Long Lost Girl - Jill Childs

Author: Jill Childs

Narrator: Emma Stansfield

Genre: Domestic Thriller

Rating: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: See that appealing cover and read the blurb. Is your mind clear about what to expect from the book? Good. Now junk those expectations in the dustbin because they are all WRONG!

Story Synopsis:

Paula, married to a local doctor Will, mother to 8 year old Hannah, volunteer in the local art studio. Her great-grandma Ruth, passionate about helping the homeless. Paula’s brother Adam, devastated after his divorce. All these people have a secret. Now yet another secret has returned from the past. Sara, Adam’s daughter, has reentered their lives. This new appearance leads to many changes in the family situation and lots of revelations.

The story is narrated in the first person perspective of the ladies from three generations: great-grandmother Ruth, grand-daughter Paula and great-granddaughter Sara. Paula gets the major chunk of the narration.

Where the book worked for me:

✔ Ruth was nice. Ruth’s story arc was nice.

✔ The title suits the book in multiple ways, though not in the way the blurb suggests.

✔ It is fast. (At least, it felt like that in the audio version.)

✔ I had the audiobook, so I didn’t have to work too hard to reach the finish line.

Where the book didn’t work for me:

❌ Paula is among the most annoying characters I have ever seen in fiction. A busybody, she loves to interfere in everyone’s lives and pass moral judgement, while she herself indulges in the same activities. Ever heard of the pot calling the kettle black, Paula?

❌ Usually, when there are children in a story, I feel a great connect to them. But enter Hannah, the 8 year old who is eight just in name and in a few convenient scenes. Oh my! I have never read such an irritating child character, nor have I seen such an unrealistic and inconsistent depiction of an eight year old. Aargh!

❌ The rest of the characters are flat and boring.

❌ The blurb suggests the idea that Sara was kidnapped. (Whoever worded that blurb was very cunning!) I thought this would be a “missing girl reunited with family” kind of story. The actual background of “Sara’s disappearance” is so different that the whole genre of the story changes.

❌ The blurb also suggests that Sara’s reappearance creates some kind of havoc in the Turner family. But hardly any chapters, especially in the first half, cover the impact of Sara’s re-entry. Most of the so-called secrets have nothing to do with Sara. It was mere correlation-causation in effect.

❌ Most of the story contains Paula's ramblings about various topics such as the lack of spark in her marriage, her husband's aloofness, her attraction to a new life model in the art studio, her daughter's social issues... Too many subplots, most of them uninteresting.

❌ The ending is over-simplified and too perfect.

The audiobook experience:

The only reason I completed the book is Emma Stansfield, the narrator of this 10 hour long audiobook. She was pitch-perfect for every character and emotion. Had I been reading this book, I either would have skimmed through more than half of it or simply DNFed it.

Well, if you want to look at the face of a reader who succumbed to a cute cover and an intriguing blurb, just peek at my profile pic while I go sulk in the corner. Utterly disappointed with the book and with myself.

My thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “Long Lost Girl”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook. Sorry this didn’t work out.