Happy Release Day!
Not Her Daughter
Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey
Print and ebook, 352 pages
Published August 21st 2018 by St. Martin's Griffin
Gripping, emotional, and wire-taut, Not Her Daughter raises the question of what it means to be a mother—and how far someone will go to keep a child safe.
Emma Grace Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes. Brown hair. Missing since June.
Emma Townsend is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.
Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Abandoned by her mother. Kidnapper.
Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal--and when a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her, far away from home. But if it's to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?
Amy Townsend. Unhappy wife. Unfit mother. Unsure she wants her daughter back.
Amy's life is a string of disappointments, but her biggest issue is her inability to connect with her daughter. And now she's gone without a trace.
As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakeable bond. But her real mother is at home, waiting for her to return--and the longer the search for Emma continues, Amy is forced to question if she really wants her back.
Congratulations Rea
on the release today of
Not Her Daughter!
My thoughts about Not My Daughter ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First line—"I grip her hand. Dirt clings to her small palm and makes caked half-moons under her nails."
Not Her Daughter is a captivating story that had me bouncing back and forth between the women in the book. I didn't know how I felt about either one of them. One of the women is the mother to little Emma. A mother should be a loving and warm person, doing everything she can to keep her children safe. But Amy is just the opposite—she is a horrible mother to her daughter and she made me so angry.
And then there's the other women, Sarah, the one who just wants to protect the little girl. But is kidnapping the way to save her? She provides the love and comfort that Emma needs but she is breaking the law. Both women's actions are wrong so who should end up the hero of this story?
This is a story that will grip you from the first and keep you turning the pages as Sarah and Emma try to keep ahead of the authorities at the same time that Amy and her husband come under scrutiny from the police. Such messed up lives!
I am totally amazed that this is a debut novel from Rea Frey. What an amazing book! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her next book.
I received Not Her Daughter from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
About the author
When she’s not exercising, mothering, adulting, wifing, eating, or writing about herself in the third person, you can find her hard at work on her next book and ghostwriting for other people.
