Mary is married to Kal
Or at least this is what Kal tells her
She needs to get away, but she's pregnant
Mary hasn't left this cabin in over 10 years
She doesn't remember what her parents look like. She's not allowed to leave the cabin. She has to do the cooking and the cleaning
Mary isn't her real name. This is the name Kal gave to her. Mary needs to get away from Kal. If only he could lose interest in her. If only he could want someone else instead of her, she could possibly escape. She could possibly go and live her life without him
Kal is insane
Mary, you're not going anywhere

“The Woman in the Cabin” by Becca Day is a fast-paced, 4-star thriller! A flashback to 2016 kicks off the story as Gemma writes a letter expressing her fear that she might die that very night. Most of the book is told from Mary’s perspective as she lives in a secluded cabin with her husband, Cal. It’s far from a typical marriage, and Mary is deeply unhappy with the expectations placed upon her.

The story contains themes of mental and physical abuse, so readers with these triggers may want to steer clear. While the storyline isn’t entirely original, I felt the author brought a fresh and compelling spin to it. I was on the edge of my seat from the very beginning! The book dives deeply into Mary’s daily struggles, creating a vivid and emotional connection to her character. Packed with twists right up until the final pages, it kept me guessing. I’m excited to explore more works by Becca Day!

Thanks to Embla Books, Becca Day, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review.

Wow I loved how this story unraveled the further into the book you got. This was a page turner and as I was 9 months pregnant when I read this I identified with the pregnancy story line quite closely.

The Woman in the Cabin drew me in immediately, I just couldn't put it down. I read it in one sitting.
It was well written, full of suspense, mystery, and crazy twists.

If captivity/kidnapping thrillers are your thing, then you need to read this book. It's one of the best I've read in this sub-genre. I very highly recommend.

This is the second book I've read by Becca, the first being: The Secrets We Buried, which was also a great read.

5 well deserved stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley, Embla Books, and Becca Day for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was creepy in all the right ways. The more I got to know Cal and Mary, the more I was intrigued. I felt like I was following the day to day life of a couple you would see on the true crime documentaries. It felt wild, but even more so because it felt like it could have been true. Maybe I have watched too many of those show.
Mary is content leading a secluded life with her husband. She has a routine and she knows his by heart too. Until she starts wondering what else is out there, and who else. Is she being groomed and brainwashed? Or is she just lonely? Why does Cal lock everything and expect her to mind her own business while he is gone? What is he hiding? And then she finds out and all hell breaks loose.
There were many twists because the reader learns along with Mary. You can't help but take what happens to her personally and root her along as she uncovers more truths.

This kept my attention the entire time…suspenseful to the end. Yes, generally there was some predictability, but you knew that going in, didn’t you? There’s a woman in a cabin and there’s something up with her unique relationship with her husband, Cal. They met in Scotland and live remotely in the Highlands. Far away from…well, seemingly everything and everyone. What could go wrong?
There are some twists and turns I didn’t necessarily see coming. Fans of suspense and domestic thrillers will enjoy this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Embla Books for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

This was a gripping book! I couldn’t put it down and only did because I had homework to do 🙃 but I just had to know how it ended!

Mary and Cal seem like the perfect tradition married couple: woman stays home to tend to the house while the man goes out to earn their living. Only, nothing is normal. Everything is far from normal. Mary is not her real name, she’s not even his first Mary. She has no idea what happened to his first wife, who also happened to be called Mary. Between the cages, the beatings, the attempts to run away, an unexpected guest, Mary has to decide if she should attempt to run again or stay and live out her days in the role she’s been playing deep in a secluded cabin in the Scottish Highlands.

Twists towards the end had my heart pounding! I had no idea which way things would turn out!

This was written well, but unfortunately we have seen this plot many times before. I really liked the ending , which is why I rated it a 4.

Mary lives with her husband Cal in a secluded cabin in the Scottish Highlands. Their lives while simple seem to be perfect or is that just what Mary wants you to believe?

Turns out Cal abducted her years earlier - not a spoiler as it's made known in the synopsis.

Then Mary discovers she's pregnant and the stakes of her escaping become not only more perilous but imperative. She must save her child.

Will she succeed in her plans to escape a monster? You'll have to read this to find out.

Been there, done that in a million other stories. It's competently written just not really surprising in any way. My biggest problem was that I just didn't care about Mary which is really important to a story of this type. It took me days to get through this but in fairness my preoccupation with the election and the anxiety that comes along with it may have played a factor in my response. 3 stars!

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and Embla Books for my complimentary copy.</i>

Creepy setting, creepy husband, a woman trapped. It's unsettling and scary. Well written. A good read

This one was fun!

While I figured out the twisty bit way too early, it was still chilling and suspenseful.

I felt so much for these woman and really, really wanted them to get away from all this.

While there were times I wanted them (especially one) to just *do* something, I was still munching my popcorn (and chewing my nails with anxiety) through the read.

* ARC via Publisher

5 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

If I could give this 6 stars, I would. It's not a perfect book, but MY GOD was it a ride. A lot of my highlights and notes are all just "goddamn."

Mary is a good wife, the best wife, for Cal. He gets a made-from-scratch breakfast and dinner, his cabin is cleaned to perfection every day, his wife is always in the mood. But Mary is starting to remember life before the cabin...or maybe she never forgot.

I've never read a book so fast because I wanted to see how it turned out so badly. I loved Mary from the jump and rooted for her the entire time. I remember getting to what we were supposed to believe was the end and there was still 20% left in the book. I was so excited to see what was coming. I feel like as soon as we first saw Dr. Stewart, I wanted to shout HIS DOCTOR FRIEND OMFG.

