Title: Like Mother, Like Daughter
Author: Elle Croft
Published: January 28th 2020
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Pages: 304
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
RRP: $29.99
Rating: 4 stars
How far would you go to reveal the truth about your own family?
Kat’s children are both smart and well-adjusted. On the outside.
Kat has always tried to treat Imogen and Jemima equally, but she struggles with one of her daughters more than the other.
Because Imogen’s birth mother is a serial killer. And Imogen doesn’t know.
They say you can’t choose your family, but what if your family chooses you?
Review:
Like Mother, Like Daughter by Elle Croft is a perplexing novel that turns up the chill factor. A domestic based psychological thriller, Elle Croft’s latest splits open a fragile family unit, revealing a tangled web of complex relations and a troubled past. Riveting, puzzling and divisive, Like Mother, Like Daughter will be sure to get under your skin.
Like Mother, Like Daughter is a story of DNA, bloodlines, inheritance, the past and family. Following the lives of a mother, father and their two daughters, Croft’s novel examines family relationships, connections, estrangement and misunderstanding. It is also about keeping the past buried. Issues of nature versus nurture, true parentage and trauma all have a part to play in this addictive new thriller offering from Elle Croft.
Like Mother, Like Daughter was a book that made me abandon my current early nights, in favour of an extra hour or two of essential reading. Once you start reading Elle Croft’s latest, you will find it incredibly hard to put this one down. The easy pace, the intriguing storyline, the patchwork characters and the debatable scenarios raised in this book ensures that Like Mother, Like Daughter will remain your central concern.
I was fairly certain when I went into this book that I had read another Elle Croft novel previous to this new release. However, a solid interrogation of my packed full bookshelves revealed that I had a previous title penned by the author, The Guilty Wife, sitting on shelves waiting for some much needed attention. Once I closed Like Mother, Like Daughter, I did resolve to read The Guilty Wife in the near future. Back to Croft’s latest. This is a book I enjoyed from start to finish, it was gripping read.
There are some really interesting and morally perplexing issues at stake in Like Mother Like Daughter. Via multiple alternating narratives, this one placed me in a moral minefield. There are issues of DNA, parentage, bloodlines, inheritance of family traits, infertility and adoption. Added to the mix are a series of strained family relationships between mothers, daughters, sisters, spouses, siblings and absent parents. This one will test you in all respects, in terms of the social themes and the lines of right versus wrong.
Added to this intense focus on the psychological and the moral bounds of a strained family unit is a chilling look into the mind of a serial killer. Croft balances this aspect of the narrative within the focal storyline. There are times when this serial killer element of the story can be quite uncomfortable and tense, but it is an integral component of the overall story arc. I valued the way in which Croft was able to interrogate this element of her novel and how the accompanying character dynamics play out for the audience.
In the end, I was unable to correctly guess the final turn of events and I definitely did not anticipate the twist I was issued with near the close of this novel. Croft is quite the manipulator, toying with her readers for the entire length of Like Mother, Like Daughter. I wonder how many other readers of this novel will fall under Croft’s spell?
Questions of birth, the past, family legacies, trauma and criminal intent circulate around Like Mother, Like Daughter. A novel comprising of plenty of grey areas and moral uncertainty, thriller fans will appreciate the chance to get lost in Elle Croft’s latest.
Like Mother, Like Daughter by Elle Croft is published by Hachette Australia on January 28th 2020. $29.99.
https://www.hachette.com.au/elle-croft/like-mother-like-daughter-a-gripping-and-twisty-psychological-thriller-exploring-who-your-family-really-are
To learn more about the author of Like Mother, Like Daughter, Elle Croft, visit here.
*Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
