The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Rose Wilks is a young woman who has been in prison for three years, ten months and two days for the manslaughter of a baby boy she used to take care of. In just six weeks she could be free on parole. That decision is, in part, down to Cate, a new probation officer.
Rose is desperate to be released, prison is tough for any inmate but more so when you believe you are innocent.
We come to know Rose through her long letter-type diary entries to her boyfriend Jason and her interaction with Cate and other inmates. Rose goes right back to her childhood; a sad and confusing time in her life, a life that had some bright spells but also involved misunderstanding and rejection. When Rose meets Jason it seems everything she has ever wanted in life has finally come to her. Pregnant with his baby, Rose is the happiest she has ever been, until tragedy strikes.
Throughout her account, Rose is unfailingly honest about her life and her actions. Obviously disturbed and desperate for affection a lot of her actions can be sympathised with but it is the twist that comes unexpectedly that is the real shocker. Rose does not portray herself as a victim although it is clear to the reader that she really is and though she is not particularly likable it is very difficult not to have sympathy for the life she has had and understanding for some of her actions.
It is a dark and disturbing tale which makes compelling reading and written very cleverly in that there is a suspicion that there is something more to what has happened but it is quite difficult to work it out.......
As you read you can feel the oppression, the dreary prison life, Rose’s own pain and the need to be free. At times I felt annoyed with her for being weak but she does grow in strength and character as her story develops and personally speaking, by the end I was wishing her well; after the life she had had I did feel she was due a well deserved break.
It is most definitely a psychological thriller to look out for; Ruth Dugdall has infiltrated Rose’s mind and laid bare the facts of her life so perfectly that is it entirely engrossing and fascinating and the shocker towards the end only serves to make this a book that will stay with you after you have read it.