Before You Knew My Name

  ‘'Maybe the people who appear brave are merely doing the thing they have to do. It's not a matter of courage, then, to pack up and leave a life. Just a lack of any other option, and the sudden realisation you probably don't have anything left to lose.''
A young woman comes to New York, leaving family tragedies and love troubles behind. The same choice is made by an Australian woman, perplexed by a relationship that leads nowhere. Both believe that the Big Apple is the land of second chances, the place to close the book and start another. No one could have imagined that a murder will unite them in the most tragic and definite way. New York is the City that Never Sleeps but what may happen to the ones who share her vigil?
‘'I'm about to happen to her.''
I don't read Thrillers. At all. They give me no literary, mental or cultural satisfaction, and apart from British classic gems of the genre, I have no interest in finding out ‘'who has done it.'' But I have a terribly soft spot for New York and Bublitz's novel is far from a ‘'simple'' thriller. It is a Literary/Psychological Mystery at its best. A journey to New York, its shiny rooftops, its cozy corners, its dark alleys and the rocks by the Hudson. It is a testimony to the dangers that surround women every step of the way, it is a cry for all of us who are afraid to walk alone in the dark, to dress as we see fit, who change wagons in trains, who avoid buses because there will always be men who are vultures, monsters lurking and waiting to satisfy their abominable hunger for control and destruction. It is a voice against the anonymity that escorts thousands of victims around the world, women that no one ever cared about, a multitude of rapes and murders that have gone undiscovered, unsolved, unpunished.
Although I could do without Ruby's constant pining for an idiot, I understand that love (or what some call ‘Love') is a powerful force that can lead us to strange choices. Who knows what is in store for us? Apart from those moments of sentimentality, this novel must be read by women and men as the need for change permeates every page. New York, hope and the scream for justice are the true characters of the story and they do not disappoint.
‘'Do you know how aware we have to be? Girls like me. The man ahead who slows down, who disappears into doorways. The man close behind who walks too fast, his encroachment felt on your skin, creeping. Vans with dark windows and streets with alley ways. A park at dusk, or empty lots, eerie, any old time of the day.''
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/
 

Intimately clever, deep, emotive, and heartachingly beautiful.

Jacqueline has done a phenomenal job with this debut, and I am immensely grateful for this artwork to be available.

If crime/thriller/suspense is your thing, but you also like the philosophical, this is absolutely a book for you.

Haunting Yet Preachy. This is a book in the vein of if i stay, though here we know up front that our narrator is dead - and she knows it. Still, when searching through my memories trying to find a comparison point, that is what comes up and I think the comparison works. This tale has a similar haunting effect, not from the haunting itself (though the narrator is, if anything, a benevolent ghost just trying to be helpful), but more from the style of the story being told. There is a lot of trauma here in terms of child molestation/ exploitation (though within the last few months pre-18th birthday, at least on screen). adultery, abuse, and safety generally. It is on this last point - safety generally - that this book veers too far into the "preachy" side, hammering the reader over the head several times with its own metaphorical version of the murder weapon used here, and this is the reason for the star deduction. Still, overall the tale is solid if a touch slow, but interesting enough to want to find out what is going on and to keep reading through the end. Very much recommended.

Fabulous debut novel - already looking forward to more from this author!!

Before You Knew My Name follows the lives of two women from very different backgrounds, both heading down the same path as they arrive in New York City, escaping their pasts with big dreams. Alice Lee is just 18, leaving behind a past of bad decisions after a rough childhood filled with loss - now wandering the streets of New York with a stolen camera, $600, and a ton of “what if's” in her head. Ruby is 36, trying to escape her life back in Australia, and a man she just can't seem to get out of her head, no matter how bad he is for her. A fresh start in New York is just what they both need...

When Ruby is out jogging in Riverside Park and finds Alice Lee's dead body floating in the river, her world shifts and she can't explain the connection she feels to this Jane Doe. Ruby can not get this young woman out of her head and is determined to find answers and closure. With the help of some new friends, oddly all drawn together by death and loss, Ruby helps Alice Lee find her name, and is determined to bring justice to the man who took away her chance at a beautiful new life.

I loved the alternating POVs and especially hearing Alice Lee's voice from beyond the grave. I was immediately sucked into this novel and did not want it to end!

4.8* rounding up

Beautifully written, talks about some very important topics for women!! Highly recommend