Drama set in rural France – The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Submitted: 26th July 2024

A Strange place in France

You’re down on your luck so when a job comes in, you’re more likely to take it. When it’s a dream job looking after one child in France, in a remote French house, then even better. It’s your old boss who is seemingly making amends or giving you a chance to work for him again but in a more personal setting. You get to leave your old life and start over.

Come to France with Emily and see what her time in the middle of nowhere is really going to be like….

Map of locations in The Safe Place

Drama set in rural France - The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Setting: A stunning French estate in rural France

Map of locations in The Safe Place

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Map of locations in The Safe Place

You know when they say that you should be careful when something seems too good to be true? Well in this gripping thriller, that’s EXACTLY what you should be doing.

Emily gets a dream job and goes to live in a house in France where she is going to be looking after 7 year old Aurelia who is sick. The house is remote, the mum and dad are weird and well, how sick is the daughter really? And what exactly is wrong with her?

You’d take a job like this pretty quickly wouldn’t you especially if like Emily, you’d been sacked and you were literary in a hole. Your old boss then does a U turn and hires you back by giving you this job in France. You’d go, right?

The journey in the book before Emily goes is a slow burn but it needs to be. When she gets to the house, taking the reader with her….what is going on? Who are these people? And what should Emily really be afraid of?

Map of locations in The Safe Place

Scott and Nina the parents are an odd couple in every sense of the world but I felt I could understand Nina more than her husband. Well, I say that, but there’s a moment or two, when there’s a yucky moment when swimming when I didn’t care for either of them. The relationship between Nina, George and Emily is strange, complex and utterly gripping if not a bit disturbing. Things get stranger still. There were moments I felt like shouting at Emily to wake up. Fictional characters never listen though do they?

The location of Provence is there really as a background but its an interesting one as lovely locations always seem to make bad things seem even worse. The setting is luscious, the house idyllic and the job seemingly perfect. Oh but no. Not this time.

A great summer read (when staying in France at a remote family home if you really want to ramp up the tension!)