A baby goes missing. But does her mother want her back?
When Estelle’s baby daughter is taken from her cot, she doesn’t report her missing. Days later, Estelle is found in a wrecked car, with a wound to her head and no memory.
Estelle knows she holds the key to what happened that night – but what she doesn’t know is whether she was responsible…
Author: Alexandra Burt
Title: Little Girl Gone
Publishers: Avon
Publication Date: 24th Sept 2015
Link: Uk: Amazon US: Amazon
My Review
This psychological thriller is completely different to what I normally read and it had me gripped from the minute I picked it up until I had finished it.
The book is a harrowing portrayal of Estelle, a woman who is suffering from not yet diagnosed post natal depression. The narrative is told from her point of view and includes every single thought process she has, this highlights the utter desperation she feels when trying to look after her seven month old baby Mia, who never seems to stop crying. Estelle has an overwhelming sense of failure when looking after the baby especially when her husband tells her to pull herself together, however I did sympathise with the husband too because he didn't know what to do to help her and when he eventually took her to the doctors they were fobbed off with a prescription for anti depressants and no counselling or practical advice or help.
Estelle feels even worse about herself when strangers criticize her for not looking after the baby properly, she also finds herself becoming forgetful and she has some terrible thoughts about harming the baby which I found upsetting. However I believe that it is good to raise awareness of post natal depression which will hopefully enable more people who suffer from it to get the help they need and not feel so isolated.
When the baby goes missing from the apartment Estelle cannot understand what has happened and can't bring herself to report it to the police as the apartment was locked and she was the only one there as her husband was working away, things take a turn for the worse when the next thing she remembers is waking up in hospital after being found in her car in a ravine hundreds of miles away from home. How can Estelle prove she is innocent when she doesn't remember what happened?
Eventually she is sectioned into a psychiatric hospital where Dr Ari tries to help her recall the memories that he believes are hidden away inside her.
I found the style of writing gripped me straight away and held my attention until the end, the fast paced action caused me to hold my breath in some parts and my heart to pound, the writer managed to weave a web of intrigue around the devastation that had befallen this family. Although some of the plot could have been out of a horror film the sad realisation is that situations like this can and do happen in real life, we only have to look at the news to see that.
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the review copy.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
Alexandra was born in Germany. After her college graduation she moved to Texas and, while pursuing literary translations, she decided to tell her own stories. After three years of writing classes her short fiction appeared in the Freedom Fiction Journal, All Things Girl, MUSED Literary Review, and Heater Crime Fiction Magazine.
She is a member of Sisters In Crime, an organization promoting the advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers.
She live in Texas with her husband, her daughter, and two Labradors.
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