Sleep With Me

 

Sleep With Me (Bloomsbury), has been published in ten countries including the USA, and was extensively reviewed. It has been adapted as a screeplay by Andrew Davies for a drama due to be broadcast by ITV. A tv tie-in edition will be published by Bloomsbury.

Read an excerpt from Sleep with Me

‘Seductive, scary and frighteningly readable.’
Julie Myerson


‘a beautifully written and emotionally candid novel which also happens to be a page-turner.’ 
Jonathan Coe, Guardian

Synopsis

‘The day our child was conceived, someone else arrived. She was there as the cells fused, like a ghost.’

Richard and Lelia’s child is conceived in a moment of giggling chaos as they dress for a Christmas party. When they arrive, rudely late and still glowing, they barely register a slight, drab woman in the hall. Sylvie.

As their baby grows, so too does the presence of that barely noticeable figure. Slowly Richard finds himself seduced by Sylvie’s subtle, almost imperceptible charm. As he grows more ambivalent about the approaching birth of his child, Lelia finds herself haunted by painful secrets of her past. And Sylvie seems to be nowhere, yet everywhere. She’s as invisible as she wants to be, and that is the source of her power. Beware of mice.

How far can you trust even those you love? A story of compulsion, desire, darkness and betrayal, Sleep With Me moves towards a breathtaking climax. It confirms Joanna Briscoe as a major literary talent.

 

Reviews for Sleep With Me:

‘Dark secrets and infidelity are Joanna Briscoe’s speciality. … It is horribly, grippingly pleasurable…. Briscoe’s style is sensuously hypnotic and her attention to detail is faultless; rarely have I seen literary London so accurately represented. This is a classic summer page-turner, yet it is more than that.  Like Sylvie, it is hard to get this book out of your head, even after the final chapter.’
Observer



‘Briscoe’s third novel offers a profound portrait of emotional as much as physical infidelity. … Psychological disintegration is played out against an impressively taut and sturdy structural backbone. … an acutely evoked love triangle…. Elegiac, beautiful, evocative prose… moving, rich and real….. The language is characteristically erotic, sensuous, precise…. Sleep with Me works in much the same way as an obsession…. you wish to escape, but have already become addicted.’
Telegraph
 

‘In its contrasts, the novel has it all: its climaxes are climactic, its jokes funny, its sex thrillingly sexy. Its conclusion, on the other hand, is intriguingly inconclusive. That only makes this clever, sexy novel all the more human and real’
Independent


‘This is a carefully orchestrated roman noir in which all sinners take equal blame. It reads like a dream….Mesmerising … be warned: there’s no putting it away afterwards. It gets right under your skin’
Maureen Freely, Guardian

 
‘Tales of obsessive love rarely unravel so skilfully the tangle of drives and desires propelling the lover…. Almost unbearable but utterly compelling …     This ingenious jigsaw of near misses, secret assignations and days revisited by one then another character is as carefully plotted as any thriller. To give any more away would be to spoil a literary novel that takes suspense very seriously indeed.’
New Statesman


‘Reminiscent of Julie Myerson and Zoë Heller novels: moody, and slightly sinister and full of hormones’
Liz Jones, the pick of summer reading, Evening Standard


‘If the hype for this novel is to be believed, we’re looking at the next Single White Female or Damage, and a few pages in, you can see why. Briscoe’s prose is sharp and to the point … Expect a wild and chilling climax’
Glamour


‘Joanna Briscoe’s excellent third novel deals with erotic obsession and with lies … it is a book with a dark, wounded heart….Sleep with Me inhabits a profound ethical universe.’ Roz Kaveney, Time Out


‘arresting and haunting….compelling. This well-structured psychological thriller – which has echoes of early Barbara Vine as well as the more recent novels of Julie Myerson and Maggie O’Farrell….. has a sensual power that echoes in the mind.’
Sunday Telegraph


‘I was gripped by Briscoe’s creepy tale of sexual obsession’ Tracey Macleod, Favourite Books of 2005, Marie Claire


‘Briscoe brilliantly explores a trap far too many men seem to find themselves in’
Esquire


‘Will keep you up at night … The love triangle is a common theme, but here it is handled with both ferocity and elegance’
Erica Wagner, best new fiction, The Times


‘A menacing, disturbing story of sexual obsession and power’
Grazia


‘An engrossing tale of desire and betrayal, this is dark, modern, sexy stuff.’ 
Mail on Sunday


‘Briscoe's take on sexual insecurity recalls Maggie O'Farrell, and with this page-turning portrait of obsession and damage, she seems set for the bestseller list.’  
Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail


‘I loved it – it’s completely gripping, compelling and beautifully written.  It is one of those books that you find yourself thinking about even when you are not reading it.  That is one of the signs of a good book, I think – the characters come alive.’
Mary Nightingale, The Times


‘A twisty and elegantly plotted slice of modern gothic driven by sexual obsession, Briscoe’s highly original book compels you to read on, even as you dread what might come next.’ 
Marie Claire


‘There is much to admire in Briscoe’s writing: she times her plot shocks well, and creates a clever and successful structure that peaks superbly…. Briscoe is a vivid and passionate writer. She plunges headlong into sticky themes of desire, love and hatred, uncovering the unpalatable parts of the psyche with an unflinching eye.’ Sunday Times


‘Joanna Briscoe's Sleep With Me is a dream-like but chilling tale of a love triangle’
Michelle Pauli, Guardian Unlimited


‘Briscoe conjures up the smugness of artsy London life, overlaying it with a sinister story of sexual and emotional manipulation…. Lelia and Richard’s self-absorbed accounts combine to create a feverishly climactic narrative.’
Elizabeth Scott-Bauman, Sunday Times


‘A thrillingly twisted, erotic tale of betrayal, obsession and dark childhood secrets that has real power to shock and lingers in the mind long afterwards like the trace of Sylvie’s subtle yet slightly rotten perfume. A great summer read.’
York Press



‘Joanna Briscoe’s Sleep With Me is the perfect summer read: a sensual, psychologically disturbing and compulsively readable novel that delves deep into the murky waters of desire, lust and retribution.’
Booktrust.



‘This summer’s ultimate holiday read has to be Joanna Briscoe’s Sleep With Me… it will increase your delight at being on a beach and not in the middle of a terrifying love affair.’ Matt Thorne, Independent on Sunday



‘This is a marvellous, mysterious, atmospheric book, set in a wintry Bloomsbury, which explores the disastrous consequences of drifting into an affair. It’s impossible to stop reading once you’ve started.’
Francesca Simon, My Six Best Books, Daily Express



‘highly charged erotic thriller… This menacing and sexy page-turner about desire and betrayal’
You magazine, Mail on Sunday



‘Briscoe’s creepily ingenious tale of marital betrayal… Briscoe puts a fresh spin on a familiar scenario. Her writing is crisp and clever and she displays an enjoyable sharp eye for the details of her characters’ lives, and for her Bloomsbury setting. The result is a novel as polished as it is compelling.’
Christina Konig Times



‘Joanna Briscoe’s Sleep With Me, which is creeping me out something dreadful.’
Jenny Colgan, What are you reading? Marie Claire


‘Joanna Briscoe’s erotically charged and expertly crafted psychological thriller grips from the very first page and holds the reader in a velvet vice.’
Simon Shaw, Mail on Sunday


‘sexy, breathless and brilliant’
Tim Lott, Times


‘An erotically charged psychological thriller….Briscoe evokes ambiguous emotions and sensuality in ways both powerful and subtle as the net cast by the elusive Sylvie draws ever tighter.’
Sunday Telegraph


‘Joanna Briscoe’s new novel, Sleep With Me, is a compelling look at how easily a relationship can slide from apparent perfection to darkness and betrayal…. Briscoe skilfully draws the novel to its chilling climax.’
Caroline Jowett, Daily Express


‘An intelligent relationship thriller with lots to say about sex, pregnancy and obsession.’ Summer preview, Time Out


‘Erotic and sinister from the very first page.’
InStyle


‘Excellent third novel deals with erotic obsession and lies.’
John O’Connell, Time Out, Critics’ Choice 2005 Books of the Year


‘A former columnist for the Guardian and the Independent, prolific journalist and commentator, Briscoe’s novels are memorably erotic and gripping.  The new one, Sleep with Me… is set to make a big splash with its portrayal of a creepy three-way relationship involving betrayal, bisexuality and stalking.’
Suzi Feay, Independent on Sunday.



‘Compelling …… Briscoe weaves the different strands expertly into a genuine page-turner and the mounting tension is superbly executed…. The writing is by turns beautifully delicate and then shockingly brutal, and Briscoe skilfully conjures many memorable scenes.  Sublime.’ The Pink Paper


‘Sexy literary tale with tremendous grip’
Ones to Watch, The Bookseller


‘This clever, creepy and utterly convincing tale of a serial stalker terrorising a couple and their unborn child is like Ian McEwan with better sex scenes…. This stayed with me for a long time after I finished it.’
Suzie Dooré, The Bookseller



‘An impressive tale that quietly grows to a menacing twist, I loved it.’
Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller



‘With sinister undertones and big themes, this haunting psychological tale of London life is a favourite of mine.’
The Bookseller



‘This sensual and psychologically disturbing novel is compulsively readable and deserves to be one of the hits of the summer…. Creepy and seductive.’
Booktrust



‘Sleep With Me takes the genre into another class, plumbing different depths that reveal the reality of the darkness, betrayal and sheer fear caused when lives fracture due to infidelity…..The twists, turns and disturbing events in this brilliantly crafted, provocative book are chillingly played out against the humdrum normality of life which make them all the more shocking…… If you're even contemplating an affair, be afraid, very afraid and read this book first. It could change your life.’
Birmingham Post

 

American Reviews for "Sleep With Me"

‘smart, suspenseful….Briscoe has a knack for rendering a contemporary, urban setting, and her characters are intelligent and psychologically insightful, believable even as the plot takes its most fantastical twists.’
Publishers Weekly



‘The book is a pas de deux of information revealed and concealed…. Briscoe is a controlled and elegant writer.’  
Meg Wolitzer, Washington Post


‘In polished, formal prose, British novelist Briscoe (Skin, 1997) delivers an erotic thriller rife with themes of betrayal and obsession…Briscoe draws the rituals of seduction in mesmerizing fashion and homes in on the addictive nature of transgression. Even more impressive, though, is the way the contrast between her elegant prose and the often-repellent behavior of her characters heightens her novel's chilling, creepy atmosphere.  Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist



‘A London husband and wife, awaiting the birth of their first child, find themselves pursued by a female stalker in this eerie and erotic thriller that is the first American release by a rising London novelist who is earning raves across the Atlantic. Told in alternating chapters by the two spouses, this Black Widow spider's web of a book casts an unshakeable spell with its plot lines of obsession, infidelity and menace.’
John Marshall, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

‘Richard's feverish mental state is the most compelling part of the novel, but the complications that occur and then escalate when his obsession meets Lelia's vulnerability and Sylvie's manipulation create intense and creepy narrative tension.’
Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe