If you go down to the woods today…
Local author Sarah Govett’s new thriller, Believe, has just been released. Pippa Duncan chatted to her about setting her thriller in East Sheen
It’s kind of strange to read a novel – especially a thriller – when you know all the local spots mentioned. A late-night walk in Sheen Woods? No thanks.
Sarah Govett’s new novel, Believe, is a fast-paced thriller written in a style that you can only that makes you feel like you’re running, ratcheting up the pressure, page by page.
Natalie, a lawyer, has finally found peace in her quiet life, working from home life with husband, Ryan, a man who helped her heal after the nightmare of being raped by her boss ten years ago. But that fragile peace is shattered when Ryan is accused of the same horrific crime. DI Helen Stratton, still tormented by the unexplained disappearance of her sister, will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. And just as the investigation intensifies, the accuser is found dead.
In her new thriller, Govett wanted Natalie’s faith, her way of viewing the world, to be destroyed. ‘She’s always believed in justice, so when her attacker is found not guilty, that shatters her belief system.’
It means she relies heavily on her husband and then to have him accused of the very same crime, by a young, beautiful woman at his work, places her in an impossible position.’ She feels she should believe the woman as no one believed her, but how can she not believe her husband? Both Natalie and Stratton are written in the first person, with the chapters quickly switching from one to the other: ‘I like that kind of communication with your reader because you can convey your character’s thoughts and feelings in a very flawed, unfiltered way.’
Govett is also the author of the Young Adult dystopian trilogy, The Territory, as well as other YA titles and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2023 sci-fi thriller, T.I.M. with her husband. She read Law at Oxford, but set up a tutoring agency, when she decided law wasn’t for her. After the birth of first child, she started writing her first novel in between her baby’s naps. But, her baby was ‘a rubbish sleeper, so it took two years!’.
She loved writing about her local area: ‘It was such fun! I walk in Sheen Woods probably three times a week, so I could walk along this path, thinking “that’s where she would be found, and this what you’d see if you find her there.” I really just liked the juxtaposition of murder with leafy parks and lovely houses, the two fitting uneasily side-by-side.’
Believe has been optioned for TV by the makers of The Missing and Govett has already written a follow-up. Believe me, you’ll be waiting at the bookshop door for it.
Believe is out now in hardback in local bookshops, Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda and Amazon.
Find out about other local people here.