The Sublet by Greer Hendricks

In Greer Hendricks’ novella “The Sublet,” we are introduced to Anne, a ghostwriter struggling to balance her professional aspirations with the demands of motherhood and marriage. When she lands a lucrative gig writing for wellness guru Melody Wells, it seems like the answer to her prayers—especially when Melody helps her secure a spacious Manhattan apartment that should be far beyond her family’s budget. But as strange occurrences begin to pile up, Anne discovers that her dream home and dream job might come with a nightmarish price tag.

Hendricks, who previously co-authored bestsellers like “The Wife Between Us” and “The Golden Couple” with Sarah Pekkanen, delivers her first solo novella with the same tightly wound tension and careful character development that made her collaborative works so compelling. In “The Sublet,” she crafts a claustrophobic tale about the dangers of desperation and the facades we construct to appear perfect.

Atmospheric Tension That Builds Like a Pressure Cooker

From the opening pages, Hendricks creates an atmosphere of unease that intensifies with each turn of the page. The apartment itself becomes a character in the story—initially representing opportunity and escape but gradually transforming into something sinister. The scratches on the wall, the locked closet, Whisky the cat’s unexplained agitation—all serve as breadcrumbs leading to the truth.

What Hendricks excels at is the slow build. Rather than relying on jump scares or obvious threats, she cultivates discomfort through small details:

• The mysterious stain that appears near a previously locked closet
• The neighbor’s cryptic comments about the previous tenant
• The inconsistencies in Melody’s stories
• The unsettling physical symptoms Anne experiences after taking Melody’s supplements

This technique mirrors Anne’s own gradual awakening to the danger surrounding her. We discover the truth at the same pace she does, creating an intimate connection between reader and protagonist.

Multidimensional Characters with Complex Motivations

Anne is a refreshingly relatable protagonist. She’s neither wholly victim nor entirely hero—just a woman trying to balance her ambitions with her responsibilities. Her initial willingness to ignore red flags in exchange for professional success and a better living situation feels authentic rather than contrived.

Melody, with her lavender-themed wellness empire and carefully cultivated image, embodies the modern wellness industry’s contradictions. Outwardly promoting health and authenticity while inwardly harboring secrets and manipulation, she’s a villain that feels ripped from today’s headlines. Her wellness aphorisms (“If you aren’t sleeping with your partner, you can bet someone else is”) reveal the toxicity lurking beneath her soothing façade.

Even supporting characters like Paul (Anne’s husband) and Peg (the eccentric neighbor) are given enough dimension to make them more than mere plot devices. Paul’s dismissal of Anne’s concerns reflects his privileged position of never having to question his environment, while Peg’s apparent confusion masks her role as the story’s unexpected truth-teller.

Themes That Resonate in Today’s World

“The Sublet” by Greer Hendricks explores several timely themes:

• The wellness industrial complex: Hendricks expertly skewers the commodification of well-being through Melody’s purple-branded empire. The supplements without warning labels serve as both literal plot device and metaphor for an industry that often makes unverified promises.
• Work-life balance in the gig economy: Anne’s struggle to meet Melody’s increasing demands while maintaining her family life highlights the precarious position of freelancers who can’t afford to turn down work.
• Housing insecurity: The apartment represents more than just square footage—it symbolizes Anne’s desire to provide her children with the space they need to grow and her own ambition to escape the constraints of her current life.
• Female ambition and its costs: Perhaps most poignantly, the novella examines how women’s professional aspirations are often pitted against their domestic responsibilities, creating impossible choices.

Pacing: Brisk Yet Thoughtful

At approximately 50 pages, “The Sublet” by Greer Hendricks moves quickly but never feels rushed. Hendricks demonstrates remarkable economy of language, packing complex character development and mounting suspense into a compact package. The story unfolds over just a few weeks, creating a sense of urgency that mirrors Anne’s own accelerating anxiety.

The final confrontation between Anne and Melody delivers a satisfying payoff to the tension that has been building throughout. Anne’s transformation from passive ghostwriter to active author of her own story provides a cathartic conclusion that avoids both simplistic revenge fantasies and defeatist resignation.

Where The Sublet Occasionally Falls Short

Despite its strengths, the novella isn’t without flaws:

1. Some plot developments rely a bit heavily on coincidence—Anne happening to see the exact sunrise that matches Melody’s description feels somewhat contrived.
2. The pregnancy reveal, while adding stakes to Anne’s situation, introduces a complication that doesn’t get fully explored within the novella’s limited scope.
3. A few loose ends remain regarding the apartment’s history and the full extent of Melody’s crimes, though this ambiguity may be intentional.
4. The epilogue, while providing closure, wraps things up perhaps too neatly for a story that otherwise embraces complexity.

These minor issues don’t significantly detract from the novella’s impact but prevent it from reaching the same heights as Hendricks’ collaborative works with Pekkanen.

Hendricks’ Distinctive Voice

Fans of Hendricks’ previous collaborations will recognize certain stylistic elements: the careful parsing of information, the domestic settings that turn menacing, the examination of female relationships. Yet “The Sublet” also establishes Greer Hendricks’ individual voice, particularly in its exploration of creative ambition and authenticity.

Her prose is crisp yet evocative, with memorable turns of phrase that capture Anne’s escalating sense of wrongness:

“It’s like one of those spot-the-difference brainteasers. Something has been altered, but I don’t have time to figure it out now.”

“I feel as though I am descending into a deep, dark body of water.”

Hendricks also demonstrates her skill at using everyday objects—a supplement bottle, a cat toy, a locked closet—to build suspense without resorting to standard thriller tropes.

For Fans of Domestic Suspense

“The Sublet” by Greer Hendricks will appeal to readers who enjoyed:

• “Such a Quiet Place” by Megan Miranda
• “Checkout 19” by Claire-Louise Bennett
• “The Push” by Ashley Audrain
• “The Guest” by Emma Cline
• “Night Music” by Jojo Moyes

Like these titles, it examines the darkness lurking beneath seemingly ordinary lives and questions the reliability of perception—both our own and others’.

Final Verdict: A Compact, Compelling Psychological Thriller

“The Sublet” proves that Greer Hendricks doesn’t need a co-author to craft a suspenseful, thought-provoking story. While it lacks some of the intricate plotting of her full-length novels, the novella format forces a discipline that results in a lean, effective thriller.

The story cleverly uses its Manhattan setting—where space is premium and privacy precarious—to heighten its themes of intrusion and false appearances. Anne’s journey from overextended ghostwriter to empowered author of her own narrative offers a satisfying emotional arc alongside the suspense.

For readers looking for a single-sitting read that delivers both psychological depth and page-turning suspense, “The Sublet” by Greer Hendricks offers a masterclass in efficient storytelling. Hendricks proves that sometimes the most disturbing threats aren’t supernatural monsters or masked killers, but the seemingly helpful stranger with a too-good-to-be-true offer and a lavender-scented supplement to ease your worries away.