How Can I Help You by Laura Sims

In a similar vein to Sims' first book, Looker, there is a slightly odd female character with dark undertones at the centre of the story, It is a tale about two women who find employment in a library by means of a new start. One used to be a nurse, but for reasons we merely suspect, had to leave the hospital, change her name and address and escape her past life. The other woman is giving up on her aspirations of being a novelist, so leaves her boyfriend and home in order to forge a new career.

​The story is told through the perspectives of the two women and it is interesting to see the same scene through different eyes. The former nurse is loud and flamboyant and revels in her new persona. The other woman has the sharp observational and research skills of a novelist and begins to watch her colleague in great detail. Both are great characters, as are the array of clientele who regularly frequent at the library, which is treated a bit like a homeless shelter as I imagine all libraries are to a certain extent.

The book is well written and shows a fascinating insight to the running of a library and the many roles it serves in the community. It is a rather creepy read as the characters are darkly likable in a warped obsessive way. An unusual psychological thriller; thoroughly enjoyable.

Published by Verve Books on 25 July 2024.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.