As the woman behind the BBC’s The Big Read initiative, Hannah Beckerman knows a thing or two about classic books. Beckerman has since written five novels of her own, and now picks five of the best domestic noir books.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Arguably the best domestic noir novel of all time. When the innocent, unnamed narrator marries suave Max de Winter, she finds herself living in the shadow of his beautiful late wife in a house teeming with secrets.
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Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Each family in the affluent school community at the centre of Moriarty’s novel is riddled with secrets, which ultimately culminate in murder. The three female protagonists are hugely relatable as Moriarty skilfully exposes the underbelly of suburban life.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Sharing multiple themes with Rebecca, Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel also features an innocent young woman, an eligible suitor and a mansion in which all is most definitely not what it seems.
Lullaby by Leila Slimani
Of all the nightmare nanny novels available, Slimani’s is possibly the best. Ratcheting up the tension in this middle-class Parisian family, where the apparently perfect nanny is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, it’s a masterclass in beautifully paced suspense.
