… a polished literary mystery exploring the fragile and intensely human nature of deception.
Independent
Read full reviewA tender, poignant story, deftly executed and written in graceful, word-perfect prose.
Yann Martel
Read full reviewA painfully acute portrait of a damaged inner life… [revealed] through fragments and letters… genuinely chilling – a fine debut.
Sarah Perry
Read full reviewIn this dark, intoxicating novel, S.E. Craythorne writes about being loved and being lost... a wonderful, devastating read.
Alice Kuipers
Read full reviewA dark tale of obsession, rage and loss begins to emerge... in this chillingly perceptive novel of a man who has completely lost his moral compass.
Pamreader
Read full reviewSo compelling… A chilling read and so beautifully written that I know I'll return to this book again and again.
Brighton and Hove Independent
Read full reviewCompelling… we're surprised throughout, spurred on by the page-turner breadcrumbs the author expertly scatters for us.
The Bookbag
Read full reviewAn epistolary novel, which has bypassed the modern email age to reveal much about the narrator... the gradual sense of menace was very well done, reminding me of John Fowles’ The Collector.
Retreat West
We Love This Book: Book of the Week
20 August 2015A modern epistolary novel, it not only brings back to life this bygone form but uses it masterfully to create a reality and then systematically unspool it… It truly is an impressive feat of characterisation, narration and execution. The way in which the truth emerges from Daniel’s unadorned and innocent prose is truly unsettling and disorienting for the reader and is testament to Craythorne’s ability to inhabit and humanize her protagonist... an absolute marvel of a novel, a triumph of subject, form and storytelling.
View sourceIndependent
9 August 2015The architecture of the novel is tight and spare. Daniel’s uneasy homecoming and artful dodging around the traumatic event that propelled him from home are delicately handled... The characterisation of this relationship [between Daniel and his father] is masterful... Daniel appears to want to receive or grant forgiveness, and this is dramatised with patient subtlety in Daniel’s careful tending of his father’s wounds… a polished literary mystery exploring the fragile and intensely human nature of deception.
View sourceYann Martel
14 April 2015A tender, poignant story, deftly executed and written in graceful, word-perfect prose. Whoever said the novel was dead hasn't read S.E. Craythorne's How You See Me. She revives an old conceit – the epistolary novel – while making a modern point: how very hard it is to know ourselves, and so how very hard it is to be understood by others. This is Romeo and Juliet meets Camus' L'Etranger. When I finished the book, it left me gutted, really gutted.
Sarah Perry
13 April 2015Craythorne draws - with a very, very sharp pencil - a painfully acute portrait of a damaged inner life. In spare, expertly controlled prose she slowly reveals, through fragments and letters, a tale which is genuinely chilling: it achieves that rare thing of leaving the reader physically affected. It has a kind of willingness to face the grotesque with intelligence and wisdom that calls to mind the dark novels of Anne Fine or Lesley Glaister - a fine debut all the more striking for being so absolutely assured in its use of form.
Alice Kuipers
12 April 2015In this dark, intoxicating novel, S.E. Craythorne writes about being loved and being lost. The style is understated and highly effective, the characters vivid and true, and the story compelling. It's a wonderful, devastating read.
Pamreader
Craythorne expertly applies the epistolary format to explore self-deception… Clues as to Daniel’s true nature leak out in the deceptively innocent tone of voice in each letter he writes, and as the novel progresses a dark tale of obsession, rage and loss begins to emerge. Prepare to have your emotions swing from pity to revulsion in this chillingly perceptive novel of a man who has completely lost his moral compass.
View sourceBrighton and Hove Independent
There is something so compelling about reading a real, honest to goodness letter… A chilling read and so beautifully written that I know I'll return to this book again and again. It also makes me yearn for the days when I used to receive letters… although frankly, I'm glad that Daniel Laird isn't writing to me. You will be too.
The Bookbag
A compelling and ultimately sad collection of letters reveal much about their fictional writer. Leaving us skilfully dangled, we know that a shock is coming but not that shock!
At times we may feel that we've found the darkness and can guess what’s coming.. [but] we're surprised throughout, spurred on by the page-turner breadcrumbs the author expertly scatters for us in an almost S J Watson-ish way. It's not a copy though. This may have a narrator writing theme to share with Before I Go To Sleep and is just as good, but still hangs onto an air of originality.
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