Friday, March 31, 2023

My Darling Daughter by JP Delaney


                                        



Hardback:  385 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Fiction, Psychological Thriller,

Publisher: Quercus 2022

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentence: It all starts with a message on social media.

Review Quote: A well-researched and sensitive account of the most painful kind of parenthood ― Literary Review

Setting: South of England

Main Characters: Gabe, Susie and Anna/Sky

My Opinion

Having read and enjoyed a previous novel by this author, ‘Playing Nice’ which was about a child swapped at birth I was drawn to this one. Especially when I discovered the theme was similar, this time about an adopted child contacting her birth mother out of the blue via social media.


A family drama unfolds when happily married Susie and Gabe unexpectedly find out that a fifteen year old daughter, whom Susie had given up for adoption at birth, wants to get to know them. Told from each of Susie, Gabe and Sky’s perspective in often short but punchy chapters. It is suspenseful reading that involves some serious issues around adoption.


As I had expected this well researched novel was a disturbing but thrilling page turner. Recommended to fans of psychological thrillers.



Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

The child you never knew
knows all your secrets . . .

Out of the blue, Susie Jones is contacted on social media by Anna, the girl she gave up for adoption fifteen years ago.

But when they meet, Anna's home life sounds distinctly strange to Susie and her husband Gabe. And when Anna's adoptive parents seem to overreact to the fact she contacted them at all, Susie becomes convinced that Anna needs her help.

But is Anna's own behaviour simply what you'd expect from someone recovering from a traumatic childhood? Or are there other secrets at play here - secrets Susie has also been hiding for the last fifteen years?
Previous Review: Playing Nice

Author Profile:
 
                                            
                                                      Courtesy of Author Website


JP Delaney is a British writer of psychological suspense. His novel THE GIRL BEFORE was an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller which sold over a million copies in 40 countries. It was adapted by him for the BBC and HBO Max in 2021. His second thriller, BELIEVE ME, was also an international and Sunday Times bestseller, as were his subsequent books THE PERFECT WIFE and PLAYING NICE. His fifth psychological thriller, MY DARLING DAUGHTER, was published in 2022.

JP Delaney has previously written bestselling fiction under other names. The Carnivia Trilogy, a series of three standalone but interlinked thrillers set in present-day Venice and written under the name Jonathan Holt, was published in more than 20 countries. 



Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

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