All You Ever Wanted

Product Information

When a kind stranger brings their missing cat home, It’s the start of a new friendship. Anna is a confidant who gives great advice. A person who brings supportive calm to Emily’s busy days. A friend who becomes part of the family.

Now, as a novelist, I’m doing my dream job, but if I wasn’t an author, I’d be a chef. There’s a wonderful camaraderie in a commercial kitchen, and cooking with other people can be great fun, but professional cooking is hugely physically demanding and sadly, I no longer have the stamina. I loved cooking professionally, and I still miss it, though I remain passionate about cooking at home. Emily keeps getting a sense she is being watched but her husband Simon brushes her off. When her cat goes missing after a couple of weeks of displaying flyers she receives a call from Anna who insists it’s no trouble she will drop the cat off.

For most of my life, I’ve managed to avoid a full-time ‘proper job’, although after leaving school I did put in five years as a civil servant – talk about a misspent youth! Since then, I’ve been a cleaner, barmaid, washer-up, market researcher, cake decorator, FE English tutor, chef, freelance journalist, features editor, non-fiction author and creative writing tutor.

I absolutely love Susan Elliot Wright's novels and so was thrilled to have the opportunity to read this advance copy. All You Ever Wanted is a change of genre for the author as it's more of a psychological thriller and it took me a while to get used to the author writing in this genre. Emily is a thirty something teacher, struggling with balancing working part time. looking after her 1 year old daughter Bonnie and living with a growing sense of paranoia regarding both her husband's fidelity and a sense of being watched. She has a challenging relationship with her adoptive mother and has felt increasingly isolated from her old friends since marrying her husband Simon. When Anna comes into her life she appears to be just what Emily needs - a friend and someone to support her with childcare. Anna is certainly a character that the reader will feel sorry for and her actions are clearly as a result of the trauma and rejection she has faced. With her taut writing and immaculate pacing, Susan Elliot Wright has created a dark and sinister tale of toxic family relationships, full of secrets and lies, layered with a perfect example of the smothering isolation felt by so many new mothers. I was utterly gripped from start to finish.' Lisa Hall, author of The Woman in the Woods Anna arrives on Emily's doorstep to return their missing cat, she's seen the posters and phoned to arrange to bring Oscar home. There's an immediate bond between the two women, especially as Emily's old friends have drifted off since Bonnie was born, and it's not long before they are meeting for coffee and lunch, and Anna becomes something of a confidante to Emily. Dark and sinister, this creepy psychological thriller has it all. Gripping throughout, it has a satisfying and jaw-dropping ending’ My WeeklyThis psychological thriller is compelling, suspenseful, chilling and compulsively readable. Both Emily and Anna are complicated women who elicit feelings of sympathy, frustration and anger from the reader. Simon and Emily’s mother are also well described characters. This is a 5 star read!

An unnerving, suspenseful study of what it truly means to mother and build family ties. Susan creates an authentic and compelling picture of the many facets of a woman’s inner world. The way she portrays motherhood and the responsibility of care is timely, compassionate and honest. I devoured it!’ Amy Heydenrych, author of Chasing Marian A gripping blend of creepy psychological suspense and powerful domestic drama. Elliot-Wright uses her insight into human nature and her storytelling skills to thrilling effect." - T J Emerson As Simon seems to carry on with normal life, working late, going for drinks, meeting friends. Emily tries to cram her working life into three days, whilst also doing most of the child care.

Featured Reviews

Emily is a new mother, she's struggling with feelings of low self-worth, questioning herself. She often feels paranoid, as though someone is watching her. Whilst her marriage does appear strong and loving, she's never really forgiven herself, or her husband Simon about how their relationship began. Emily doesn't have the greatest relationship with her own mother, and determined that her daughter Bonnie will not feel the same way about her. In the second part of the novel the narrative switches and the reader starts to realise exactly who Anna was and the lengths she was prepared to go to so she could get what she wanted. There wasn’t that much focus on her but I found it just enough. I could see her determination, but also her weakness and her loneliness. The contract between Anna and Emily is very interesting and introduces some moral questions for the reader to consider. Anna's life has been one of struggle, rejection and loneliness whereas Emily seems to have a dream life and it does encourage you to question whether you should feel sympathy for her or whether she is ungrateful. I personally felt quite a lot of sympathy for Emily as a character considering the difficulties she faces as a young mum and overworked teacher coupled with the relationship with her husband, who I felt was quite unlikeable. With her taut writing and immaculate pacing, Susan Elliot Wright has created a dark and sinister tale of toxic family relationships, full of secrets and lies, layered with a perfect example of the smothering isolation felt by so many new mothers. I was utterly gripped from start to finish." - Lisa Hall

Most of the novel was told by Emily’s point of view. Her concerns over her job, made worse by her marriage to Simon, who worked in the same school. Her guilt about drinking too much whilst accepting that it helped her cope. She becomes increasingly reliant on Anna, not realising that little was as it seemed. I wasn’t that keen on her until I got to know more about Anna. A gripping blend of creepy psychological suspense and powerful domestic drama. Elliot-Wright uses her insight into human nature and her storytelling skills to thrilling effect.' T J Emerson, author of The Perfect HolidayDark and sinister, this creepy psychological thriller has it all. Gripping throughout, it has a satisfying and jaw-dropping ending' My Weekly On first meeting Emily senses they may have met before, Anna smiles in the Hope something twigs but gets nothing. They form easy chatter and the next thing they are meeting up and having lunch. I have been a fan of this author for many. years and have read every book that she's written. It's always a joy to delve into the latest offering from her and this one really doesn't disappoint. It feels a little different from her previous novels, darker and tenser, but oh so so good. A gripping blend of creepy psychological suspense and powerful domestic drama. Elliot Wright uses her insight into human nature and her storytelling skills to thrilling effect.’T J Emerson, author of The Perfect Holiday