Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author
"An atmospheric and harrowing tale, richly literary in complexity but
ripe with all the crazed undertones, confusions, and forebodings
inherent in the gothic genre. Recommend this riveting, du Maurier-like
novel to fans of Jennifer McMahon." -- Booklist (starred review)
From the author of the internationally bestselling The Lake of Dead
Languages comes a gripping novel about madness, motherhood, love, and
trust.
When Daphne Marist and her infant daughter, Chloe, pull up the gravel
drive to the home of Daphne's new employer, it feels like they've
entered a whole new world. Tucked in the Catskills, the stone mansion
looks like something out of a fairy tale, its lush landscaping hiding
the view of the mental asylum just beyond its border. Daphne secured the
live-in position using an assumed name and fake credentials, telling no
one that she's on the run from a controlling husband who has threatened
to take her daughter away.
Daphne's new life is a far cry from the one she had in Westchester
where, just months before, she and her husband welcomed little Chloe.
From the start, Daphne tries to be a good mother, but she's plagued by
dark moods and intrusive thoughts that convince her she's capable of
harming her own daughter. When Daphne is diagnosed with Post Partum Mood
Disorder, her downward spiral feels unstoppable--until she meets Laurel
Hobbes.
Laurel, who also has a daughter named Chloe, is everything Daphne isn't:
charismatic, sophisticated, fearless. They immediately form an intense
friendship, revealing secrets to one another they thought they'd never
share. Soon, they start to look alike, dress alike, and talk alike,
their lives mirroring one another in strange and disturbing ways. But
Daphne realizes only too late that being friends with Laurel will come
at a very shocking price--one that will ultimately lead her to that
towering mansion in the Catskills where terrifying, long-hidden truths
will finally be revealed....
