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    The Daughter
    The Daughter
    The Daughter
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Daughter

    Written by Jane Shemilt

    Narrated by Sophie Aldred

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Jenny is a successful family doctor, the mother of three great teenagers, married to a celebrated neurosurgeon.

    But when her youngest child, fifteen-year-old Naomi, doesn't come home after her school play, Jenny's seemingly ideal life begins to crumble. The authorities launch a nationwide search with no success. Naomi has vanished, and her family is broken.

    As the months pass, the worst-case scenarios-kidnapping, murder-seem less plausible. The trail has gone cold. Yet for a desperate Jenny, the search has barely begun. More than a year after her daughter's disappearance, she's still digging for answers-and what she finds disturbs her. Everyone she's trusted, everyone she thought she knew, has been keeping secrets, especially Naomi. Piecing together the traces her daughter left behind, Jenny discovers a very different Naomi from the girl she thought she'd raised.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 23, 2015
    ISBN9781494582272
    The Daughter
    Author

    Jane Shemilt

    Jane Shemilt’s debut novel, Daughter, was a Sunday Times #2 bestseller, selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club, shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and went on to become the bestselling debut novel of 2014. She and her husband, a professor of neurosurgery, have five children and live in Bristol. Her books have sold over 700,000 copies worldwide, and she has been published in 23 territories.

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    Reviews for The Daughter

    3.5/5

    137 ratings14 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I was really looking forward to this one thinking it would be a twisting turning mystery thriller but I actually found it quite slow and boring. The chapters in the past that follow the disappearance as it happens were fantastic but the ones in the present really slowed down the pace. I expected more from the book.
    • 2/5
      I’m reviewing this book long after I read it, so my memory is fuzzy. I remember enjoying the ending because it was so open and seemed like there could be another story focused on the daughter. But overall the story wasn’t compelling enough to keep up steam, though I did finish it. It wasn’t as suspenseful as I would have liked it to be.
    • 3/5
      Daughter by Jane Shemilt is a recommended debut novel about the breakdown of a family.
      "It’s easier than you think to lose sight of what matters," says Jenny, a GP in Bristol, England. Jenny and her husband Ted, a neurosurgeon, are the parents of three teenagers: 17-year-old twins, Ed and Theo, and 15-year-old Naomi. When Naomi fails to come home on the second night of performance for her school play, the police are called in to try and unravel what has happened to Jenny. As the investigation plods along, Jenny realizes that she didn't know Naomi, or her boys, as well as she thought she did.

      The novel switches back and forth in time, going from Naomi's disappearance to a year later when Jenny is living alone in her family's vacation cottage in Dorset. We know, then, that Naomi is still missing a year later and we know that other events have taken place to disintegrate the fragile family bonds that Jenny thought were so strong. Apparently for years Jenny has been turning a blind eye to clues that were all around her regarding her whole family, not only Naomi. Shemilt also touches on mistakes doctors can make as well as mistakes parents can make.

      While this certainly is not a bad debut novel, there were a few problems for me. The first half of the novel moves very slowly. I kept with it hoping to find out what happened, but some of that was a sense of duty from accepting a review copy. Jenny is a well-developed character, but the rest of the family remains largely a mystery. Sure, we don't always know other people as well as we think we do, but Jenny is taking the blame being thrown at her for not seeing this or doing that, while Ted is basically being given a pass for all these things he should have noticed too. Her son Ed is a spoiled brat who needs to be told to stop blaming others for his decisions. Naomi is really a mystery. Jenny thinks she was one way when she obviously wasn't. Finally, the ending of Daughter may irritate some readers because there is no closure, just more unanswered questions and unresolved issues.

      Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of HarperCollins for review purposes




    • 4/5
      Jenny is a hardworking doctor, married to a successful surgeon and mother to three teenagers. Her fifteen-year-old daughter Naomi has been acting distant lately, which bothers Jenny since they have always been close. She attributes it to all the pressures of school, working hard on the school play and just normal teenage angst.Then one night Jenny doesn't come home from play rehearsal. Jenny and Ted call her friends, drive around the town, and still no Naomi. Shemilt captures the raw fear and panic of realizing that your child is missing. Any parent reading it will have a visceral reaction to this story.The story is told in alternating time lines, from the day she disappears and then one year later, with Naomi still gone and no answers from the police. Writing it this way made the story stronger for me, knowing that Naomi hasn't been found allows the reader to concentrate on the emotions of the family, rather than the actual search for Naomi.Naomi's disappearance reveals many secrets about Jenny's family. She discovers that the things she believes to be true about her marriage and her children aren't necessarily so. Naomi hid many things from her mother, and one thing you find from reading The Daughter is that you may think you know everything about your children, but they may have an entirely different life than the one you think they do.Watching Jenny suffer through her daughter's disappearance is tough. She tries to get through each day, wondering where her daughter is and what happened to her. Then there are the reactions of her two sons; as time goes on, she discovers things about them she never thought possible.I'm not sure how I feel about the resolution to the story. It is definitely one that will engender conversation and controversy. One of our members said she felt it fell flat at the end, and she wasn't crazy about the characters.The Daughter is a suspense thriller that does make a good book club pick because it will have people, especially mothers of teenagers, talking. It provokes strong reactions, and as a mother to sons, I wonder if I have a different reaction than mothers of daughters.
    • 4/5
      I picked this up because like the protagonist of this story, I too have a fifteen year old daughter. Sadly for the character of Jenny, her daughter goes missing and she spends the rest of the novel trying to unravel what happened to her. At first I was really hooked into the story. I felt the mother/ daughter interactions rang very true. Jenny wants to know everything going on her daughter's life but Naomi is less than forth coming. As a parent, you are always trying to find the right question that will make your teenager open up while trying not to annoy them which shuts down communication. Although Jenny's motherly instinct tells her that something is off she can't get things straight with her Naomi before she disappears. Complicating matters further is the fact that everyone in Jenny's family have their own secrets.While I flew through the first 100 pages of the story the middle part of the book dragged on. No advancements were made in the missing daughter case and I lost interest. The final conclusion however redemmed the book for me. It seemed very realistic that Naomi could have a secret life that was kept so well under wraps that even her well meaning and caring mother didn't know about it. While reading this book I have been watching The Killing on Netflix which is also about the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a teen girl. Both The Daughter and The Killing show what tragedies can occur when parents lose connection with their teens.
    • 4/5
      I have eyeballed this book on my shelf for a while. A few times in the past I went to grab it but other books won over this one. Now that I finally got a chance to pick this book up and read it I am kicking myself for not having picked this book up sooner. However, I could not help but compare this book to the other one I recently read called Don't Try to Fine Me by Holly Brown. Similar story lines. Daughters missing and mom's trying to find out what happened to them both. The Daughter is the winner in this battle. IT is amazing that this is Jane Shemilt's first book. She writes like a seasoned professional. Although I felt that Jenny was the only one in the family that really cared what happened to Naomi, I could understand why the rest of the family was not as hyped as each one of their secrets were uncovered. The layout of this book alternates from the present to the past, each time with the past gaining in time until the past soon becomes the present. The ending was a strong one. I can not wait to read the next book by this author.
    • 5/5
      This book is so twisty and turning. It was such a page turner because you were feed bits of information slowly, so you were trying to burn through the pages to see what happens. It takes you back and forth in time, all the while fleshing out the characters, opening them up and exposing secrets that call into question everything you thought you knew. I highly recommend this book and think it would make a great book club pick!!! 4.5 stars
