REVIEW: THE OTHER TYPIST, BY SUZANNE RINDELL

 

 

 

Everything about Rose Baker seemed prim and proper, from her “unremarkable” appearance to her orderly way of approaching each task. Her childhood spent in an orphanage set the tone for how her life would unfold, including her time spent as a typist in a police precinct.

Until the day “the other typist” walked into the precinct and seemingly tugged at a feeling that Rose had, as yet, not experienced. At that point, Odalie Lazare became the object of her obsession.

The Other Typist is narrated in Rose’s first person voice, and as she tells the story from her perspective, we learn that it is set in the mid-1920s, a time that would become real and visual in every way. We can almost feel what she feels as she describes her impressions of Odalie, her experiences with her as the two become confidantes and then roommates. The mysterious Odalie would become the center of Rose’s universe.

Nights in speakeasies, getaways to the beach, and entry into a world previously unknown…all would inform the days, weeks, and months of Rose’s life with Odalie as a friend.

So how did everything go so wrong? What, if anything, had Odalie done to set events in motion? What could anyone do or say to change the outcome of one fateful night? How did Rose become someone even she herself did not recognize? Had she been tricked and played, or was she simply a very unreliable narrator who might fool any one of us?

I could see it all coming, of course, as Rose’s narrative dropped hints along the way. But the ending completely stunned me…and I then began to question my own conclusions. Definitely a book I would recommend for anyone who loves a thriller with unexpected twists. 5 stars.