Fabulous reads – Ambitious mother pays the ultimate price
Book review - The Trophy Child by Paula Daly.
The Trophy Child, Paula Daly, Penguin Random House, ISBN: 9780 5930 75227
The Trophy Child by Paula Daly depicts the horrific end to an ambitious and relentless mother who pushes her daughter to achieve no matter the cost to the child’s emotional welfare.
Karen Bloom feels she has failed regarding her teenage son, Ewan, who is a weed smoking disappointment and is determined her daughter, Bronte, will excell.
Karen drives the family and also expects her husband, Noel, and her step-daughter, Verity, to be successful. She disciplines without fear or favour and the family starts to rebel.
Noel is an attractive medical doctor, who finds an outlet in women and alcohol, watches helplessly as their musically talented daughter is shunted to extra lessons in dance and music.
Cracks in the seemingly idyllic family start to appear. Verity becomes aggressive, Bronte wants to run away, Ewan takes more drugs and Noel finds solace in another woman.
The plot shifts gear into dark reality and the consequences of the mother’s aggression and control are not pretty. A good story and a real page turner, you simply have to find out what happens.
– Michelle Dennis
