Exhibit Alexandra by Natasha Bell
This complex novel covers themes of love, family and lost ambition. Marc and Alex, a clever, smart creative artist, fall in love, marry and have children, seemingly a perfect happy relationship.
The book begins with the disappearance of Alex, Marc is devastated and the Police begin an investigation. The past and present are narrated unusually, by Alex, who seems to be held by an abductor. She sees the effect of her disappearance on the family and most especially on Marc. The Police investigation finds out things about Alex, that leads Marc to realise she is really not the woman who he thinks she is. Frustrated by the slowness of the police investigation, Marc searches the house and finds letters from Alex to an artist friend in America, which shows how limited Alex feels her life with Marc is.. Art is Alex’s passion and being a wife and Mother has robbed her, she feels, of fulfilling her potential. At times I did feel a bit lectured by these sections dealing with the ideas and meaning of installation art! This book questions what you need from your life and how far you will go to get it.
Marc and the children find it hard to move on, as Alex’s disappearance is totally unexplained and unresolved, and you feel a lot of sympathy for them, and the book is a refreshing take on a psychological thriller, although I was a bit disappointed in the ending. On the positive side it does get under the skin, and I think the story explores these themes very well, and is assuredly written, although I didn’t quite get involved with the character of Alex myself, I would recommend it.

Psychological suspense from beginning to end.

This novel holds a third person narrative, as Alex describes how she thinks her husband Marc and two girls are reacting to her tragic disappearance.

The book was a page-turner as I wanted to discover more about what happens to her as the narrative switches between Marc’s life with her current missing status, her captors’ interactions, the developing story of her marriage from when they met to the present day and letters from her college roommate, Amelia.

The reason I give this book 4 stars is, unlike most thrillers, this story doesn’t provide many clues throughout the story for the reader to try and piece together what may have happened. However, the unexpected ending which pieced together all of the information discovered by Marc throughout the story made it worth the wait.

I really enjoyed the concept of the novel in the way that Alex was telling Marc’s story in her own opinion, which kept me engaged throughout. Bell is also effective in addressing some social issues associated with being a mother.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a suspense novel which will keep you desperate to read on.

Lucy

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Wow! Where to start...? A very interesting book, great concept and very well-written.
Certainly provoked me to investigate the performance art referenced throughout. The book is aimed, I'd say, primarily at women and covers many of the issues educated, talented and capable women face in today's 'have it all' culture. But, is of interest to anyone with an interest in, or a view on, modern feminism, relationships, art and 'the family'.
I loved this almost all the way through and the ending is well done - but I left with a rather odd disappointment with 'art', for some reason... Just slightly odd. I think some people, (especially women?) may struggle to understand the motives here but it certainly demands that you think about them and maybe think differently.
I recommend it, but suspect some people may hate it! Which can't be a bad thing?!

A very clever and well put together story which kept me guessing up until the end. The whole idea and its execution is really well done. I could not identify with the main character at all. I thought she was so selfish. I could not understand her reasoning and her actions. That lessened my enjoyment of the book but overall it is a good read.

I’ve been trying to read this book for several days now and keep getting side tracked into reading something else. The style is pleasant but the storyline is not gripping. In some ways it is too familiar - someone goes missing. They are being held by an unknown person in a basement/locked room. The food is bad. The family are worried especially the young children and the husband finds it difficult to cope.

Can I be bothered to read further? I got as far as 23% and still not gripped.

They say it isn't like any other missing woman thriller but I was not convinced enough to carry on.

This is a well written book and while the plot is good I found the storytelling to be all over the place. We had several past and present timelines and in that all, the main character told the story of her husband and children's lives without her. Just a bit confusing. I did understand enough to enjoy most of the story and would recommend going into read the book with your thinking caps on!

This is a strange book to review without spoilers but rest assured there are none here. Alexandra and Marc have the perfect life and the perfect marriage and the book is written from Alexandra's viewpoint despite the fact she has gone missing. The police find her belongings and launch a murder investigation. Marc refuses to believe that Alex is dead and we know she isn't because the book is being written by her. We see her reaction to the emotional appeals of her husband on television and the way she is being held. This is a deep and complex book and not a gratuitous "missing woman" narrative. It is well written and I was thinking about it long after I finished the book - is there a higher accolade?

So why only three stars - ultimately I felt let down and challenged by the ending - which I assume was the author's intention? But I couldn't warm to the characters except for Marc and somehow I felt cheated by the conclusion - not in the way that it didn't deliver but in the way that the delivery was a challenge for my reading of the book... it is hard to explain so I suggest you read it. I will certainly read the next offering from this author. I recommend it if you are slightly bored by the current thriller scene and want something that will leave you questioning. It's the sort of thing you want to read with a friend so you can discuss it and ideal for a book group because of that.

