Jacqueline Bublitz

An extraordinary, unputdownable debut novel exploring trauma, connection, and our cultural obsession with dead girls.

Before You Knew My Name

ariah 

There is no name to be spoken, but I am recognised by each of the women present, clasped around their lifted hands, heayy on their hearts. I am their fears, and their lucky escapes, their anger, and their wariness. I am their caution and their yesterdays. the shadow version of themselves all those nights they have spent looking over shoulders, or twining keys between fingers. 

Ruby feels anger coursing through her like fuel. Ash inviting her to his wedding while she could still taste herself on his mouth was a deliberate severing, a way to turn their connection to string. To reach for her body while pushing away her thoughts, her feelings, her heart, was cold and calculated. 

JACQUELINE. BUBLITZ

Dead girls don't usually get to tell their story, but Alice Lee has always been different. When she arrived in New York on her 18th birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city's latest Jane Doe, an unidentified murder victim. Ruby Jones is also trying to start over; she travelled halfway around the world only to find herself lonelier than ever. Until she finds Alice Lee's body by the Hudson River. From this first, devastating encounter, the two women form an unbreakable bond. Stuck somewhere between life and death, Alice is sure that Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her life - and death. And Ruby - struggling to forget what she saw that morning - finds herself unable to let Alice go. Not until she is given the ending she deserves. Before You Knew My Name is about what happens to a woman's story - to her life - when it is cut short by a deliberate act of violence. Instead of asking whodunnit, this powerful, hopeful novel asks: Who was she? And what did she leave behind? The answers might surprise you.

I wasn't immediately taken with the story, but as I continued reading I became fascinated with Alice and Ruby and the events that tied them together. The narrative perspective is a genius idea I've not seen in many other books. The story makes you stop and wonder about many things from different ideas around death to what it really means to be a woman in today's society. 

Betty

I think my main issue with this book stems from the fact that I was expecting something else, which means it's only my fault that I didn't love it in a sense that I didn't find what I was looking for in it. The frame narrative structure made it a little confusing at the beginning, but eventually I found my way through it, and realised I could disassociate completely for three pages and it would still make sense. This made it simple to read but the lack of suspense and action in the plot slowed it down. I could definitely see someone really enjoying this but personally, it's not something I could definitively say that I loved. 

Elin

An extraordinary, unputdownable debut novel exploring trauma, connection, and our cultural obsession with dead girls. 'Beautiful, brilliant and strangely joyous ... will have you in its thrall from its powerful first page to its superb conclusion.' Rose Carlyle, author of Girl in the Mirror 'Addictive and utterly captivating. I couldn't put it down.' Sarah Bailey, author of Where the Dead Go 'This astonishing debut turns the traditional crime story on its head ... Darkly funny, deeply insightful and completely heartbreaking.' Petronella McGovern, author of Six Minutes 'The most wonderful book. Unusual, beautiful, feminist, gripping, deserves to win prizes. I loved it so much.' Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups This is not just another novel about a dead girl. When she arrived in New York on her 18th birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city's latest Jane Doe, an unidentified murder victim. Ruby Jones is also trying to start over; she travelled halfway around the world only to find herself lonelier than ever. Until she finds Alice's body by the Hudson River. From this first, devastating encounter, the two women form an unbreakable bond. Alice is sure that Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her life - and death. And Ruby - struggling to forget what she saw that morning - finds herself unable to let Alice go. Not until she is given the ending she deserves. Before You Knew My Name doesn't ask whodunnit. Instead, this powerful, hopeful novel asks: Who was she? And what did she leave behind? The answers might surprise you. 'A wake-up call, beautifully written and unique feminist exploration of the crime fiction genre.' R.W.R. McDonald, author of The Nancys 'Unpredictable, devastating and original ... marks the arrival of a compelling new voice ... Thought-provoking and challenging.' Karen Viggers, author of The Lightkeeper's Wife 'Beguiling, heartbreaking and tender. Jacqueline Bublitz is a beautiful writer and in Alice Lee, she has created a vivid and sparkling narrator who mesmerised me from the very first page and still won't let me go.' Suzanne Leal, author of The Teacher's Secret 'An unputdownable debut - striking, moving, gripping throughout and so sharp on the things that unite us.' Elizabeth Kay, author of Seven Lies

Rhiannon Steers

Sandi 

'The most wonderful book. Unusual, beautiful, feminist, gripping, deserves to win prizes. I loved it so much.' Marian Keyes 'A brave and timely novel which will fuel the debate on women's rights to walk safely through our streets. I raced through the pages, anxious for resolution, yet at the same time not wanting this beautiful writing to finish.' Clare Mackintosh This is not just another novel about a dead girl. When she arrived in New York on her 18th birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city's latest Jane Doe, an unidentified murder victim. Ruby Jones is also trying to start over; she travelled halfway around the world only to find herself lonelier than ever. Until she finds Alice Lee's body by the Hudson River. From this first, devastating encounter, the two women form an unbreakable bond. Alice is sure that Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her life - and death. And Ruby - struggling to forget what she saw that morning - finds herself unable to let Alice go. Not until she is given the ending she deserves. Before You Knew My Name doesn't ask whodunnit. Instead, this powerful, hopeful novel asks: Who was she? And what did she leave behind? The answers might surprise you. 'An exquisitely written, absolutely devastating novel, which gives a voice to all the women who never made it home.' Red 'I fell head over heels in love with this heartbreaking, beautiful and hugely important novel. Jacqueline Bublitz's prose is luminous and the up-all-night, just-one-more-page plot is brilliantly clever and original. Everyone should read this book.' Rosie Walsh, author of The Man Who Didn't Call 'A really remarkable book - so fresh and original. I've never read anything quite like this.' Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us 'I was mesmerised by this exquisitely written, heartbreaking, lyrical story of friendship from beyond the grave.' Jane Corry, author of My Husband's Wife

Before You Knew My Name

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