    • 4/5
      The Daughter is Jane Shemilt's debut novel.How's this for a 'grab your attention and keep you reading until you're going to be tired in the morning opening line'...."If only. If only I"d been listening. If only I'd been watching. If only I could start again, exactly one year ago."Jenny and her husband Ted are parents to teenagers Naomi and twins Theo and Ed. They're both busy physicians and there just never seems to be enough time to keep on top of everything - things get missed. In this case, it's Naomi who goes missing.Shemilt tells the story of this family from the perspective of Jenny then - just before Naomi's disappearance - and now, one year later with Naomi still missing. I loved this dual narrative. A hint or a line from the past or a remembered nuance sparks a segue to the present and back again. With hindsight, Jenny relives the months leading up to Naomi's disappearance. Did she focus on herself too much? What did she miss? How did she not act on the changes she noticed in her daughter? How could she be blind to what was happening in her family?Shemilt's story tells the story of a horrific loss in a seemingly idyllic family - and exposes the secrets and problems beneath that exterior gloss. But the pressing question is what happened to Naomi? Is she still alive? And Jenny comes to realize she didn't really know her daughter at all....The publisher's blurb reads: "a compelling and clever psychological thriller". I'm not sure about the thriller label, but The Daughter kept me engrossed from start to finish. I was engaged in Jenny's self recriminations (I did found Jenny difficult to like or feel sympathy for though) and got caught up in the search for Naomi. For me, the book was a slow measured suspense novel, with the focus on the mother rather than the daughter. The ending wasn't quite what I had expected, but as I thought about it, I decided I liked it after all. The Daughter was a good debut and I would pick up the next book from this author.
    • 3/5
      Good, not great, but a worthy first effort for the author.I found the jumping back and forth in time particularly annoying in this book. It is difficult to do well and, for me at least, didn't work here. And really, I was left wondering if the author think we can ever really know anyone, because Jenny certain doesn't. Not her husband, not her kids, not her best friend..I could go on. Still, the idea is interesting, the book is beautifully written...her description of her cottage by the sea had me wondering if it might be for sale..and the ending was grand.
    • 4/5
      It’s a dreaded thought that your teen would go missing. Fifteen year old Naomi had been less responsive with her parents for several months before that night when she just didn’t return. Her mother, Jenny, had waited up for her, but fell asleep. When she woke it was 2:00 am. She thought maybe Naomi had come in quietly and gone up to her room, so that’s the first place she checked. Then, she began to think of how Naomi had rebelled about her curfew of 11:30, so maybe she spitefully stayed out later to hang around with her friends. She calls her friend, Shan, the mother of Nikita who is Naomi’s best friend. Clearly, Shan had been sleeping, but Jenny begs her to wake Nikita to see if she knows where Naomi might be. Nikita is tired, sullen, and close-mouthed. Is it because she really doesn’t know where Naomi is … or because she doesn’t want to tell?A year later, the case is now cold. Jenny is still digging for clues – anything that might help her find her daughter. The police had found evidence that Naomi had gone from their home town of Bristol (South West England) to their cabin in Dorset, but that was the end of the trail. And then, there are regrets. Jenny expresses, “If only. If only I’d been listening. If only I’d been watching. If only I could start again …”.This story is told in first person by Jenny and the reader feels the tension almost immediately. The novel alternates between 2009 when Naomi went missing and 2010 one year later. It also alternates between Bristol and Dorcet. I feared the story would become confusing with going back and forth in time, but instead it tended to heighten the suspense. Jenny and Ted also had two older boys, twins Ed and Theo, who were as different as night and day. It is the twins’ reactions and dialogue that gives the reader a deeper clue into the underside of this family. The Daughter is a very compelling and gripping story and I rated it 4 out of 5.
    • 4/5
