If You Knew Her by Emily Elgar

In “If You Knew Her” by Emily Elgar, young and beautiful Cassie Jensen lies in a coma in a hospital ward after a hit-and-run accident. Frank Ashcroft,  a male patient in the same ward, is in a sort of comatose but unknown to the others, he is in locked-in-syndrome and can see and hear what is going on around him but he can’t speak.  And he is the person who can save the life of Cassie if only he can speak. Quite an interesting premise!

If You Knew Her by Emily Elgar

Cassie Jensen ends up in coma in Ward 9B at St. Catherine’s hospital after being struck in a hit-and-run.  Chief nurse Alice Marlowe thinks she looks familiar. When news emerges that Cassie is twelve weeks pregnant, Alice, who has a few miscarriages, feels a bond to Cassie and starts to investigate. As Alice’s investigation continues, the only thing clear is that Cassie’s life isn’t nearly as picture-perfect as it appears. She learns about a betrayal that caused Cassie to want to take time away from her loving husband Jack and her marriage.

Frank, in the same ward as Cassie, appears to be unresponsive and unable to communicate but unknown to others, he can see and hear.

Cassie’s husband Jack and mother-in-law Charlotte visit her regularly. Frank astutely notes there is more to them, and to Cassie, than meets the eye. The more he learns, the more he realizes that Cassie’s life is in danger. He desperately wants to warn Alice that Cassie is in danger but he’s unable to communicate it. He finally is able to blink to the surprise of everyone and he uses this ability to try to communicate and save Cassie’s life

Told from the perspectives of Frank, Alice and Cassie, the novel takes readers on a reasonably enjoyable ride to its final and an epilogue that neatly seals the end of the story .

The earlier part of the novel was a bit of a drag and I almost gave up. Luckily I persisted and it turned out to be an interesting read though it is not as engrossing as some of the other thrillers that I have recently read.