I was given a copy of the book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Wow this was such a unique read! When I first started reading this, I was so confused. I’ve been pretty behind on my NetGalley reading so I’ve been going into a lot of my e-ARC’s without re-reading the blurbs and just going in blind which is what I did here. I did have to go back and read the blurb and I do have to point out here that this is told from Alexandra’s POV and she’s also the character which has gone missing.
As said above, this was such a unique read; all we know going into this is that Alex is missing and is being held in a room against her will. We follow the story of her husband (Marc) and her kids as they struggle to live life with her gone and as her husband starts discovering that maybe he didn’t know his wife as well as he thought as he deals with trying to figure where she’s gone and why. He’s adamant that she’s been taken and wouldn’t just leave but he struggles to convince the police of this and just keeps digging and digging. Obviously, this is all just conjecture as it’s being told from Alex’s POV who, as mentioned, is being held in a room so she actually really has no idea of what’s going on with her husband and kids. We get reminders every now and then where her captor asks her questions about her life and shows her police appeals on her disappearance which I thought were great. It was so easy to just forget that Alex was telling this story, so these little conversations were so useful to remind you.
I really enjoyed the plot and twist of the book and although I never really had much interest in art, this made it so interesting to read about and showed me a completely different side that I never really considered. Especially when you learn that most of the work that is featured in the book is actually based on real life works. The way this is told is meant to deceive you and I loved that, I started to work out what happened maybe half way through the book but because of how the story is told, you do second guess yourself and I loved that.
I really enjoyed that this wasn’t just the story of Marc of trying to find Alex and included quite a lot of a police procedural which I do really enjoy. It was nice that it wasn’t told from the police side either and we got to see it all from ‘Marcs’ POV as he has to deal with the police questioning his every move on the day of Alex’s disappearance, dealing with them digging into all their personal life and also the intricacies of putting together a missing person appeal.
I 100% would recommend picking this up; it’s a very unique read that I loved and just found that I couldn’t put it down. And like I said, I had no interest in Art but this made me so intrigued and presented in such a different way but not in a way that shoved it down your throat made you enjoy it. It’s a very interesting spin on a psychological thriller mixed with some police procedural and I highly recommend picking this up!

Wow, I found this a cleverly written story which I thoroughly enjoyed. The technique of using Alex's narrative was sometimes a little confusing and I had to remind myself that it was her telling of the story, and I really felt for Marc and their daughters as the outcome became clear. I found Alex to be a selfish and totally unlikable character and was delighted with the way Marc finally dealt with her. Highly recommended.

Alexandra Southwood – wife of Marc, mother to Lizzie and Charlotte, part-time lecturer in art – has disappeared. The usual things happen – the police investigate, her family worry. Unusually, these events are recounted by Alex herself. But of course, Alex isn’t actually there to observe... because she’s disappeared, and there’s some evidence that she has done so under violent circumstances.

Writing that just then reminded me of The Lovely Bones, where the story is narrated from beyond the grave by a murder victim. But that is not what we have here - Alex is very much alive, and we are given snippets of what she is currently experiencing - apparently as a captive somewhere - along with her account of the reactions of others to her disappearance.

Alongside this narrative are letters gathered over the years from Alex’s old friend Amelia Heldt, a New York-based conceptual artist who can’t quite comprehend her friend’s apparent retreat into marriage, motherhood and academia.

As Marc deals with the loss of his wife, there is increasing evidence that Alex was not, perhaps, all she seemed – or all he believed her to be.

So far, so intriguing.

The promotion for Exhibit Alexandra describes it as “unlike any other thriller you’ve read”, and that’s probably true – the central concept is certainly original.

I did start to get a fairly vague inkling quite early on of what might be happening – and a slightly more developed one a bit later – but although I kind of got the basics I certainly couldn’t fill in the details until much later, and some things were a complete surprise.

I did wonder whether Alex could be described as an unreliable narrator - certainly she does not tell the whole story, but on the whole I think she plays fair with the reader.

The digressions into the often challenging work of certain artists are fascinating – I hadn’t heard of most of them and had to look them up to confirm whether they were in fact real people (they are – mostly).

Exhibit Alexandra both tells a compelling story and poses some intriguing and endlessly debatable questions about art and life, identity and ethics. A fascinating read.

This is a stroke of genius in so many ways, and it throws up some interesting questions about ethics and morality. Also about what society expects from women.

Should art be cruel? Are artists allowed free license to create any piece of work they consider to be art? Even if it causes another person pain?

What shines through without any question is the egomaniacal mindset of the performance artist. Where no betrayal, emotion or action is safe from the narcissistic personality of such an artist.

To be quite frank I’m not sure whether the artist or the audiences who lap these so-called performances up are worse. It is all so en vogue, pretentious and the emperor’s new clothes.

Events or performance art such as a bunch of naked people playing tag in a concentration camp gas chamber. Rhythm 0 by Marina Abramović, a performance during which she placed a rose, a feather, a knife, a gun, and more in front of her. Visitors were invited to poke, prod or do anything they liked to her with the objects. Towards the end of the day the interactions became more violent, she and her clothes were cut and someone even put the gun to her head. Or Mao Sugiyama who underwent elective surgery to remove his genitals, then had them cooked and served at a so-called upscale dinner party. Five paying guests were then allowed to taste them.

