The Heights is a novel by bestselling author Louise Candlish, published in 2021.
Her previous novel, The Other Passenger, was a Richard and Judy book club pick, while Our House was the winner of the 2019 Crime and Thriller of the Year Award.
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Plot
After her son, Lucas, loses his life in a car accident, Ellen Saint wants revenge. Lucas’ friend Keiran was in the car at the time of the accident and yet escaped unscathed. Believing Keiran entirely responsibly for her son’s death, Ellen becomes obsessed with Keiran and wants him to suffer.
Therefore when she sees Kieran through the window in the penthouse of The Heights, a high-rise building in London, she’s shocked. Kieran is supposed to be dead, and she was responsible for his murder. How could he possibly be living in the building opposite where she’s having a business meeting? How can he possibly still be alive?
The story is told primarily from Ellen’s perspective, flipping back from when Ellen first meets Kieran and back to the present day where she finds out he’s still alive. There are also sections from Lucas’ father Vic and a newspaper reporter who is commenting on Ellen releasing her memoir.
The Heights Book Review
My immediate reaction when first reading the book was sympathy towards Ellen. I can’t imagine anything more horrific than the sudden loss of a child. I could also understand the need to blame someone. However, as the story goes on she becomes increasingly unlikeable. You can feel her obsession grow as the story goes on.
I enjoyed the way Louise Candlish built the tension. When we are introduced to Kieran, we know his friendship with Lucas is going to end in tragedy and all the events are building towards that moment. Ellen dislikes Kieran from the moment she met him and seems to see no wrong in her own child which makes you question her reliability as a narrator. This made Vic’s commentary in the second half of the book a really clever addition. It made me wonder whether Ellen really was obsessive, paranoid and hell-bent on revenge or whether her thoughts and fears really were justified.
There are hints and twists thrown in throughout the book and I found it a really gripping read. I did predict the ending though which is slightly disappointing as I was hoping for something a bit more shocking.
Overall I enjoyed this book. It was well written, I enjoyed the different perspectives and I thought the premise was really clever.
What to read next
If you enjoyed The Heights, I’d definitely suggest reading more books by Louise Candlish.
I’d also personally recommend The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley and The Couple at No9 by Claire Douglas
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