Three and a half stars. Sometimes blurbs on the back of a book can give a whole different idea of what a book is about as this one did. ’What if there was something deeply wrong with your child and nobody believed you?' That intrigued me. However it turns out to be not what I was thinking initially – but Grace’s almost four year old daughter remembering of a former life. While I do not in any way believe in reincarnation and the idea of past lives, I was still willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story. It is fiction after all and I was curious to see how it played out. The author did a good job of building the story. This was despite not being enamoured of the main character Grace or much of her life and parenting choices. Once you accept the idea of reincarnation, at least in the book, I thought it was obvious what the answer was. I read this book fairly quickly because it interested me although I thought the ending was a little contrived.What I loved at times were some of the little details – like reading the Frog and Toad book to Sylvie while waiting at Dr Strickland’s office. This was a favourite book of my children and later grandchildren. Nice to see good children’s books get a mention. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is another than gets mentioned a few times, and one fits the theme of change in the book. I liked the style of writing. It’s a quick read and I enjoyed it enough to be curious to pick up another of this author's books and read. This story has a very, very slow build-up, and it's after the halfway point before the "meat" of the plot shows up. I found the main character to be somewhat passive and naive; I couldn't really relate to her. Little Sylvie is a compelling character, even though at times her language is a bit too sophisticated to believably be that of a four-year-old. What saved this book for me was what transpired after the characters went to Ireland (where the meat of the story begins). The descriptions are beautiful, and the writing improves immensely here. Leroy's travel and atmosphere writing is far superior to her style of characterizing her actors. Even though the whodunit is entirely predictable and without much suspense, the story is worthwhile.
What do You think about Yes, My Darling Daughter (2009)?
Luminous story. Haunting concepts. Kind of an abrupt ending though.
—Carnie
Enjoyed this but my copy was called The Drowning Girl!
—Boogerboo79
I very much rnjoyed this book. Would recommend it.
—boku
