Childhood memories can make you happy in adulthood or haunt you for life. Best-selling author Jennifer McMahon’s My Darling Girl is a slow-burn psychological thriller that takes the reader straight into the traumatic childhood of Alison and her brother, who are abused mentally and physically by their alcoholic mother Mavis. Although Alison is happily married to a loving man and has two adorable daughters, Olivia (6) and Izzy (16), her tumultuous past does bog her down occasionally when she is alone.
With Christman around the corner, Alison’s husband and daughters are busy decorating their beautiful farmhouse in Vermont. However, Alison has never been smitten by the Christmas fervor. Out of the blue, she gets a call from her estranged mother (Mavis) who is diagnosed with cancer and wishes to spend the last few weeks of her life with Alison and her granddaughters. There is an awkward silence but Alison gives in and Mavis moves in with them.
But no sooner than Mavis moves into Alison’s home, some eerie things start happening in the house. Mavis’s longtime assistant leaves her in a huff and puff at the farmhouse, warning Alison that Mavis is “not her real mother”. Olivia wakes up in the middle of the night after nightmares, Izzy becomes difficult and Alison feels she is drifting away from her beloved husband and daughters. In front of Alison’s family, Mavis comes across as a very kind and affectionate person. But the moment the kids are at school and her husband is at work, Mavis gives grief to Alison when they are alone together. She literally hisses and spews venom at her with her acerbic words and actions. She manipulates. Makes Alison feel vulnerable. Reminds her of unpleasant childhood secrets. And within seconds Alison’s traumatic past returns to haunt her day and night. Alison ignores all of it thinking her mother is “ill” and they could still heal and mend their relationship but in vain. Soon her own family too starts to think that the problem lies with Alison and not her mother.
Jennifer McMahon’s writing is well-crafted. All the characters in this slow-burn psychological thriller instantly connect with the reader till the end. The book has the power to scare the reader with dark family secrets, sinister power games, and scary “monster in the closet” moments.
