Home can be the most dangerous place of all...
In this chilling psychological thriller, one woman’s dark past becomes another’s deadly future.
In 2003, sixteen-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared.
She’d been enjoying her teenage summer break: working at a fast food restaurant, crushing on an older boy and shoplifting with her best friend. Mysteriously ominous things began to happen — blood in the bed, periods of blackouts, a feeling of being watched — though Bec remained oblivious of what was to come.
Eleven years later she is replaced.
A young woman, desperate after being arrested, claims to be the decade-missing Bec. Soon the imposter is living Bec’s life. Sleeping in her bed. Hugging her mother and father. Learning her best friends' names. Playing with her twin brothers.
But Bec’s welcoming family and enthusiastic friends are not quite as they seem. As the imposter dodges the detective investigating her case, she begins to delve into the life of the real Bec Winter — and soon realizes that whoever took Bec is still at large, and that she is in imminent danger.
Only Daughter, Anna Snoekstra
ONLY DAUGHTER has two perspectives. The first is that of Bec Winter who disappeared in 2003 and the second is that of her current day doppleganger, a "homeless by choice" young woman. The imposter settles quickly into Bec's life with loving parents, two younger brothers and friends who have been mourning the loss of the vivacious sixteen year old version of Bec for over a decade. Was she really missed? Who knows the truth? It's the opportunistic and not malicious insertion into the Winter family by the imposter which makes this novel interesting. The imposter is someone outside of the circle who is observing them all with fresh and untainted eyes, making her own judgment calls and piecing together what the (still missing) Rebecca was really like. Yes, there is slippage in this read that may be due to editing in the attempt to make the setting more universal (ie American) or it may just simply be that the author felt like mixing things up i.e. Mom (us) and Mum (Australian). Little slips like these don't distract too much away from the moody endless summer/Puberty Blues feeling that ONLY DAUGHTER economically evokes; it's a very familiar (and oddly low-tech) setting/period that most young Australians will recognize; all of us have gone through those rites of passage such as the first menial job whilst still in high school, and battled through those tumultuous teenage relationships that are never built to last beyond our childhood. You'll nip through this novel in one or two sittings; it is not dragged down by the minutiae of a police investigation (though there is a detective still working the case) and the speed and ease in which young people live their responsibility-free lives is conveyed well. As the imposter increasingly becomes aware that she has stepped out of the proverbial frying pan into something much worse, the tension slowly builds. It does take an astonishingly long time for the imposter to realize that if she's around, and Bec isn't, there is possibly a killer still about - observing everyone and faking their personality just as much as the new Rebecca is too.
Only Daughter, Anna Snoekstra
Debut author Anna Snoekstra has taken on one of the more difficult challenges in writing fiction - creating an engaging, morally ambiguous central character, who sometimes borders on unlikeable. ONE DAUGHTER shows that an intriguing scenario helps, as does pace and the provision for some readers to have some sympathy for, in this case, the imposter's situation in particular.
Right from the start imposter Bec has reasons for doing what she did. Eleven years after the real Rebecca Winter disappeared, an imposter "returns" to the family claiming to be the missing girl. Everyone - particularly her parents, seem to be happy to accept that their daughter has returned. Despite the original detective who investigated the case being a constant thorn in everyone's side, there never seems to be any question in the family's mind about the return of Bec. If there's anything at all that starts screaming "what the" at reader's it's kind of easy to go with the flow on it. On one level it doesn't seem strange that everybody is happy to accept this - and at another you sometimes can't help but wonder at what point does a parent, in particular, not know their own child. The big question is always however, at what point is the imposter going to slip up to the point where the switch cannot be overlooked?
To be fair though, readers who are happy to go along with the switch acceptance aren't being delusional or somehow convenient. It's easy to be on Team-Rebecca's-Returned side, even with a small shouty voice at the back of your head. Perhaps that's because as odd as this all seems, imposter Bec seems to be as conflicted by the whole thing as the reader. It's also very possible that readers will have a definite allergic reaction to the whole scenario - either way you can see how this is going to be one of those books that polarises pretty firmly.
There are some interesting elements throughout the book. In particular, the way Snoekstra has captured the voice and behaviour of teenage Bec before she goes missing, her relationships with her brothers, parents and friends is cleverly done. The to and fro in between the two "Becs" isn't forced and comes across as believable and engaging. It's these interactions that could warm readers to imposter Bec's situation and characterisation more and more as the book progresses.
The resolution, when it arrives, does tend to land on the reader from a height, and whilst some elements were possibly deducible along the way, motivation and the extent of the awful nature of what was happening within the family is revealed with a thud. Those of a particular sensitivity to animal cruelty may find some elements of the final resolution of this uncomfortably graphic and confronting.
Overall it's an unusual scenario built around a strong central character who will work incredibly well for those readers able to develop some sympathy and connection with her. For a debut novel it's a strong undertaking and bodes well for where Anna Snoekstra decides to take her writing in the future.
Originally Published at Reviewing the Evidence