She’s finally back home … but is it really her?
When three-year-old Tippi Macklin goes missing on a weekend break with her parents, her face appears in newspapers around the world, sparking endless debate and conspiracy theories. Wealthy and glamorous Jed and Gabby never give up hope that ‘Little Tippi’ will be found.
Eighteen years later, a young woman arrives at their door claiming to be their lost girl. She has a new name, a new history and some startling evidence to support her claim. Can she really be Tippi – or is she an imposter?
A DNA test will prove her identity one way or the other, but when the results come back, it seems the mystery has only just begun…
I do LOVE a Louise Candlish novel, so much so that when I saw I’d been approved on Netgalley I spent my whole Saturday reading it. I’m never disappointed and this is such a fascinating subject and family. Narrated by Gabby Macklin’s sister Bel, this is about how such a huge tragedy affects a whole family, but also about the underlying tensions and dynamics between its members. If it wasn’t for Jed and Gabby losing their daughter eighteen years ago you would absolutely hate them. They’re one of those couples on Escape to the Country or Grand Designs who say ‘I’m a cheese maker, my wife is a freelance bid writer and we have 2.4 million to spend.” Those people who claim to want a country kitchen, but really mean Downton Abbey. It’s now eighteen years later and a young woman claims that, after her parents died in a car crash, she’s discovered things that make her think she’s their lost daughter Tippi. This isn’t the first time their hopes have been raised, but it’s by far the most exciting lead they’ve had in a long time. Gabby tells her sister she feels that Eden is her daughter but Bel isn’t so sure and starts to investigate. Told mainly through Bel there are also a few different narratives: feeds from the couple’s social media pages for Tippi, some creative writing pieces from Tippi’s perspective from someone clearly obsessed with the case and text messages between two people that are very hard to decipher and suggest illegal activities.
The characters are fascinating with Bel and her sister Gabby at the story’s heart, but also a weird dynamic between Bel and her brother in law Jed. The two families are in very different positions financially. Jed runs a very successful training business and Gabby makes candles in at home studio. Their home is clearly interior designed with a sunken living room area and so much party space. Theirs is the house where the family get together and with such a disparity in their earnings, it’s clear that some resentment is felt by Bel. She’s supporting her family while husband Marc gets his business off the ground. They rent their home and are aware that if London prices go up much more they will have to move, probably to a worse area than now. Their home is lived in rather than designed and with Bel working full time as a trading standards officer she has a lot on her plate. Daughter Luna is coming up to her GCSEs and becomes more incommunicative by the day. Grace is away at university studying psychology and seems the most sensible and sorted out of all of them. Wherever Bel’s busy schedule allows she is quite determined to find out whether Eden really is her lost niece or has she realised her similarity to Tippi and noticed Gabby and Jed’s wealthy lifestyle? It’s hard to like Bel but there’s a lot to empathise with. Jed came across as a man who is used to setting the agenda and uses his money to control and manipulate. Gabby is almost like a shadow, physically present but quiet and passive. Losing her daughter has been a trauma she will never get over and Bel doesn’t want her sister to sleepwalk into a relationship with Eden without proof that she’s definitely who she says she is. But why is Bel so sure Eden isn’t Tippi?
I thought the author captured the endless speculation and media attention around a missing child, especially one as photogenic and appealing as Tippi clearly was. When a case captures the public attention it’s as if everyone wants to be involved. The furore surrounding Madeleine McCann’s disappearance has shown us that people on social media will comment, discuss and make wild accusations about the family. The excerpts from the Facebook page show that people want to be part of the story whether that’s pretending to know something, throwing a wild theory out there or just sending their love and prayers. Often there appears to be no thought for the family who have to wade through this just in case there is a clue. The creative writing pieces are particularly cruel and well written. Who would do such a thing? What’s their aim? Is there any truth in them? It plays on Gabby’s hope that one day she’ll find her. The guilt of the parents felt very real and I found it very hard to believe that Eden was preying on that hope, just wishing that Gabby’s need to find her daughter might overwhelm the need for the truth. In the midst of DNA tests, research and quizzing Eden, has Bel has taken her eye off the ball at home? Something that has bothered her for years keeps resurfacing, a frustration that her sister’s ongoing drama overshadows her and her daughters. Because of what happened, Gabby is the precious sister who they can’t upset. Every problem Bel’s family has pales in comparison to what the Macklins have gone through. As her mother says, she can’t complain about her daughters because at least she has them.
There are so many secrets here and as always I was glued to the page as they were revealed. Each revelation was a surprise and explained a lot about the family dynamics. The twists were not just focused on the Macklins though, Bel’s family had a few surprises in store too. I thought this was an addictive read and captured perfectly how trauma like this ripples outwards into wider family and friends. Through Gabby we can see how the loss affects a mother, leaving her in limbo and something of a recluse in her own home, perhaps not wanting to miss any development and having her hopes raised and dashed continually. Bel tells the story very well, becoming obsessed with Eden perhaps at the expense of her own daughters. My thoughts about some characters were confirmed, but others surprised me completely. You will devour this novel like I did as it’s Louise Candlish at her very best.
Out November 5th from Harper Collins
Meet the Author
Louise’s previous thrillers include OUR HOLIDAY, a Sunday Times bestseller, WHSmith Richard & Judy Book Club pick, and OUR HOUSE, now a major four-part drama starring Martin Compston and Tuppence Middleton (watch the full series on ITVX in the UK and PBS/Amazon Prime in the US) and winner of the British Book Awards Book of the Year – Crime & Thriller.
She has celebrated her 20th anniversary as an author with the news of two prestigious awards for 90s-set thriller THE ONLY SUSPECT: the Capital Crime Fingerprint Award for Thriller of the Year and the Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction. Filming has just wrapped in London for the ITV adaptation, with Kevin McKidd starring as Alex, a middle-aged man with a deadly secret to hide. More soon on that – and on the adaptation of THE HEIGHTS, starring Anna Friel.
She lives in South London with her husband, daughter and a fox-red Labrador called Bertie. Books, TV and long walks are her passions – and drinking wine in the sun with family and friends. Authors she loves include Tom Wolfe, Patricia Highsmith, Barbara Vine, Agatha Christie and Evelyn Waugh. Her favourite book is Madame Bovary.
