She’s Not There

Joy Fielding

Average Rating 6/10 (1 Review)

She’s Not There is a gripping novel from a queen of psychological suspense and New York Times bestselling author, Joy Fielding

'I think my real name is Samantha. I think I'm your daughter.'

When Caroline Shipley's two-year-old daughter disappeared, her whole world came crashing down.

Now, fifteen years later, Caroline receives a phone-call that could change everything.

But could this stranger really be her daughter? And what happened all those years ago to make her vanish without a trace? As Caroline pieces together the events of that ill-fated holiday, she begins to question whether the answers could lie dangerously close to home.

Review by Ben Macnair (200525) Rating (6/10)

Review by Ben Macnair
Book Source: Not Known
Rating 6/10
15 years ago 2-year-old Samantha went missing. Her parents had only left her for a short while, but that was more than enough time to change the life of her parents Hunter and Caroline, and her sister Michelle.

Now a mysterious stranger has phoned Caroline, claiming to be Samantha. Caroline has been a fixture in the tabloid press ever since her daughter went missing. Every day is a reminder. Every anniversary is a headline, every time she is seen anywhere, it is written about. Her career as a Maths teacher has suffered. The life that Michelle has would have been different. She has grown resentful of everything, so when Lili (or Samantha) gets in touch she is rightfully wary of what might happen.

The family is well drawn, with the delicate Caroline, her erstwhile husband Hunter and his new wife and second family, Mary, Caroline’s over-bearing but well-meaning mother, and her brother, the widowed Steve.

The novel goes along, with the family at the centre of it. Peripheral characters are drawn in. There is the journalist who poses a potential love interest for Caroline, only to tell all of her secrets.

The story is told through a number of timelines. There is the present, the past when Samantha first went missing, and there are a number of times in between that fill in the gaps and the story. As the denouement arrives, is it a logical one. All of the loose ends are tied up, the kidnappers are shown justice, and some form of normality is returned to an infamous family who never asked for the spotlight, who never asked to be special, and just found themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time, and involved with the wrong people.
Ben Macnair (20th May 2025)