The Other Daughter

This was my first book by Lauren Willig, and I decided to download the eAudiobook from my public library because its blurb talked about passion, betrayal and a good 'ol story of revenge. Sounds delightful!

This book started off strong with a solid premise and a decent main character who was out for retribution, but as the book progressed it was apparent that the story lacked the familial drama I expected. Instead of tense, deep-seated revenge, Rachel infiltrates high society with unbelievable ease, the story becomes predictable with half-hearted inklings of romance, revenge swept under the rug and flat secondary characters who seem to drop out of the story with no resolution for the reader. Argh! I had so wanted to like this book more.

I realize that this is supposed to be a lighter read but I was hoping for more vengeance, romance (there is a romantic Hail Mary at the end, but it lacked passion and felt forced) and more memorable characters. Narrator Nicola Barber did a decent job, but this isn't a book that will stay with me for long. 

This was an okay audiobook to pass the time and the story had potential, but I was just hoping for more - more romance, more twists and more hard-hitting revenge and intrigue. That said, I realize this is an earlier work from the author and I plan to read some of her more current books to get a better feel for her work.

 

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Author: Lauren Willig

Genre: Historical Fiction

Type and Source: eAudiobook from public library

Narrator: Nicola Barber

Run Time: 10 hrs, 39 minutes

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

First Published: July 21, 2015

Opening Line: "Can we go look, can we 

go look, can we go look?"

Book Description from GoodReads: Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died, suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage...and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three month before. He's an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter-his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel...not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past-even her very name-is a lie.

Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father's perfidy and bring his-and her half-sister's-charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn't as simple it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister's fiancé...

From Lauren Willig, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Ashford Affair, comes The Other Daughter, a page-turner full of deceit, passion, and revenge.