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“Brings to mind Jodi Picoult…thought-provoking domestic drama.” – Booklist
“Will make you miss your bedtime, guaranteed.” – Bestselling author Kimberly Belle
Gripping, emotional, 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.
Emma Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes, brown hair. Missing since June.
Emma 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. Kidnapper.
Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal. 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 whether 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 Emma is gone without a trace.
As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakeable bond. But what about Emma’s real mother, back at home?
Praise for Not Her Daughter
“The plot twists here are brave, the themes are both poignant and unsettling, and the resolution is deeply resonant. A page-turner with heart!” – New York Times bestselling author Kate Moretti
“A cleverly constructed novel that will have you questioning everything you believe about right or wrong.” – New York Times bestselling author Chevy Stevens
“Engrossing and suspenseful, Frey writes her characters with depth and compassion, challenging readers to question their own code of ethics.” – Zoje Stage, author of Baby Teeth
“An emotional ride where the line between right and wrong begins to fade…pulls you in from the very first page, and unlike most in its genre, you won’t know how you want it to end until it does.” – Wendy Walker, author of Emma in the Night
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Gosh, where to begin! I was on the edge of my seat and could not put this down! Such an emotional journey about what it means to be a mother and to love a child unconditionally. This book shows how far mothers will go for their children and how hard they’ll fight.
This book was a moral dilemma for me. While I would never support the committing of a crime, but as a parent, how would I respond to the way a child is being treated by her mother? This will tug on your heart and have you falling in love with Emma, a delightful five-year-old.
I have to admit that this book has stayed with me long after I turned the last page.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The story was riveting but not realistic. I really enjoyed it non the less!
There was to much going on .It was hard to keep all the people seperted. I didn’t finsi the book confusing.
An unusual story that had me guessing if it would end in tragedy or triumph!
I enjoyed it
This book is definitely a new take on an old subject.
This absolutely gripping story about your not-so-typical kidnapper is a page-turner to say the least. The attachment that I felt to each character was genuine, as the relationship between Sarah and Emma is emotionally moving in every way. Sarah’s decision will leave you questioning what is right and wrong. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a thought-provoking thriller.
This was a gripping read! The characters are deeply flawed but Frey’s depiction of them constantly reminds the reader of their humanity. A much-needed dive into the cultural codes of motherhood and and how we show love.
Wow- this book blew me away. It grabs you and never lets you go, long after you’ve finished. The ethical dilemma is so dynamic as are the characters in this world that Frey created. The story is amazing, the cover is amazing, and I’m thrilled for what she does next. She has a returning reader in me!
Not Her Daughter
Rea Frey
I was on hold from the library for 3 mo to get this book. I was so excited to fineally get it and i wanted to love it so bad. Sadley for me i did not. It took me a week to finish because I kelpt getting frustrated with it and putting it down.
Told from two pov Amy ( the mother) and Sara ( the kidnapper) , the story takes place before “it” happened, while “it’s” happening, and after “it” happened. It took awhile to adjust to the constant flipping.
I loved the plot and it could have been great , but come on…….. there were just too many things that were WAY too far-fetched. The police were told who had her but still they never talked to her co workers or anything.
The author did a good job of developing all the characters and letting us see inside their head except for the child Emma. She did not seem real at all. No 5 year old child is that perfect. We did not really get to know her , hear what was going through her mind etc. She really loved her dad but yet never talked about him or cried for him. I also felt like the mother Amy being fat , ugly , hating herself , and being a horrible mom was too much of an over kill.
The only reason I finished it was to see what ended up happening to Emma.
And as for the ending, really? Wth after all of that and Sara just calls up the bad mom and ask to keep the child? I mean really ? Life is not going to work that way. Both parents have to agree, you have to sign off your rights , go through a lawyer for adoption. Etc. But none of that happens. She just calls then what?????? We are just left hanging.Then Emma is in school. How does that even attempt to work? How do you get a birth certificate to start school? And what about the cops? They just poof stop looking?The frantic dads just gives up
An incredibly thought provoking debut novel that raises so many questions about parenthood, love, and sacrifice.
This was my first time reading this author and this story had my attention from beginning to the very end. Let me start out by saying I always felt that not all women are meant to be mothers. Society has set the standard that if we don’t have kids, we aren’t fulfilling are destiny as women and helping the human race to go on. This book is a perfect example of how hard motherhood is and how some women are just not cut out to be mothers.
Amy is unhappily married with two kids. A daughter named Emma and baby boy. Amy and Emma don’t have your typical mother/daughter relationship and you can clearly tell Amy isn’t cut out for motherhood. Why she had children is beyond my guess but I digress.
Sarah is single and childless and has her own issues stemmed from her childhood. Sarah is a good person with a good heart and I can understand her actions.
As the story progresses I felt myself sympathizing with Sarah and to my surprise Amy as well. I don’t want to spoil anything but I can somewhat understand why she is the way she is and she isn’t the monster I thought.
I was in a horrible book funk and this book took me by surprise! So many twist and turns and revelations. Even as the book came to a close my heart was in my throat as I read. I had no idea how things would play out and I’m happy with the outcome for all parties.
Sarah Walker is a successful business owner, still recovering from a failed relationship, but seemingly healthy in all respects. While on a business trip, she witnesses a disturbing scene between a mother and her young daughter at an airport. It’s clear the mother is frazzled but not enough to excuse her treatment of the little girl in the red dress, hair bow and shoes. Not long after, Sarah discovers the little girl again during a trip to a Montessori school to pitch business and follows her home, just to make certain her life is better than what she first witnessed. Unfortunately, it’s not and Sarah and 5-year old Emma both make a decision that permanently alters their lives and that of many others.
I began this story knowing that Sarah takes Emma but couldn’t believe there would be any circumstances where I would condone her actions. Incredibly, I found myself rooting for Sarah and Emma but also felt compassion for Amy, Emma’s mother, despite her horrible parenting. There are a host of issues presented in this story, none of them explored in any real depth but enough to stimulate thought provoking inquiry. You see society passing harsher judgment on the mothers in this story while the enabling fathers seem to get a pass. The story provides quite a bit of background on both Sarah and Amy, providing some insights and contrasts into and between the two women.
This was a Traveling Friends group book selection that generated a robust discussion, raising some provocative points of view I hadn’t considered. One dealt with how tough women are on other women as parents, maybe reflecting their own insecurities. While the ending left a lot of dangling resolutions, I enjoyed the book for challenging paradigms about parenting, child abductions and female/male stereotypes. It doesn’t provide a lot of answers but it made me think and left me to my imagination about the story’s outcome.
I couldn’t put Rea Frey’s NOT HER DAUGHTER down, and once finished, couldn’t let it go. So much more than an engrossingly suspenseful novel, it’s a thoughtful exploration on the extremes to which motherhood and love and loss can drive us. An amazing debut.
I received an ARC from Netgalley.
This is an emotional read. I recommend that everyone read it even though the characters and events may seem unlikable. In the end, it is a story that we can all learn from.
Not Her Daughter is a captivating story that had me bouncing back and forth between the women in the book. I didn’t know how I felt about either one of them. One of the women is the mother to little Emma. A mother should be a loving and warm person, doing everything she can to keep her children safe. But Amy is just the opposite—she is a horrible mother to her daughter and she made me so angry.
And then there’s the other women, Sarah, the one who just wants to protect the little girl. But is kidnapping the way to save her? She provides the love and comfort that Emma needs but she is breaking the law. Both women’s actions are wrong so who should end up the hero of this story?
This is a story that will grip you from the first and keep you turning the pages as Sarah and Emma try to keep ahead of the authorities at the same time that Amy and her husband come under scrutiny from the police. Such messed up lives!
I am totally amazed that this is a debut novel from Rea Frey. What an amazing book! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her next book.
After seeing a girl, Emma, being mistreated in public multiple times by her mother, Amy, a stranger, Sarah, decides to rescue her.
Have you ever seen a child being mistreated in public and wished you could sweep him or her away to a better life? Well, that’s exactly what happens in Not Her Daughter! Sarah notices how mean Amy is to her 5 year old daughter, Emma, and decides to save her. But, what are the consequences of her rash decision? And, how will it all end?
“I love her and that’s the beginning and end of everything.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
I was deeply intrigued by this idea and couldn’t wait to see how it ended. I enjoyed this book very much, but unfortunately, the ending felt a little too neat for me. With that being said, I would recommend this book and do look forward to reading more from this author.
Location: Oregon (Portland), Montana (Bozeman), and Illinois (Chicago).
I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Wow! What a read, and found myself rooting for the person committing a crime, and yet you will feel some compassion for the parents, what a mess.
All the while we are with Emma and Sarah, child and kidnapper, you feel the joy and happiness, but what is going to happen her, you keep waiting for an arrest and the taking of the child back to her homelife.
The story felt so real, and what an ending, I never saw it coming, a really emotional read, and you will be asking yourself, just how far as a stranger would you go to protect a child?
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher St. Martin’s Press, and was not required to give a positive review.
An amazing book that I could not put down. The book revolves around two woman. The kidnapper and the mother. Sarah, the kidnapper only wants what is best for Emma. So Sarah kidnaps Emma, to show her a better life that what she had. Amy, the mother has been abusive to Emma and has never really been able to connect with her daughter. So, who really is the real mother to Emma?
This is a gripping emotional story that I could not put down. I only wanted what was best for Emma but is kidnapping the way to go to get her out of the damaging environment. Both women are damaged in their lives with different coping means. This is page turner that I could not put down. Looking forward to watching the movie. I highly recommend!!