THE PERFECT DAUGHTER

4 stars out of 5

I'm not sure when I read Sybil: The True Story of a Woman Possessed by 16 Separate Personalities by Flora Schreiber - sometime in the late 1970s, I suppose. It was the first time I'd ever heard the term "multiple personality" - an almost unbelievable disorder (I won't get into subsequent reports that the whole story was bogus - I have no way of verifying either side of that dispute). But the book certainly did make an impression on me, as well as spark interest in the subject. So it was, then, that I was delighted to be approved for a pre-release copy of this book to read and review (thanks to the publisher via NetGalley).

Of course, it's not a biography; rather, it's billed as a "thriller that explores the truth or lies behind a teenage girl's multiple personality disorder." And yeah, that got my attention. The drama begins when Grace Francone spots a little girl in a park, clearly alone and frightened. With no adults in sight, Grace calls the police, who take the child to the hospital. Grace and her pizzeria owner Arthur have two young sons, but Grace has long harbored a desire for a daughter. You guessed it: No one has claimed the girl from the park, and Grace manages to convince her family (and the proper authorities) to let the girl - now dubbed "Penny" - become their adopted daughter.

Everything seems fine - the brothers are way more delighted than I ever would have been to have a new sibling - until Penny's odd behavior results in a diagnosis of possible Dissociative Identity Disorder (a.k.a., the aforementioned multiple personalities). Even then, the family is perfectly understanding and accepting (mostly, it seems, because Grace insists that it be that way) until Grace gets a call saying her beloved Penny is in jail, charged with murder. Not only does she have ties to the victim, Penny is found covered in the victim's blood and holding the carving knife.

But no - just no, Grace insists. Now a widow (more on this comes to light as the story progresses), Grace turns into a ferocious feline - organizing with the precision of a drill sergeant a team who will do anything, and give up everything - to protect and defend her precious daughter, who ends up at a psychiatric facility at which she'll be evaluated to determine whether an insanity defense is a viable option. But that's not all bad; there, she meets a friendly psychiatrist she calls Dr. Mitch, who has mental issues of his own but has no problem confirming four "identities" - Penny, Eve, Chloe and Ruby - who inhabit the brain of the teenager they (mostly) know as Penny. What he cannot confirm, alas - at least not in a courtroom under oath, much to Grace's dispair - is that Penny really has DID, a detail that's critical to the defense.

So, Grace and her sister-in-law Annie set out to prove Penny's innocence despite warnings from Penny's attorney, the police, and Ryan, one of Grace's sons who seems to be harboring a few secrets of his own. From this point on, chapters shift between what Grace is doing, what the doctor is doing and progress reports on the film Grace's other son, Jack, is making about Penny's unusual life. I won't say it's all believable (far from it in several instances, in fact), and way-too-detailed and lengthy sections that made me feel more like I was being schooled on DID than entertained by a mind-gripping story (although I do give major kudos to the author for doing extensive research on the subject). Overall, though, it was captivating throughout, picking up steam toward the end as layers of fiction were peeled away to reveal an unexpected truth. All in all, quite enjoyable and definitely recommended.

The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer (St. Martin's Press, April 2021); 378 pp.