Review: Still Life by Joy Fielding

Casey Marshall is a successful interior designer, happily in love with her husband, with close and loving friends. She’s pretty sure she has the perfect happy life. But when a car slams into her at 50 miles an hour, Casey is left trapped in a comatose body, fully aware of what is happening all around her, but unable to communicate, see or move. All that is left is to listen, and by listening, Casey discovers that her life isn’t what she thought it was. She learns that someone wants her dead, and her accident wasn’t really an accident. She struggles to stay alive and begin her recovery; all while being certain that another attempt on her life will be made.

Joy Fielding has crafted a suspenseful novel in Still Life. I loved how the protagonist, even though mute, motionless and to all outwardly appearance manages to carry this story forward. The interplay between all the characters gives us the feeling of being the proverbial “fly on the wall”. The conversations and behaviors observed by Casey when others think she is essentially a “still life” carving of her, are telling. Casey’s friends and family are not what she has always believed them to be and during her extended coma, she comes to understand who her real friends are, and whom she can’t really trust.

The story is handled flawlessly. At first I thought the book would become dull, how long can a character remain comatose and still be an important part of a book, I wondered. I was quickly proven wrong, the book is a real page-turner and I found myself picking it up whenever I had even a few extra minutes to read. Pick up Still Life! If you enjoy a good suspense novel, you’ll love this one!

My rating: