About this ebook
In this critically-acclaimed “pulse-quickening literary thriller,” a divorced single mother seeks revenge for the sudden death of her young child (Marie Claire).
I study the photo in the same way that a spy might study the face of a counterpart in a rival organization. I am calm as I make this promise: I am going to find out what you love, then whatever it is, I am going to track it down and I am going to take it away from you.
After the death of Laura’s nine-year-old daughter, Betty, is ruled an accident in a hit-and-run, Laura decides to take revenge into her own hands, determined to track down the man responsible. All the while, her inner turmoil is reopening the old wounds of her passionate love affair with Betty’s father, David, and his abandonment of the family for another woman.
Haunted by her past and driven to a breaking point by her thirst for retribution, Laura discovers the unforeseen lengths she is willing to go to for love and vengeance.
“This exquisitely calibrated depiction of one mother’s grief and rage will hold you spellbound.” —Parade
“Gripping and heart-wrenching.” —National Examiner
“Masterful.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Reminiscent of Alina Bronsky’s Broken Glass Park . . . a powerful depiction of love, loss, and retribution.” —Library Journal, starred review
“As indelible as it is painful.” —Booklist, starred review
“Heartfelt and affecting.” —Publishers Weekly
“Gripping, absorbing, beautifully constructed.” —Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall
“Like Zoe Heller, Doughty is masterful at combining the texture of ordinary, smugly middle-class, contemporary life with the hidden cliff edges of violence and hatred.” —Sunday Telegraph
I study the photo in the same way that a spy might study the face of a counterpart in a rival organization. I am calm as I make this promise: I am going to find out what you love, then whatever it is, I am going to track it down and I am going to take it away from you.
After the death of Laura’s nine-year-old daughter, Betty, is ruled an accident in a hit-and-run, Laura decides to take revenge into her own hands, determined to track down the man responsible. All the while, her inner turmoil is reopening the old wounds of her passionate love affair with Betty’s father, David, and his abandonment of the family for another woman.
Haunted by her past and driven to a breaking point by her thirst for retribution, Laura discovers the unforeseen lengths she is willing to go to for love and vengeance.
“This exquisitely calibrated depiction of one mother’s grief and rage will hold you spellbound.” —Parade
“Gripping and heart-wrenching.” —National Examiner
“Masterful.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Reminiscent of Alina Bronsky’s Broken Glass Park . . . a powerful depiction of love, loss, and retribution.” —Library Journal, starred review
“As indelible as it is painful.” —Booklist, starred review
“Heartfelt and affecting.” —Publishers Weekly
“Gripping, absorbing, beautifully constructed.” —Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall
“Like Zoe Heller, Doughty is masterful at combining the texture of ordinary, smugly middle-class, contemporary life with the hidden cliff edges of violence and hatred.” —Sunday Telegraph
Ratings and reviews
4.0
5 reviews
Kimberley watson
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September 14, 2017
It does have beautiful prose and descriptions. I think people are disappointed with the ending because they don't understand grief. The protagonist loses her world and this is a messed up account of what people do when they're grieving and ultimately learning from horrible choices and mistakes...keeping that in mind not a bad book
A Google user
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April 21, 2012
An intense roller coaster ride that ended up in a different place than I predicted - completely. Told from the perspective of Laura who in the first chapter loses her oldest child, her daughter Betty, in a car accident. She has already withstood a divorce due to a cheating spouse and is barely holding it together as it is.
The reader is taken on a journey with Laura as she goes before and after the accident. I loved how the book was broken up with chapters that occurred before the accident where you were given the history of Laura and David's relationship before the kids arrived. The after chapters took place after the accident and I absolutely adored where the story went.
I blew through this book because the intensity stayed at a heightened level that kept me from being to able to set it down at any moment. A perfect book for a spring weekend outside enjoying the weather!
Isabella Salaverry
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June 14, 2014
There are some wonderful things about this book. First and foremost the writing is beautiful and the main character complicated and interesting. However, I found the book too long and the plot a bit unbelievable.
About the author
Louise Doughty is the author of the novels Crazy Paving, Dance with Me, Honey-Dew, Fires in the Dark, and Stone Cradle, as well as the nonfiction book A Novel in a Year, based on her popular newspaper column. She has written plays for radio and has worked widely as a critic, broadcasting regularly for BBC Radio 4. She lives in London.
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