Digital Reads Reviews

A missing child arc is one of my favorite. This book by Elisabeth Noreback was a predictive formulaic story about a mother Stella losing her child 20 years ago where everyone, including her partner Daniel, were convinced that her one-year-old daughter had upturned her pram and drowned. BUT NOT STELLA.

A successful psychotherapist with her own practice, Stella lived a peaceful life with husband and son. And in walked a girl Isabelle, resembling her dead daughter. And her mental trauma started.

My first book by this Swedish author, some nuances of emotions might have been lost in the translation. I liked the mother Stella’s conviction about her daughter at the very first glance. A mother always knows.

The story started slow, with domestic drama and panic attacks. Then the mother’s mental health went into a downward spiral with disbelief from the people in her life, her practice came to a stand still, her friends and family moved away. Her weird behavior affected everyone.

Told in 3 POV, Stella, Isabelle, and Isabelle’s mother Kirsten, the story came to a conclusive end when their worlds collided and crashed. My niggles started from the very beginning. The prose was written in a slow convoluted manner to produce intrigue, with over reaction from all the 3 women without anything really happening. A detailed backstory of the past might have helped me to like the main character.

Overall, I still liked the book for the missing child plot. A fun 2 hour read at breakfast.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Allison & Busby, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart. Strictly unbiased.

All my reviews can be found here

Stella had only turned away for a moment when her baby vanished. Though the little girl’s body was never found, Alice was assumed to have drowned, but Stella has never been able to extinguish the hope that somewhere, somehow Alice is still alive.

Over twenty years have passed since that fateful day and Stella is a happily married, successful therapist. But when a new patient walks into her office, Stella’s life starts to crumble.

The young woman introduces herself as Isabelle, but Stella is convinced she’s Alice.

Publication Date: 20th June 2019

Publisher: Allison & Busby