Jane Shemilt – författare

"Beautifully written and suffused with dread. Jane Shemilt''s domestic settings are seductively vivid, and the final outcome is profoundly shocking and terrifying." — Gilly Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of The Nanny

Big Little Lies meets Lord of The Flies in this electrifyingly twisty psychological thriller, follow-up to Jane Shemilt’s breakout debut The Daughter.Over the course of a long, hot summer in London, the lives of three very different married couples collide when their children join the same tutoring circle, resulting in illicit relationships, shocking violence, and unimaginable fallout.

There’s Eve, a bougie earth mother with a well-stocked trust fund; she has three little ones, a blue-collar husband and is obsessed with her Instagrammable recipes and lifestyle. And Melissa, a successful interior designer whose casually cruel banker husband is careful not to leave visible bruises; she curates her perfectly thin body so closely she misses everything their teenage daughter is hiding. Then there’s Grace, a young Zimbabwean immigrant, who lives in high-rise housing project with her two children and their English father Martin, an award-winning but chronically broke novelist; she does far more for her family than she should have to.

As the weeks go by, the couples become very close; there are barbecues, garden parties, a holiday at a country villa in Greece. Resentments flare. An affair begins. Unnoticed, the children run wild. The couples are busily watching each other, so distracted and self-absorbed that they forget to watch their children. No one sees the five children at their secret games or realize how much their family dynamics are changing until tragedy strikes.

The story twists and then twists again while the three families desperately search for answers. It’s only as they begin to unravel the truth of what happened over the summer that they realize evil has crept quietly into their world.

But has this knowledge come too late?

"Countless psychological thrillers get compared to Big Little Lies; Shelmilt''s is the real deal."  — People

The Edgar-nominated, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Daughter and The Playground weaves a breathtaking tale of betrayal, family, and secrets from the past in this crackling novel of psychological suspense.

Two women. Two secrets. One terrible night.

PAXOS, GREECE

The vacation house is a luxurious getaway for a wealthy English family, windows open to sun and the sea, a sparkling swimming pool, and a verdant garden. One hot summer night, while the parents and their friends drink wine and amuse themselves, a young woman—the teenage daughter of the Greek caretaker—ventures for a walk on their private beach. Her life will never be the same again.

LONDON, ENGLAND, TEN YEARS LATER

Julia is the perfect spouse and mother. Slender, blonde, expensively dressed, she’s the classic “yummy mummy” of high society: cook, organizer, arm candy, and speechwriter to her influential husband.

But behind her winning smile is a stifled woman trapped in a gilded cage, stricken with anxiety and perfectionism. When Julia meets Laurel, a therapist who promises to help her find fulfillment, Julia opens herself up to the hope of a different future.

BOUND BY THE PAST

What happened in Greece all those years ago that binds these two women together? And will uncovering the truth destroy everything… or set them free?

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Daughter by Jane Shemilt, read by Sophie Aldred.''I still don''t know why we had to check. Did we really think you would be there, curled up and sleeping on the stage? That we would put our arms round you, and take you home?''Naomi has vanished, leaving her family broken and her mother Jenny desperately searching for answers. But the traces fifteen-year-old Naomi''s left behind reveal a very different girl to the one Jenny thought she''d raised. And the more she looks the more she learns that everyone she trusted has been keeping secrets.But will discovering the real Naomi help to find her?Praise for Daughter''We absolutely loved this book. It''s about a GP and her family and the sudden horror that devastates their lives when their 16-year-old daughter disappears one night. It''s difficult to believe that this accomplished book is a debut'' Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy book club''Ostensibly a suspense novel about the disappearance of a teenage girl, this taut and thought-provoking debut novel explores a working mother''s guilt, something all-too familiar to many of us'' Woman & Home''Complex and baffling. Jane Shemilt builds layer upon layer of tension in a novel you won''t be able to put down'' Tess Gerritsen ''Gripping to the last page!'' My Weekly''Thrilling'' Sunday Express''Clever'' Sun''Taut and thought-provoking'' Sunday Mirror''Utterly gripping. A tautly coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending'' Mail On Sunday''A wonderful plot, full of tantalising reasons to read on, and of course with a killer twist at the end. What impressed me most was (. . .) the impossibility of truly knowing those closest to us, the pressures of parenthood - in particular working motherhood, and the terrible loss at the heart of all parenting: they grow up and away'' Christopher Wakling, author of What I Did

''It''s our son, Sam... someone took him. Please help us''Emma hoped that she and her family would return from their year abroad closer, with memories to last a lifetime.Instead, they returned minus one child.A year on, Emma is haunted by the image of an empty cot, and feels further than ever from her husband.Is their son still out there somewhere? Will the mystery about what happened that night ever be unravelled?And, if the truth does come to light, will Emma''s family be healed - or wrenched even further apart?A chilling, gripping thriller from the author of the stunning Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller Daughter