The Perfect Daughter by Alex Stone -psychological thriller
Jess and her mother are being interviewed after Adam, Jess’s boyfriend's car,
has been found over a cliff and no sign of Adam. Jess had met Adam, a
plumber, when she called him out for a repair. Jess’s mother Abigail is
controlling and domineering to the point of coercive control, telling Jess
all her life things such as “ what you want doesn’t matter” and blaming
her for her father leaving many years ago. Jess isn't allowed to mention
her father “ as then others will want to know what happened and what
you did”. Jess was close to her father and only knows that the marriage
was unhappy- something she blames herself for despite her being
a child at the time. Alternate chapters are “now” and “ then” when Jess and
Adam met and how their relationship was affected by Abigail.
Yes this type of person really does exist and whilst this is fiction, controlling
narcissistic personalities like this can control their offspring whilst the children
(of whatever age) have little idea of what is happening as it is all they have ever
known and to them this is normal. They see the person as “protecting” them
and caring for them by doing this, when in reality the person only cares about
themselves and no-one is going to take their narcissistic supply away from
them. (see narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder)
The child seeks approval from the parent desperately wanting to please
them but never, ever getting it . “Practice makes perfect” was used by Abigail
and Jess was never ever good enough to achieve any praise. Early on Jess
acknowledges that perfect doesn't really exist but has to lie to try to appease
her mother.
I thought I could see where this was going but was slightly off the mark
-however for me the most important thing is that a personality like this is now
out there for all to see to raise awareness that abuse of this type really does
happen and little can be done legally unless there are other types of abuse involved.
“ I had been trying to achieve something that was impossible. I'd measured myself
worth by how happy I made someone else. I'd made myself feel guilty and
inadequate because no matter what I did I always failed”
Wow! To me this is either very well researched or perhaps maybe even
from someone's experience. I can't say how emotive and powerful seeing
this is. A stunning piece of writing with a message, 5*
For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
or follow me on Twitter@nickisbookblog
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The Perfect Daughter The perfect daughter… Jess Harper has spent her whole life trying to make her mum, Abigail happy and proud. And everything Jess does, from the clothes she wears, the job she has, the men she dates, are all approved by Abigail first. The perfect boyfriend… So when Jess announces that she has a new man in her life – plumber Adam – Abigail is less than impressed. 'A plumber? Really, Jessica....' Adam encourages Jess to break free from her mum’s manipulation, can’t she see what’s happening? The perfect mother…. But Abigail is only doing these things to keep Jess safe, to protect her from getting hurt again…isn’t she? Or the perfect liar? Jess, caught in the middle, doesn’t know who to believe or trust. And then Adam vanishes without trace. Now Jess is the police’s prime suspect and they want to know if Jess really is as perfect as she seems…. A gripping new psychological thriller for fans of Sue Watson, Shalini Boland and S.E.Lynes Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/2WhQ8bE
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