A murderous pact between strangers that swiftly subverts expectations, Craig’s gripping novel blends edge-of-the-seat thrills with razor-sharp satire to ensnare the reader on the very first page.
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021
When Hannah is invited into the First-Class carriage of the London to Penzance train by Jinni, she walks into a spider's web. Now a poor young single mother, Hannah once escaped Cornwall to go to university. But once she married Jake and had his child, her dreams were crushed into bitter disillusion. Her husband has left her for Eve, rich and childless, and Hannah has been surviving by becoming a cleaner in London. Jinni is equally angry and bitter, and in the course of their journey the two women agree to murder each other's husbands. After all, they are strangers on a train - who could possibly connect them?
But when Hannah goes to Jinni's husband's home the next night, she finds Stan, a huge, hairy, ugly drunk who has his own problems - not least the care of a half-ruined house and garden. He claims Jinni is a very different person to the one who has persuaded Hannah to commit a terrible crime. Who is telling the truth - and who is the real victim?
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN: 9780349143484
Number of pages: 400
Weight: 320 g
Dimensions: 196 x 126 x 28 mm
A highly enjoyable story about female resilience and finding fulfilment on your own terms, with a twist that is all the more compelling for its unexpectedness - Sunday Times
An irresistible summer read: a rollicking plot, a heroine who is more than a match for anything the author throws at her and meaty social issues - Guardian Book of the Day
The plot becomes so gripping - the sort of story where you want to pull the heroine out of the pages away from danger - The Times
A typically sharp and hugely satisfying page-turner about two women who decide to murder each other's husbands - Daily Mail
Such an interesting read! . . . A story of lies - and learning that people aren't always who they appear to be - Nina Pottell, Prima
A pacy state-of-the-nation drama that tackles issues from domestic abuse to workplace harassment, gentrification to the gig economy - Mail on Sunday
Clever and compelling, The Golden Rule is a modern mash-up of Rebecca and Strangers on a Train - Red
The Golden Rule does what her novels do best, wrapping the reader in a tight, lean narrative, showing the strangeness that lies at the heart of normal-seeming lives - Observer
An acute and passionate observer of society in both town and country, and among rich and poor. She is harrowingly good at portraying the corrosive effects of poverty, particularly on vulnerable women with children to protect. Her prose is a delight...Best of all, Craig has the knack of creating interesting characters and of making one care about what lies in store for them. If you can do that, nothing else really matters - Andrew Taylor, Spectator
Perceptive and wise, particularly on the ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor - Independent
She's such a skilful storyteller who vividly dramatises our lives with wit, wisdom and compassion
Strangers on a Train meets #MeToo - Sunday Times
Craig's ninth novel is one of her best. A clever take on Beauty and the Beast and Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train, it is also an astute commentary on life in Cornwall and the widening gap between the city rich and rural poor - The i
Addictive . . . a wide-ranging, incisive portrait of contemporary Britain - Independent
We reckon this cracker of a novel about the "haves" and the "have-nots" will whip you into a page-turning frenzy - Sunday Post
If you like your novels wide-ranging, ambitious, socially panoramic, and engaged in the most important issues of the day, Amanda Craig is the writer for you. For more than twenty years now she has been anatomising the state of the British nation with wit and empathy
I just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed The Golden Rule - evening reading that I looked forward to for days. Such a strong narrative, constantly taking you by surprise, persuasive setting, Hannah a sympathetic central figure - and the clash between different lifestyles. Very much a novel of our times - Penelope Lively
I really enjoyed The Golden Rule. I still love novels that have proper, well-constructed plots and Amanda Craig is a delicious storyteller - Rose Tremain
A tight, lean thriller about two women who decide to murder each other's husbands. Dotted throughout are Craig's acute observations of society, in particular the corrosive effects of poverty. Yet this skilful storyteller is never preachy. We are swept along because of her knack of creating characters we care about. Only on closing the book do we realise we've not just been entertained but made to think too - Rachel Kelly, The Tablet
Two strangers met on a train and make a pact to kill each other’s husbands. Will they reach their goal to keep their promises, that is for you to find out when you are reading this quite unusual and at the same time... More
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
When Hannah's marriage breaks down and her husband leaves her for the mysterious Eve she struggles with no career to support herself and daughter Maisie.
Jake her husband has...
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A new Amanda Craig novel is always an anticipated treat. She balances her fascination with Family and with Nation by addressing important issues through the creation of her memorable, imperfect and usually very real... More
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