The Choice

Gillian McAllister, author of The Good Sister, puts readers in the position of her protagonist and asks them what they would do. Joanna is walking home alone at the end of a night out when footsteps start up behind her and begin to quicken. She is convinced the person following her is the man from the bar who would not leave her alone, and she reacts without thinking. She turns and pushes him. He tumbles down a flight of steps and lies face down on the ground, unmoving.

From there the novel splits into two possible futures, depending on what Joanna decides to do. If she calls the police straight away, the man may survive, but she risks her own innocence. She would have to wait for a verdict on an assault charge, hoping her husband and everyone she cares about will support her. If she instead runs home and carries on as though nothing happened, nobody will ever find out. No one witnessed what she did, and the secret would rest with Joanna alone, for good.