Editorial Content for The Daughter

The Malcolms are a high-powered family who live in Bristol, England. The mother, a practicing physician; the father, a celebrated neurosurgeon; the twins, hearty, busy teen-age boys; and the youngest child, Naomi, are all on the fast track in everything they do. As THE DAUGHTER opens, Naomi is rehearsing for her starring role in her class play, “West Side Story.” The performances up to the next-to-last night are wonderful, and Naomi is treated like a star. On that penultimate evening, Naomi begs her mother to allow her, her friends and the show's cast to throw a party in the family's "getaway" house, the one her mother, Jenny, just inherited from Grandma. Of course she gets permission; after all, Jenny and Ted's children would never be involved in anything dangerous.

But all is not well in the Malcolm household. Unfortunately, neither father nor mother has time to actually listen to the cries for help from their offspring. Most of the time, Ted is at the hospital or traveling the world giving speeches. Meanwhile, Jenny's practice is very busy. She is so preoccupied with the limits of her time that she left a little girl undiagnosed with an advanced stage of leukemia.

"Readers will find themselves looking as closely for clues as Jenny does, following the twisty labyrinth that Shemlit has created. By the time they reach the end, they will be astounded by what really happened."

Jenny knows something is up with Naomi but just brushes it off, telling herself that it's all due to homework and the many rehearsals for the play. Her coping mechanisms are to "just let things be and they will sort themselves out." Then, on the night of that party, Naomi never comes home. And this is where author Jane Shemilt throws the whole narrative into a spin --- the suspenseful thriller that follows is harrowing. And whether or not you are sympathetic to the characters, the way they are limned is top drawer.

The police are involved from the beginning, and Jenny is very critical of them. They aren't moving fast enough or spending every minute looking for Naomi, and she feels they don't like her. Neither parent supports the other during this time of trauma, and they don’t support their twin boys either. Not one thought is given to what Naomi's disappearance is doing to everyone.

Readers follow the story through Jenny's point of view, which we learn is very skewed. We do not hear from other characters until the middle of the novel when one of the twins, now grown up, vents to his mother, with rage for her unbraiding of her responsibility to her other two children. At this point, Jenny and Ted have separated. She is living in the vacation house on the beach in Bristol and keeping track of the number of days Naomi is missing. At first she hears rumors from her friends, but how can she know if they are true? The chapters are presented in numbers of days missing and the calendar date.

The story of Naomi's disappearance falls off the front pages of all the newspapers and news outlets that followed the case from the beginning. After all, a year has passed with no sign of a resolution. But Jenny never gives up and follows her own line of investigation, no matter how small or unlikely the clue. The police find that she has become a nuisance, except for the liaison officer who is helping the family cope.

Jane Shemilt knows what she is writing about; in many ways, her real life parallels Jenny's without losing a child. Readers will find themselves looking as closely for clues as Jenny does, following the twisty labyrinth that Shemlit has created. By the time they reach the end, they will be astounded by what really happened. THE DAUGHTER is a debut novel not to be missed.