Four-year-old Penny is found alone in a park by Grace. Grace feels a connection to Penny and eventually adopts her. She appears to be The Perfect Daughter to join Grace’s family of her husband and two older boys. But something is different with Penny, who is ultimately diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) aka multiple personality disorder.
One morning, the police inform Grace that her daughter has been found covered in blood holding a knife over her murdered birth mother. She says her name is Eve. Eve doesn’t remember anything about the crime other than she felt a shadowy presence. Penny/Eve is sent to a psychiatric facility to try and determine if she was legally insane at the time of the crime. Or is the whole DID excuse a sham?
Because of my lifetime fascination with mental disorders (I read the psychologist’s bible, the DSM, from cover to cover at least once), I enjoyed reading the long-winded investigation into Penny/Eve’s mind. Well more than half the book was spent doing that investigation so if that doesn’t interest you, you should probably skip this book. Be aware, however, that you will be missing the amazing wham-bam courtroom conclusion. Overall, The Perfect Daughter deserves 4 stars.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.