Off The Shelf: Dear Daughter {+ Giveaway}

The book I’m taking off the shelf today to talk about – DEAR DAUGHTER - is a thrilling debut novel by Elizabeth Little that tells the story of Jane Jenkins, glamorous and well-loathed celebutante, who was convicted of murdering her mother but has no memory of the night it happened.

Thanks to the lovely Angie at Viking/Penguin, I have a copy of DEAR DAUGHTER to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for more details.

DEAR DAUGHTER was released earlier this month and here’s what others are already saying about:

      Bestselling author Tana French called it “an all-nighter, and the best debut mystery I've read in a long time" and Kate Atkinson (author of Life After Life) called it “a really gutsy, clever, energetic read, often unexpected, always entertaining…In the world of crime novels, Dear Daughter is a breath of fresh air.”
      “Little makes a thrilling debut with this gripping read. Fans of Tana French and Gillian Flynn are going to enjoy the smart narrator and the twists and turns in the case. ” — Library Journal (Starred Review)
      “Agatha Christie meets Kim Kardashian in this sharp-edged, tart-tongued, escapist thriller. . . A stylishly written tale that plays off our culture's obsession with celebrity scandal.” — Kirkus Reviews
      “Janie keeps them all guessing . . .  An unusual protagonist who will intrigue readers who favor strong, smart women.” — Booklist
      “Little effectively intersperses outside perspective in the form of emails, text messages, and other communications in Jane’s entertainingly caustic first-person narrative.” — Publishers Weekly

DEAR DAUGHTER is sure to be one of the hottest debuts of the summer with foreign rights already sold in ten countries. This is a page-turning novel that explores how pathological and dangerous a mother and daughter’s relationship can become, just as Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl did for a marriage.

Here’s a brief summary of the thriller:

        Ten years ago, Janie Jenkins, a sly and stunning celebutante at the height of her fame, was convicted of murdering her mother, even though she has no memory of that fateful night. Now, released on a technicality into a world utterly convinced of her guilt, Janie chops off her trademark hair and goes undercover. She follows her one lead to a small town in South Dakota, where she hopes she will find the truth about what really happened—even if that means confirming once and for all that she really is a killer.
        With the help of some new friends (and the town’s wary police chief), Janie follows a series of clues and pieces together the surprising picture of her mother's past that forces her to consider the possibility that her mother wasn't the perfect society philanthropist everyone believed her to be. On the run from the press, the police, and maybe even a murderer, Janie must choose between the anonymity she craves, and the truth she so desperately needs.
        As Elizabeth Little guides us through the events leading up to the novel’s shocking conclusion, we can’t help but root for the complex, deeply-layered Janie, even as we join her in questioning her own innocence.  A gripping, electrifying debut novel with an ingenious and like-it-or-not sexy protagonist, DEAR DAUGHTER follows every twist and turn as Janie unravels the mystery of what happened the night her mother died—whatever the cost.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth Little is the author of the nonfiction books Biting the Wax Tadpole: Confessions of a Language Fanatic and Trip of the Tongue: Cross-Country Travels in Search of America's Languages. Her work has appeared in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and she has been a guest on NPR’s All Things Considered, The World, and Here and Now.

A graduate of Harvard University, she grew up in St. Louis and now lives in Los Angeles with her family.

For more information about Elizabeth and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS: 

This giveaway is for one print copy of DEAR DAUGHTER. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end Friday, Sept. 5 

To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress Dear Daughter’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder).

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope I’ve enticed you to check out DEAR DAUGHTER as it is an enthralling read. Does the ‘no memory’ aspect of the murder tempt you to find out more?

*This post contains affiliate links. a Rafflecopter giveaway