The Good Daughter by J A Baker ~ Review

She will have her day of reckoning…

As a teenager, Penny Collins always tried to be a good daughter. Until the night she was brutally attacked as she lay in her bed. The assault, from a man she knew all too well, traumatised Penny. Worse still, after her family refused to believe her initial fears about being watched, Penny told nobody, afraid her family would be convinced she was making the whole thing up…

Now, twenty years later, Penny cares for her elderly mother whose memory is fading daily. Still a good daughter, Penny tries not to think about the past, but her mother seems more insistent to talk about what happened that night…to drag up painful memories.

So when Penny comes face to face with her attacker again, she knows it’s time for her to take action and get answers for them all. This time he’s in the dock where he belongs, accused of the same terrible crime. And Penny, a good daughter and now a good citizen, sits on the jury – his fate finally in her hands…

If only she can convince the others of his guilt…

Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/thegooddaughter

“Worse still, after her family refused to believe her initial fears about being watched, Penny told nobody, afraid her family would be convinced she was making the whole thing up…“

This book certainly encourages me to be the kind of parent that never causes my kids to feel like they can’t come to me for fear that I won’t believe them. The rage that I felt toward this girls parents is next level.

This story holds a very traumatic childhood story of assault and a second chance for justice in her adulthood. With such heavy content, I would have liked for more emotional depth. I like to really *feel* the books I read, and this book had such potential to deliver that, yet I remained dry eyed.

Don’t get me wrong, I felt for our protagonist and wanted her to get the ending she deserved after all those years. Though much of the book was taking place inside her own head, there was just something missing to form that deep heartfelt connection. Perhaps the hardened walls she had built around herself also shielded the reader from connecting as well.

The overall plot was very interesting and held me in suspense. I felt a great deal of anger when characters chose not to believe her or inadvertently belittled her experience, but I also felt frustrated when she didn’t allow herself to speak up. She frequently held conversations in her head that she wished she had the courage to speak out loud. She understood the importance of her roll in the second chance at convincing people of her attacker’s guilt and yet I felt like she played it too safe and held back when she should have rallied others around her.

The ending was a bit of a plot twist and certainly wrapped things up in a way you didn’t see coming.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this virtual book tour, Rachel’s Random Resources

Twice longlisted for The Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize, J.A. BAKER was born and brought up in North East England and has had a love of language for as long as she can remember.

When she isn’t writing, she enjoys reading many genres of books but especially enjoys psychological thrillers.

She has four grown-up children, five grandchildren, and lives in a village near Darlington with her husband and Border Collie, Theo, who is quite possibly the naughtiest dog in the world.

You find out more about J.A.Baker by following her on social media.

Facebook: @thewriterjude

Instagram: @jabakerauthor

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