It has been seven years since Anne's eight year old daughter Abigail vanished without a trace. Seven years of searching, living for the day that she would be able to hold her beloved daughter in her arms again and with the guilt of what happened on that fateful day in the London tube station.
And now,unbelievably,the day that she has always hoped for has miraculously arrived. Abigail has been found,she just walked into a police station in London and the officers there realised that she was on the missing persons database. Anne is overjoyed to have her daughter back but also terrified of how much Abigail remembers from the day she went missing.
Because Anne told a little white lie all those years ago,and if the truth was ever uncovered,it would shatter the image of perfection that Anne has strived so hard to create.
The chapters of this heartstoppingly brilliant thriller alternate between Anne and her fifteen year old niece Jess. I was never really certain wether I liked Anne or not,she was a complex character who I wouldn't say had any redeemable qualities and was also very indecisive. But her struggles to make decisions for herself were unsurprising considering she had spent her entire life living in the shadow of her controlling sister Lillian. Now that was one character that I definitely didn't like,not even a tiny bit for various reasons. Lillian had a mantra that she expected everyone to live by,you could easily imagine her having those little wooden quote signs scattered around her home with we are fine,we are happy,we are perfect written on them. Poor Jess was treated more like a child of a much younger age and kept in the dark about anything that was even remotely connected to her beloved cousin because in Lillian's world,if you didn't talk about it,then it hadn't happened. Absolutely nothing or no one was permitted to tarnish the image of Lillian's perfect life and family. I loved Abigail's dad Robert,he was a fantastic,loveable character and Jess's dad Fraser who constantly found himself torn between keeping his Lillian happy and honestly answering Jess's questions. My heart went out to poor Abigail who must have felt like she had escaped one prison just to find herself trapped in another one. Living with her mum's overbearing attempts to make up for the mistakes of the past and her constantly insisting that everything was fine. Whilst below the surface,a boiling pot of secrets,lies,manipulations,obsessions and deceit was bubbling away,and would eventually overflow resulting in more than one person getting very badly burned.
Little White Lies is a expertly plotted,unputdownable,suspenseful thriller that had me hooked in from the very first page and frantically turning the pages,totally captivated by the gripping story. The characters were vivid and realistic.There was quite a few twists and turns along the way including one jaw dropping reveal that had me sitting in my comfy chair doing a very bad impersonation of omg cat. The feeling of dread is never far away,the reader can't help sensing that something bad is going to happen,a feeling that only intensified as the story unfolded. This is an extremely well written debut thriller that I couldn't put down and I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future. Worth far more than five stars and definitely one of my favourite books of this year. Very very highly recommended.
AUTHOR BIO
Philippa East grew up in Scotland before moving to Oxford and then London to train as a Clinical Psychologist.
A few years ago, Philippa left the NHS to set up her own part-time practice and dedicate more hours to writing. The result was her debut novel LITTLE WHITE LIES which will be published with HQ/HarperCollins in February 2020.
Philippa now lives in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside with her husband and cat. She loves reading (of course!) and long country walks, and she also performs in a local folk duo called The Miracle Cure. Alongside her writing, Philippa continues to work as a psychologist and therapist.
You can find Philippa on Twitter: @philippa_east
PUBLICATION DATE: 6th February 2020
PRINT LENGTH: 352 pages
PUBLISHER: HQ Stories
GENRE: Psychological Thriller
PRE-Order link...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-White-Lies-Philippa-East/dp/0008344868/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1I8SRB9HU4IB7&keywords=little+white+lies&qid=1573846276&sprefix=Little+white+%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-2
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