      3.5 Jenny thought she was handling her busy life well, she is a physician, loves to paint and is raising three children. She thought that though her time was divided that she knew her children, understood them and was always there for them when they really needed her. She thought this until her fifteen year old daughter Naomi did not come home.I think if I had read this while raising my children it would have made me very protective, looking for things they were not telling me. Maybe more careful too, which might not have been a bad thing. My children now basically raised, finding out the things they did, I realize that I did the best I could. After Naomi's disappearance Jenny learns again and again the things she did not see, the things she excused or behavior she made excuses for. The things she didn't notice within her own family, not only with her daughter but her husband and sons as well.The book alternates between the days leading up to Naomi's disappearance and a year later. This is a very well written book and at its heart is a story that parents would find very readable. It would make a great book discussion book, so many issues and revelations. Is it really possible for a wife and mother to have it all? In our busy lives how many things do we miss that we should be seeing? I was not crazy about the ending, felt it was a little abrupt and at the end I have to admit to not liking the character of Naomi very well, nor really understood her motivations. Had other questions as well that I felt were not adequately answered. Nevertheless this was a very good and though provoking read.ARC from publisher.
    • 4/5
      When her young teenage daughter fails to come home one night after a school play performance, Jenny is frantic, Naomi is an innocent, her disappearance out of character and Jenny wants nothing more than to find her. As the police investigate, Jenny is stunned by what they discover, Naomi has been leading a life she knew nothing about.The first person narrative shifts between the past – the days and weeks just before and after Naomi’s disappearance – and the present, nearly a year later. Surprisingly, this doesn’t really dampen the suspense as the drama unfolds in both timelines, slowly revealing shocking betrayals, truths and lies.Jenny’s life falls apart in the wake of Naomi’s disappearance as the secrets her family have kept from her are revealed. I was disturbed to find myself judging Jenny, a busy GP, condemning her for being so oblivious to the reality of her husband’s and children’s lives. It’s not entirely unjustified and Shemilt seems to encourage that response, but it isn’t particularly fair. As a teenager I kept many secrets from my (working) parents, and now, even as a stay at home mother, I know my four children keep secrets from me, though nothing (I hope) as earth shattering as the ones Jenny’s children keep.The writing is often atmospheric evoking the maelstrom of emotion experienced by Jenny, as well as the setting. The story is well paced, the tension of the plot is well maintained and the conclusion is a shock, one I’m still not sure about though.Daughter is a haunting tale of guilt, betrayal, truth and family prompting the read to consider how well we really know the ones we love most.
    • 4/5
      I did it but not sure about how i feel about the ending. It just felt a bit flat. In fact Jenny is a strange character. She is beyond wishy washy. She becomes the victim, she is pathetic, she is a rug and her family walk all over her and hate her in the process. It's a confusing character that finds sudden strength and uncovers vital police evidence against all odds to save the day. Go Jenny! So yeah, not sure. It was a page turner though so couldn't give less than 3.5 stars.
    • 3/5
      Jenny and Ted's daughter Naomi fails to return home after a school play performance and this novel is told (like the last ten novels I seem to have read) in two distinct alternating time frames: firstly, the run-up to and immediate aftermath of her disappearance and secondly, a year later. Even a year later, new facts are coming to light and Jenny is having to realize new things about her daughter and also Ted and her twin sons.The author is a GP and I found the sections set in the surgery interesting and authentic, including the story about Jade. I also appreciated the portrayal of Ed in the later time frame - the author resisted the temptation to make things too easy there.But... I know it seems a strange thing to complain about, but there were just too many twists and turns in the is story for me to find believable. (The very last twist was really much too much for me). Everyone turned out to have really quite devastating secrets, no one was who they appeared to be. Jenny did indeed seem to be concerned about her family, yet she had no idea who they really were...? Really?I struggled a bit to believe that drugs had been going missing from her doctor's bag for some time without her noticing - surely there are safeguards in place to prevent that and she seemed a conscientious doctor. It annoys me when characters in crime novels feel the need to help the police out and I also query whether the courts could really rely on evidence from a dress Jenny claimed to have found in a boot at the school.Finally, it makes me cross that the author (and I think it is indeed her, not just Jenny and her children) seems to have bought into the idea that where both parents work full-time, it is still the mother's fault when things go wrong at home.