Review: Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey

Genre:
Women’s Fiction

Format:
E-ARC

Publisher:
St. Martin’s Griffin

Release Date:
August 21, 2018








Synopsis from publisher:

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.


Emotionally powerful 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.

My Review

After breaking up with her boyfriend, Sarah Walker is heartbroken. Her mother abandoned her and her father when she was a child. The good thing in her life is that she has a successful business, but it’s not enough. She wants more.

When Sarah sees five year old Emma being mistreated by her mother, she takes matters into her own hands. She risks everything to protect this child she doesn’t even know. Sarah manages to take Emma and they go on a cross-country adventure. Meanwhile, the authorities are conducting a nationwide hunt to find the missing girl.

Emma’s biological mother, Amy Townsend, is unhappy with her life and can’t seem to get a handle on her daughter. She treats her cruelly, but she never intended for her child to disappear. As she tries to help with the search, she also wonders if she really wants the girl back at all.

This is edge-of-your-seat reading at its best. I couldn’t put it down. I had to force myself not to look ahead to see how it ended. Instead, I just sat back and read through the book without peeking at the ending.

The story is told from the point of view of both Sarah and Amy. I found this interesting as it gives readers a chance to get into the heads of these two women with very different roles in this story. It gives you a better understanding of the situation.

It’s an intriquing take on a missing child storyline that I haven’t read before. It’s well written and the characters are realistic. I’m looking forward to reading more books by this author.

FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.