The Thorn Girl - this is a well paced and unforgettable story

From the first sentence of this exciting psychological thriller by popular author, Laura Elliot, my interest was caught and held. Following the rather shocking beginning with the group attack on fifteen year old Marianne, the action swiftly moves forward 25 years. There it takes up the story of Adele. Clearing out the attic on the death of her grandmother, she is looking forward to flying off to a new life in Colorado with her fiancé when, amongst the cobwebs and clutter, she comes across a diary, written by the young mother she never knew. Reading the scribbled entries she is swept into a conspiracy of betrayal, brutality and corruption. She sets off down the country to Reedstown, allowing nothing, not even her love for her fiancé and their shared plans, get in the way of uncovering the closely guarded secret, buried all this time. Giving the excuse of writing a documentary, Adele meets lies, hostility and resistance everywhere she turns. As she gets pulled deeper into the intrigue and suspicion surrounding her teenage mother's attack, she begins to suspect the identity of the three men responsible. Gradually she comes to know more about her grandmother who had naively committed her pregnant young mother to the questionable care of the Thorn Mother and Baby Home in Inisada, and carried the truth with her to the grave. Before long, Adele's rented house is broken into and she is menaced by a group of young people wearing masks. Terrified by the ordeal, she comes to realise her own life is in danger and the people responsible for the coverup of her young mother's brutal attack, will stop at nothing to conceal the truth. The gripping story, related so movingly by Marianne in the diary and Adele's driven search for answers in her uneasy encounters with the evasive Reedstown inhabitants, remain in your mind long after the final page. This is a well paced and unforgettable book. Highly recommended.