Somewhere I read that this book is to be made into a movie - and it's easy to see that it could be a good one. It's a cleverly written story that's intriguing enough to make me not want to stop reading as well as raise more than a few ethical issues that really did make me stop and think where I stood pre- and post-read. I've never been a big fan of chapters that switch back and forth among characters, and this one does that as well as shift to before, during and after the main event, the kidnapping of five-year-old Emma Townsend by successful business owner Sarah Walker. Happily in this case, though, it's hard to imagine that the story could be told any better without using that technique. How that can be accomplished in a motion picture, however, remains to be seen.
In the airport on a business trip, Sarah sees Emma and watches with near horror as the girl's out-of-control mother is verbally and physically abusive to the child. Sarah desperately wants to intervene, but in the end everyone goes in separate directions, presumably never to see the others again. But as luck would have it, another chance encounter at Emma's Montesorri school (where Sarah is trying to sell her popular digital educational activity books) puts Emma back on Sarah's radar, where she discovers more child abuse. Not long after that, Sarah gets a chance to snatch the girl from her parents and baby brother - and takes it.
From that point on, readers watch Sarah's efforts to stay hidden from the authorities while she makes sure Emma is lavished with attention and fights to believe that she's acting in the child's best interests and, therefore, has done nothing wrong. Readers also begin to see how Emma's family ended up the way they are - especially Amy, Emma's abusive mother. Sarah doesn't get short shrift either; we see how her own background has played into her insecurities and abhorrence of the treatment Emma was getting at the hands of her mother.
As I mentioned earlier, the story raises important ethical issues. Does Sarah's intent to remove Emma from danger, for instance, justify the kidnapping? Amy's disastrous childhood may explain her treatment of her daughter, but does it justify the behavior enough that her daughter should be returned to her? If anybody cares about my opinion, it's no and no - but you'll just have to read the book and judge for yourself. The story is totally engrossing, although in my mind not totally believable. In this day and age, I can't imagine that the loose ends Sarah leaves everywhere they go wouldn't lead police right to her doorstep in less than a week - the most obvious being no attempt to change either of their names despite a nationwide media blitz. And, Sarah supposedly has plenty of money - but how is she able to access it on the run without leaving any kind of electronic trail?
Oh well, I'll never know. I do know, though, that this is an outstanding book - and I'm super-delighted that the publisher, via NetGalley, saw fit to offer me an advance copy for review.
Not Her Daughter by Rhea Frey (St. Martin's Griffin, August 2018); 352 pp.)
No comments:
Post a Comment