Book Review: Daughter

Daughter is the debut novel by Jane Shemilt. Dr. Jenny Malcolm has it all. She works as a GP, loves her job, has a loving husband who is a neurosurgeon, three amazing children – twins Theo and Ed, age 17, and her daughter, Naomi, age 15. They have a beautiful house in Bristol, a reliable housekeeper and a perfectly good life. Jenny loves that her children can be independent and yet, be open and loving. Being their mother, she obviously knows them best.

Her perfect world though, is turned around when once night, Naomi fails to return after a meal with friends.

Slowly Jenny learns that Naomi was lying to her. She learns that perhaps, in spite of all the clues available, she had failed to notice the obvious.

In a turmoil of over fourteen months, she struggles to find out what happened to her daughter and realise that maybe, she didn’t know her family after all.

This is a gripping tale of a mother’s anguish at losing her child. It  begs the question though, was she already lost long before? As someone who works with adolescents regularly, Naomi’s character was believable. So too were the lies and the secrets from her parents. Jenny is a likeable character and in spite of not being a mother, I was able to empathise with her. Being a career woman and loving my work,  I manage to empathise with female characters who love their work. Sadly though, in most books, this seems to end in tragedy.

Shemilt builds the suspense extremely well as she starts the book one year after Naomi’s disappearance, She then alternates between focussing on the past and the present, building bit by bit, giving hints and insights into the Malcolm family until the final outcome of what actually happened to Naomi. Halfway through, I had an idea about what may have occurred and I was right but it didn’t stop me from reading.

It’s a brilliant debut and I can’t wait to read her next book.

My rating:

Daughter (2014) by Jane Shemilt

390 pp, Penguin UK

Where to buy the book:

Amazon | Book Depository | Booktopia | Fishpond | Flipkart | Kindle

***This has been reviewed for Erin’s Book Challenge 4.0 {Book starting with ‘D’} and Outdo yourself reading challenge. It’s also being linked up to Monday Musings at Everyday Gyaan and The Bespectacled mother and Open Slather at One Mother Hen***

Until next time,

Cheers!!!