Girl Unknown by critically acclaimed author Karen Perry is a powerful novel that “Explores emotional danger with relentless, surgical accuracy.” –Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of The Trespasser and In the Woods David and Caroline Connolly are swimming successfully through their marriage’s middle years–raising two children; overseeing care for David’s ailing mother; leaning … children; overseeing care for David’s ailing mother; leaning into their careers, both at David’s university teaching job, where he’s up for an important promotion, and at the ad agency where Caroline has recently returned to work after years away while the children were little. The recent stresses of home renovation and of a brief romantic betrayal (Caroline’s) are behind them. The Connollys know and care for each other deeply.
Then one early fall afternoon, a student of sublime, waiflike beauty appears in David’s university office and says, “I think you might be my father.” And the fact of a youthful passion that David had tried to forget comes rushing back. In the person of this intriguing young woman, the Connollys may have a chance to expand who they are and how much they can love, or they may be making themselves vulnerable to menace. They face either an opportunity or a threat–but which is which? What happens when their hard-won family happiness meets a hard-luck beautiful girl?
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David and Caroline’s marriage is far from perfect. They have two children, demanding jobs, and find themselves combatting the struggles of everyday life. David, a university professor, is working hard to get promoted. Caroline has recently returned to work after spending many years as a homemaker. Although apprehensive, she is excited to return to her career. Things seem to be heading in a positive direction until one of David’s students tells him she is his daughter.
Life literally turns upside down for the couple. Secrets are kept. Arguments ensue. Challenges arise. David struggles to make Zoe, his newfound daughter, a part of their lives. He is met with great resistance from Caroline and their daughter Holly. Robbie, their son, seems to bond with Zoe almost instantaneously though. Life is about to change drastically for them all however.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. I had a feeling of apprehension almost the entire time I was reading it. Zoe made me nervous. What tricks does she have up her sleeve? Is she who she says she is? What does she really want from David and his family? And yet, every once in awhile I felt perhaps I was judging Zoe too harshly. Was she simply misunderstood and in desperate need of love and family?
Was Caroline too suspicious or was David merely blinded by her portrayed innocence?
Overall, I’m glad I read this and I have to say I really thought the last chapter heading was phenomenal! Do we ever really know anyone as well as we think we do?
I loved this book from the first sentence. I felt the characters were great and the story telling riveting. Every time I thought I knew what was going on there was a new twist. The book is a shock up until the last page. I would highly recommend this book.
Holy Moly this one sucked me right in. I did not put this book down, finishing this one in a day. All the secrets, lies, deceit, and love combined for an edge of your seat thriller that will keep you guessing till the very last page.
‘I think you might be my father . . .’
When student Zoe Barry walks into Professor David Connolly’s office and says these words, he is left with confusion and a little fear. The fear of how is his family going to react and the confusion of how is this possible? Your left wondering is Zoe really his daughter or does she have some ulterior motive?
This novel is mainly told in the perspective of David and David’s wife, Caroline. You get to know the struggle Caroline faces with a stranger coming into her and her children’s life and essentially taking over, leaving Caroline basically helpless. David is so infactuated with Zoe he does not even see what is really going on. As for the children, Robbie is equally infactuated with Zoe while Holly cannot stand her. I loved having the story told in this way because you can get a real sense of how and why they feel the way they do.I felt sorry for Caroline and most of the story i could not stand David. I kept getting sooo frustrated for Caroline, i wanted to jump into the book and shake David silly. This definitely brought to light a very real question-
Who should come first: your wife or someone who might be your daughter?
I have never read anything by either of the authors from this pen name, but I plan to read more by them. I highly recommend this book if your looking for a psychological thriller.
As I read Girl Unknown I knew there was more to the story. There had to be a catch with Zoe. I had so many guesses and loves trying to follow the clues. Karen Perry threw so many twists and turns into the book that I knew the truth was buried in there somewhere.
My struggle was David and Caroline. Their marriage was troubled before Zoe entered the picture and when she came into their life it became even more troubled. I didn’t like that David didn’t even consider Caroline’s concerns about Zoe. He didn’t put any thought into them, didn’t try to understand where Caroline was coming from, and just brushed her off. I got it, Zoe is his daughter he wants to love and trust her yet the signs were all there that she was trouble.
The ending was the wonderful. When I got to the last few chapters I could not stop reading. The pace picked up, the secrets were shared, people were held accountable for their actions, and the final twist…never saw it coming.
Favorite Quotes:
There is an energy on campus during those first weeks of the new semester that is like nothing else. The air is charged with the frisson of possibility. A cheerful busyness takes hold, giving a new life and sheen to every faded surface, every jaded room… I felt it too— the beat of possibility, the urge to get a head start on the year. After seventeen years working at this university, I was still not immune to the buoyant lift of first-term energy.
We never had children because I didn’t want them. Any child I had with you might be born with a dorsal fin and several rows of teeth.
Mum had stepped toward the bed and was standing with one hand upon it, quietly contemplating it, when it occurred to me that the previous inhabitant had probably died in this room, in that very bed Mum was touching. And in all likelihood, my mother would die here too. A strange vertiginous thought. I felt like someone had punched me with it. I couldn’t escape the feeling that by moving her into this room I was somehow hastening her doom.
That night in the cold darkness at the top of the stairs, overhearing the conversation, that was the moment when things began to unravel for me… A pinched, mean voice inside me whispered: If you are not the love of his life, then what makes you so sure he is yours? … Like a stone dislodged deep inside me, I felt the structure of my being start to crumble.
She had the cool beauty of a glassy lake on a cold day— you wanted to stare at it, to take it all in, though you wouldn’t want to touch it. A coldness that seemed biting.
My Review:
Girl Unknown was a gripping and enthralling read that steadily built and maintained an intriguing and inescapable level of tension and suspense as well as an unmistakable sense of impending doom from the very first word of the bewitching prologue to its devastating conclusion. I gasped in disbelief, cringed, flinched, held my breath, clenched my fist, and even growled in frustration at the annoyingly dense David, yet I was mesmerized by the storyline, transfixed by the narrative, embedded and engaged with the characters, and physically unable or unwilling to put my Kindle down any longer than necessary. The characters were as hypnotically intriguing as they were repellent and fractured. I loathed/loved/despised/pitied them in equal measure. Adulting did not happen yesterday. The storyline was cleverly well-crafted, alluring, and maddeningly fascinating while the writing was keenly honed, insightfully observant, well detailed, emotive, and infuriatingly well-paced. I must stalk these talented wordsmiths at every opportunity!