Behind Her Eyes

Behind Her Eyes, a psychological thriller, was written by Sarah Pinborough and published in 2017. The book has sold over 1 million copies worldwide and was adapted for a TV series by Netflix. While clearly a best seller, there is great divergence of opinion on the book’s very unexpected twist at the end, with the publishers using the hashtag #WTFThatEnding to promote the book.

Plot Summary

Louise is a single mother living in London and working as a receptionist in a psychiatry practice. One night she meets a handsome man, David, in a bar and they kiss. The next day she realizes he is her new boss and hides from him and his wife as they tour the new workplace. Louise and David’s wife, Adele, accidentally meet outside work and become friends. Adele seems sweet and kind to Louise and the two get closer. Meanwhile, David visits Louise in her flat and they become lovers. Adele and Louise are both sufferers of night terrors and Adele teaches Louise how to control these through lucid dreaming techniques. Louise starts to suspect that David is controlling and even physically abusing Adele, and she confronts him. He denies this but tells her to keep away from them both.

Meanwhile, Adele’s past is revealed in chapters containing flashbacks. Her wealthy parents died in a fire at their Scottish estate, but David saved Adele. She spent time in a psychiatric hospital where she became close to Rob, a funny and irreverent heroin user. When the two were released, Rob visited Adele and David at the Scottish estate.

Back in the present, Louise, intrigued and worried by Adele and David’s behavior, investigates Rob’s fate, and the couple’s past. She learns the art of astral projection, following instructions in a notebook Adele lent to her. Adele continues to pursue their friendship, but Louise is increasingly suspicious and concludes that Adele and David killed Rob in Scotland. She writes a letter to the police detective investigating Rob’s disappearance, but David convinces her he didn’t kill Rob. David goes to Scotland to talk to the police.

In the meantime, Louise questions Adele about Rob, but Adele denies killing him. Adele sets a trap for Louise to come to her house, which is on fire, and try to rescue her. Through astral projection, the two exchange bodies, but Louise, in Adele’s body, dies. Louise/Adele meets David on his return, and they stay together and get married. A final flashback reveals that Rob, after taking over Adele’s body in Scotland, is now in Louise’s body; Adele in the present has actually been Rob throughout the entire book. The only character still living who suspects that Louise/Rob is not really Louise is her six-year-old son Adam. Adam’s life is in danger as Louise/Rob plans to get rid of him so she can have David to herself without any lingering suspicion.