3 Stars
If you’re looking for
a quick, undemanding read, this psychological suspense novel might be the
answer.
Ten years after her
15-year-old daughter Ellie went missing, Laurel Mack begins a relationship with
Floyd Dunn. When she meets Floyd’s precocious
9-year-old daughter Poppy, Laurel is amazed at how much Poppy resembles
Ellie. As she sees more and more of
Floyd, Laurel discovers a connection between Poppy’s mother and Ellie. And then it seems that Floyd is not being
totally truthful. Is Laurel so desperate
for answers about her daughter’s disappearance that she starts imagining things,
or do Floyd and Poppy hold the key to what happened to Ellie?
Though the focus is on
Laurel’s perspective, the book is narrated from multiple points of view. Suspense, however, is maintained because
information is revealed very slowly in short snippets. There is more than one ghostly narrator, and
I’m not a fan of that technique, but they do serve to fill in gaps. Narration also moves between the present and
various times in the past.
Some of the events are
rather improbable and they detract from the novel. For instance, there is a conception
which science does not support but which could be seen on a soap opera. I also
object to the portrayal of police as incompetent. Police would have read Ellie’s diary,
especially if they thought she was a runaway, and so would have identified as a
suspect someone whom they apparently never questioned.
An element I really
liked is the depiction of Laurel’s relationship with her other children after
Ellie’s disappearance. Laurel’s grief has
left her feeling directionless and has strained her relationship with her other
children, especially Hanna, the older daughter.
Ellie was “her golden girl, her lastborn, her baby, her soulmate, her
pride and her joy” while Hanna is described as “Her middle child. The difficult one. The tiring one. The one she wouldn’t want to be stranded on a
desert island with.” How Laurel and
Hanna find their way back to each other is very realistically developed.
As I mentioned at the
beginning, this is not a demanding read.
Much of the plot is predictable; the interest lies in determining if one’s
assumptions are correct. The book is not
great literature, but it is a better example of escapist fiction.
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