Book review: The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith

I really enjoyed The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith, particularly relating to Caitlin, the sister left behind… until the end when the book headed in an interesting direction. I’m conscious I’ve said the same things about a few books lately – being disappointed at the conclusion and am starting to think perhaps the problem is me. My expectations… I’m keen for books to go in an unexpected direction but perhaps not TOO unexpected. Suddenly dipping into cult-like territory has been the theme of a couple of books I’ve read recently but there’s been nothing in the lead-up to hint that’s where it’s going. So it feels a little left-field.

“Do you have a sister, Ms. Fairview?” The little girl’s question, in all its buttery innocence, slices through me, and the answer catches in my throat. It isn’t as simple as yes or no. It hasn’t been, in nearly sixteen years.

The evening Caitlin and Olivia's parents leave them to go to a dinner party, both girls are bubbling with excitement. At ages 10 and 13, they are at last old enough to stay home alone. After all, in their idyllic town no one even bothers to lock their doors.

As the summer light fades, after TV and popcorn, the sisters finally put themselves to bed. They’re unaware of the figure watching them through an open window. Or of the back door opening once they’ve fallen asleep.

When their parents return, they will find Olivia's bed empty. Their golden-haired, long-limbed, eldest daughter gone. Never to return. Until now.

But is the woman who claims to be Olivia all she seems? Is everything Caitlin said she saw that night the whole truth? Their family have dreamed of this moment, but both sisters are keeping more than one secret. What price will they all pay if they end up believing the wrong daughter?

The first part of this book centres around Caitlin, whose older sister Olivia disappeared when the girls were 10 and 13 years old. Caitlin adored Olivia who she deemed better at everything. Though there’s no sense of jealously on Caitlin’s behalf. Just kindredness or wholesome intimacy between the pair. Which is why Caitlin has always felt guilty she didn’t act immediately she saw Olivia being whisked away at knife-point. Ruing the fact she hid in her bed until her parents arrived home rather than calling for the police.

As a result she’s lived with the guilt, but also the sense that the wrong daughter was left behind… though it remains unsaid. As a result Caitlin’s remained close to home – despite a desire to travel, even venturing into a teaching career because Olivia had once expressed some interest in teaching.

The family has an Olivia-shaped hole in their lives but have worked hard to move past the overwhelm. And then Olivia reappears. Sixteen years later. Initially with no explanation as to where she’s been or how she got home. Her parents are desperately happy with her return but Caitlin is suspicious. Delighted to have her best friend back, but at the same time senses something isn’t quite right.

And that’s when everything starts to go wrong for Caitlin. When Olivia seems unable to remember intimate details of her earlier life Caitlin becomes suspicious this woman is not her sister. And Olivia fans those fires by gaslighting her a little… until Caitlin snaps and puts everyone offside.

And in the mix there’s another story unfolding from the point of view of Elinor who’s 17 years old and lives with her older brother Heath in isolation, only visited by an uncle who’s managing their finances until the siblings are old enough to inherit their parents’ estate. Smith deliberately insinuates there’s something a bit off about the siblings’ relationship without overtly referencing incest. I must have missed some of their backstory (or would have preferred some) as I wasn’t really able to understand why Elinor never left the property, instead relying on Heath for everything. And it’s only when she does venture into the outside world that their lives disintegrate.

It’s unclear for quite some time how these stories will intersect, until they do. Smith times it well but the segue between the what and why felt a little clumsy. Or just a tad fantastical perhaps?

And again, this is where I became a little lost. We finally learn more about ‘what happened to Olivia’ and why she reappeared but I was heavily embedded on team-Caitlin so frustrated by a redemption arc that didn’t come – and the fact everyone so easily turned on the young woman who’d given up her life for her family.

For much of this novel it’s bewildering… in a good way. Though it eventually occurred to me this is more about the the return of a child than it is about the disappearance of one.

The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith was published in Australia by Echo Publishing.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.