Well done, Becca Day.

#TheWomanInTheCabin #NetGalley
A fun read.
Every day, in a remote cabin hidden deep in the woods in the Scottish Highlands, Mary wakes up before dawn to make breakfast from scratch. She tends the garden and feeds the animals. Every night, Mary makes sure she has dinner on the table for when her husband Cal gets home from work. She puts on his favourite lipstick and greets him with a smile. 'I've missed you.' It's not true and he knows it. But he likes to hear it all the same. Mary is the perfect wife and like any good wife she knows her job is to keep her husband happy. But lately as she notices her first wrinkles appear, she can sense Cal change. A scowl at dinner not being ready on time, a too tight grip as he leads her to the bedroom tells her he's noticed too. And old memories are coming back too, of her life before the cabin... Then she finds a stack of letters hidden under the floorboards detailing a life eerily similar to her own. They're addressed to her: 'To the next woman.'If she's not the first to play the role of Cal's perfect wife, what happened to the woman in the cabin before her? And how long does she have until she is next?
Loved it. It was a quick read although I figured out everything.
Thanks to NetGalley and Embla Books for giving me an advance copy.

Mary lives in a remote cabin with her husband, Cal. Cal expects Mary to be the "perfect wife". His vision of a perfect wife is very antiquated; dinner ready on the table when he gets home, not a hair out of place, and the cabin must be spotless.

Mary has no contact whatsoever with the outside world. She is a prisoner in her own home, yet she isn't locked in or chained up. Within the first couple of chapters, I found myself questioning why Mary is still there and hasn't left. Cal is a religious man who claims he's trying to protect Mary from the evils of the world.

I had soooo many questions. Does Mary's family know where she is? Did Mary willingly go live in the cabin with him? Is anyone looking for Mary? What really happened to the visitor at the cabin? I finally get answers to some of my questions at the beginning of Part 3.

This book was excellent; one of the best I've read in awhile. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review

Disturbing story of a kidnapped women who is physically and psychologically abused by her abductor. The story is slow moving until the very end and then the author inexplicably rushes through the remaining chapters. Trigger warning should come with the book

A dark and disturbing mystery about a young woman living an isolated life in the remote Scottish highlands. There were elements to the story I felt uncomfortable with and the latter chapters especially the ending seemed rushed.

The tensions in the narrative are established straight away and this reader was shouting for the protagonist to wake up and leave! There are twists and turns in the plot as you would expect for the genre. The reveals are unexpected yet make sense.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book

Her name is Mary. She lives a simple life in an isolated cabin, spending each day tending the garden, repairing leaks in the roof, making sure that dinner is hot on the table when her husband walks through the door. It's been ten years since she was anywhere else and her memories of life outside the cabin have faded. The world is dangerous and has nothing to offer her. Then she finds a bundle of letters tucked under a floorboard and realizes that she's not the first woman to have lived here with him. The writing kept me glued to the page even before the real plot twists started.

The Woman In The Cabin
By: Becca Day

5 Stars

Mary has spent years in captivity. In a marriage. Her husband, her captor, has them living in an isolated area in the Highlands. No neighbors, no way to escape. Mary has been the perfect wife, keeping the house spotless and food on the table, but now she has to get out. Things have changed. Her plan is in place. Now she just has to run.

Wow. This book was a grabber from start to finish. It was twisted and dark and thrilled me throughout. This book provided a storyline that will captivate you as well as haunt you. It was dark and disturbing, but it was written so well that I was enthralled. Mary is a very dynamic character in this story. The whole story was like a cat and mouse game, but you never know who is who. It was an amazing story of danger and survival. It kept me reading, and by the end, I was in shock and aww.


*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

The Woman in the Cabin by Becca Day
29 Oct
Written By Eliza Aiken
The anticipated new thriller by the author of The Girl Beyond the Gate has landed.

Write a prologue or not? That is the question. This prologue ignites the reading brain with unanswered questions and the reader in a state of confusion. You have to turn that page. Is the prologue necessary? I'll tell you at the end of the review.

I loved this fast-turning thriller, centred on the relationship between Cal and Mary. A compelling narrative takes the reader deep into warped relationships, how they shape an individual’s personality and how they justify the worst of behaviours to a fellow human being.

Multi-points of view provide a prism of life in an isolated cabin. The power that Cal has over women. They are moulded into his perfect visualisation of a wife. Obedient, dedicated to cleaning and caring for him. There is no love. The wife, Mary has no free will it has been drained from her, she has no agency, and her role is to satisfy Cal.

Becky Day weaves the threads of lives Cal has shaped, with dexterity with this Mary the spider caught in his web. We feel Mary’s pain and the women Cal has touched. Yet, we are aware that Cal is a damaged soul, his father a shadowy figure, whispers the abuse and hurt he showered upon Cal as a small child.

The twists and turns build with each chapter as we are given the pieces to solve the final puzzle. We shuffle through the nuggets given as facts. As the reader builds their conclusions using the facts we take as the truth. Why would the author lie to us?

The novel ends with hope before that point you have to live in Mary’s skin feel her pain as we realise that nothing is as you think it is. Making assumptions is as dangerous when reading this chilling thrill of a book as in real life.

The prologue is an integral part of the book. It is not an opening chapter. It allows the reader both a glimpse of what has happened before the start of the book and though we do not know it yet foresight.


The Woman in the Cabin by Becca Day published by Bonnier Books

By Here - Amazon Waterstones

Published October 23rd 2024, a gripping psychological thriller with surprising twists and turns. It is a compelling page-turner for the dark nights as winter approaches.