suspense

Okay, but I need a tad bit more resolution! So Amy says bye, but does she sign over any papers? How's Emma going to be enrolled in school? Sticky. Nothing is actually solved; emotionally, they are fine, but they're still all on the run! The main propulsion of this book was wanting to know how it would end, and the ending didn't deliver.

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Thoughts tk. ( )

Have you ever seen kids getting screamed at in public and wondered if it's an isolated moment or whether they have a bad home life? I have, and so the description of this book really called out to me.
Sarah is a woman who was neglected, abused and abandoned by her mother as a child. When she sees Emma Townsend being screamed at by her mother it affects her so strongly that she can not forget. When she is sure that this was not an isolated incident she steals Emma, wanting only to protect her and give her the love that she never had as a child and that Emma so obviously needs. Once they are on the run together she is not sure whether she's made a mistake. The story starts off really strong and I was sure I was going to fall in love with it but the ending was just too simplistic and unrealistic for me.

I received an advance copy for review. ( )

Whew, this book! As I start to write this review, the first book that comes to mind to compare this psychological thriller about child abduction to is “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. While the plots aren’t similar, what struck me as I was reading was that I had the same feeling that there wasn’t a single main character in the book who was remotely good or that I was rooting for to succeed, but that the writing was so engaging and the plot so sensational that I couldn’t stop turning pages.

Sarah (the kidnapper) is on the surface a successful woman who owns her own business. However, she hides an obsessive, stalkerish personality and has not dealt with a breakup well. When she witnesses a young girl being spoken harshly to in an airport and slapped by her mother, she becomes obsessed with her, traveling to the girl’s hometown, staying in a hotel for days to stalk her outside her school and learn her patterns, then kidnaps her from her backyard. Sarah is the one at first the writing might lead you to believe is in the right, but you’re left wondering what normal adult who suspected abuse wouldn’t have just picked up the phone and called child protective services, the police, or the child’s school where counselors and teachers are mandatory reporters? Instead she kidnaps her.

It’s hard to feel much fondness for Emma’s parents. Her mother, Amy is physically and mentally abusive towards Emma, and her father is abusive towards Amy. I do wish Amy had not been depicted as overweight and ugly versus Sarah whose beauty was talked about at length (the text compared her to Anne Hathaway.) It felt like an attempt to try to depict mom as ugly and should have never had children, and kidnapper as pretty and an avenging angel, and felt unnecessary. You’ll have to decide on what you think of the ending!

Much like in “Gone Girl” you’re left reading through your fingers, wondering how this will turn out!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey is a suspenseful debut novel about the abduction of a five year old girl.

Sarah Walker is a successful businesswoman who is leaving on a business trip when she first glimpses young Emma Townsend being treated roughly by her mother. Fast forward a few months and she is shocked to spot Emma again and this time, Sarah is determined protect her from her seemingly abusive mother. Her decision to rescue (i.e. kidnap) the young girl is both premeditated and impulsive since she makes tentative preparations yet at the same time, she is reacting to Emma's situation with her abusive mother. Sarah then heads out of town with no real strategy in mind other than getting out of the public eye before an Amber Alert can be issued. Sarah knows what she has done is wrong, but what will she return Emma to her parents?

In Emma, Sarah sees a kindred spirit since she knows all too well what it is like to have an inattentive and abusive mother. While she recognizes on an intellectual level she has committed a crime by taking Emma, on an emotional level? She views her actions as saving Emma from a lifetime of confusion and pain that often results from an abusive childhood. Although somewhat conflicted about whether or not she should keep Emma with her permanently, Sarah eventually makes a conscious choice that is virtually impossible to walk back from.

The mother of two young children, Amy Townsend is desperately unhappy and quite stressed. Although she treats her youngest child well, she cannot control the rage and antipathy she feels toward Emma. She is quick to lash out whenever she feels like Emma is deliberately misbehaving. Amy hides the worst of her actions from her husband, but it is just a matter of time before the truth about exactly what happened the night of Emma's kidnapping is uncovered.

The chapters weave back and forth in time and alternate between Sarah's and Amy's perspectives. Sarah rationalizes her decision and deliberately downplays the other options available for helping Emma. She dotes on the young girl and delights in the changes that occur in Emma while she is under Sarah's care. Amy is concerned for her daughter's safety but there is no denying her sense of relief that Emma is gone.

Initially slow paced, Not Her Daughter eventually picks up steam at about the half way point. The characters are well-drawn and except for one notable exception, none of them are particularly likable or sympathetic. Emma is truly a wonderful child who easily adapts to her new circumstances. Rea Frey takes the black and white issue of child abduction and attempts to turn it into a grey area by characterizing Sarah's actions as rescue vs a true kidnapping. Whether or not she is truly successful is subjective and relies on readers' perceptions of both women and their reactions to the situation. With an interesting premise and an intriguing moral dilemma, this debut novel is engaging but the ending is a bit unrealistic and somewhat unsatisfying. All in all, a worthwhile but sometimes frustrating read. ( )