ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie

Posted on 1st September 2020 By Nicola

It’s my stop on the blog tour for The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie. I loved this book! My thanks to Annabelle Wright from ed pr for the place on the tour and for sending me a copy of the book for review purposes.

The Silent Daughter is published 3rd September by Welbeck.

Deceit runs in the family . . .

Chris Morrison is facing his worst nightmare.

His wife is in a coma.

His daughter is missing.

And the only thing more unsettling than these two events . . . is what might connect them.

Some secrets can change a family for ever.

This is a debut? Are you sure? Wow!

The tagline for The Silent Daughter is “How many secrets can one family keep?”. How many indeed. The Morrison family seem to have more than most. The book starts with Chris Morrison finding out his wife, Maria, is in a coma after a fall whilst running. But Maria is such a competent runner. Would she have just fallen? Chris makes contact easily with their son, Mikey, but struggles to get hold of their daughter, Ruth. It’s not unusual for Ruth to go off-grid but it is usually possible to find a way to communicate with her. Where is she? Does her disappearance have anything to do with Maria’s situation?

I can’t say anything more about the plot but I will say that it’s executed brilliantly. From page 1 this is a book that had me gripped by the turns the story took. Chris starts to try and piece everything together and the author led me down many different routes to the conclusion, via dead ends, cul-de-sacs and roundabouts galore! I was thoroughly discombobulated. I just didn’t see any of it coming and the denouement when it came was so totally unexpected. Every time I thought I had it cracked something else was thrown at me.

Emma Christie has written something quite brilliant here and totally fresh. It’s such a cleverly constructed novel, focusing on family and what it means. The Edinburgh setting plays a big part in the story and the typical Scottish weather is very atmospheric. It really felt like it added to Chris’s torment as he paced the streets looking for answers.

In case you hadn’t guessed, I thought this was a brilliant read. I was hooked from start to finish. I’m really excited to see what this debut author does next.

Emma Christie was born and raised in Scotland but has spent much of her adult life living in Spain and Latin America. After studying literature and medieval history at Aberdeen University she spent five years as a news journalist with one of the UK’s top-selling regional daily newspapers, The Press and Journal, covering crime and political stories before reaching the position of chief reporter. She now works as a tour guide and lecturer in history, culture and politics with a US travel company, leading educational journeys across Spain, France, Portugal and Greece. She lives in Barcelona with her girlfriend, María Jose.