These are just a few examples, and regardless of what the artist says their intention is, the convoluted inspiration and the supposed results at the end of the art exhibit, some people think it is a step too far. I count myself as one of those people, especially when you have to hurt others to make your point. Not all performance art is art, the majority of it is just inflated egos seeking attention and wanting to be noticed by the masses.

Alexandra does what is expected of her. She is the doting mother and wife, and does everything to make everyone else happy. She does what most women do, she takes a step back when it comes to her own desires, so her husband can succeed in his career. Society expects it and Marc expects it too.

Her need for the extreme outlet isn’t entirely hidden, she makes really crass decisions and has no problem crossing boundaries, because she doesn’t think there are any. If she did those things with my daughters, even as a friend I wouldn’t have any qualms about calling the police or social services. Apparently the rules don’t apply to Alex, which is probably one of reasons she ends up gone. She puts herself into dangerous situations, and yet never expects any consequences.

I enjoyed the conundrum this story represents, and the discussions it will generate.

Bell isn’t afraid to confront her readers with the ugly truth. Personally I think the premise and the title are extremely clever, in fact the connection between the two didn’t even dawn on me till I had read quite a bit of the story. It’s an accusation and a dissection of society at the same time. What lengths will we go to entertain and to be entertained? Where is the cut-off point? When does exhibition equate to entertainment, and when is it a crime?

This is an innovative read, a cruel read, but it is also an eye-opener.

Cleverly woven from the point of view of a missing woman and her distraught husband, this novel runs at quite a slow pace with discussions of modern art which were a little distracting. This was an interesting read with a predictable twist at the end. My thanks to Net Galley and the author for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the premise of this book and agree that it's not your usual thriller but, saying that, it was a little slow.
I enjoyed the story and I do think the plotline was quite clever. However, I think the pace could have been quicker and the same conclusion reached sooner.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, for a copy to review.
Is Exhibit Alexandra no ordinary psychological thriller as claimed in the blurb? Well the answer appears to be how you interpret the blurb. It is certainly not like any thriller i have previously read but is the plot more than ordinary ? I'd say no.
I think this is one of those books you love or you hate. I - being a very impatient individual get frustrated when obvious questions aren't asked. When witnesses obfuscate and no one pushes back. When you don't get everyones thoughts and reasons. But it is well written and the prose is clear and albeit the structure is jumbled but the chapter headings help.

This story had me hooked from the start. Never quite sure where it was going with lots of twists. All the characters seemed to be average ordinary people but the story was never that. Excellent read.

I feel like i should give this book a really long review but in all honesty, it doesn't need it, it's a brilliant, dark, incredible page turner.

This is a thriller with a difference which will be hard to review without spoilers and clues. In February 2013 Marc Southwood discovers his wife, Alex is missing. It has a nightmarish quality as the police become involved in the search and some of Alex's possessions are found. While Marc agonises whether his wife is still alive or dead he tries to keep his life on track for the sake of the children. The reader knows she's alive but it's obscure at first. As we plunge back into her life and youth I'm apt to think she's an odd-ball even allowing for individualism and originality. As she secretly observes Marc's pain at losing her she seems to perceives him as a weak, pathetic drip. It's as though she's sneering at him. She can't cope with normal - not cut out to be the perfect wife & mother or the humdrum of married life. She's an unbelievably selfish, spoilt brat who can't mature or conform to the norm. Thought-provoking and apt to make you feel judgemental and I felt very angry with Alex for making so many people suffer. Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin UK Michael Joseph.

Alexandra Southwood has vanished and all the police can find are a few possessions and enough blood to indicate she is dead. This is next to a river so the investigators dredge the river. No body. However, the reader knows she is alive from the narrative, which is from her viewpoint. One of the more quirky aspects is her analysis of how her husband and two young daughters will be feeling as they come to terms with it all.

Her husband, Marc, does not believe she is dead and makes this clear to the police. He begins his search into her last movements and follows his heart to try and find her.

This is a carefully plotted story with twists and turns along the way. You never know what goes on inside somebody’s head and within any relationship.

This is not a typical ‘missing person’ novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK – Michael Joseph and Natasha Bell for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Great Read. Recommended.

I enjoyed this book not least because I learned a lot about the art world and it’s always good to expand your knowledge while reading a fiction book. I found the first part of the book very confusing and nearly gave up but it got better and clearer after about 25%. Some readers may not have struggled as long as I did and then given a poor review, which would be a shame as the story got considerably better as the book progressed. Did I like the characters? No but that shouldn’t get in the way of a good, well plotted story.

This is billed as "no ordinary psychological thriller". I don't know if I'd go that far. We do know that from the moment Alexandra goes missing she is alive and being held captive by a man. But is this true? From the stories we discover about her mysterious friend Amelia, we are left with so many questions. Even more than her poor husband Marc, who has taken their life, marriage and family at face value. Something awful must have happened. And then speaking to their friend Fran, Marc begins to see his wife may not have been so happy. He doesn't trust the police investigation and begins his own. Who will find the missing Alexandra first? I didn't see the ending coming, although I had imagined a variant of it for most of the book. The feeling I was left with was anger. To say more would require a spoiler alert!