Girl in the dark : a novel

Format:

Book

Title:

Girl in the dark : a novel

Uniform Title:

Daglicht. English

Author:

Pauw, Marion, 1973- author

ISBN:

9780062424792

9780062458698

9780062424808

Publication:

New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2016]

Physical Description:

317 pages ; 24 cm

General Note:

A version of this text was originally published in the Netherlands in 2009 under the title Daglicht by Ambos/Anthos publishers, Amsterdam.

Summary:

"A single mother and lawyer, Iris has a colorful caseload, a young son with behavior issues, and a judgmental mother. She also has a brother--shocking news she uncovers by accident. Why did her mother lie to her for her entire life? Why did she hide the existence of Ray Boelens from her? Curious about this sibling she has never known, Iris begins to search for long-buried truths. What she discovers surprises--and horrifies--her. Her older brother is autistic--and in prison for brutally murdering his neighbor and her daughter"-- Amazon.com.

Subject(s):

Children -- Conduct of life -- Fiction.

People with disabilities -- Fiction.

Genre:

Psychological fiction

Domestic fiction

Fiction

Suspense fiction.

Psychological fiction.

Domestic fiction.

Fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	Fic Pauw, M. 2016	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Newberg Public Library	FICTION PAUW	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Salem Main Library	Pauw, M.	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

An award-winning, internationally bestselling author makes her American debut with this taut, riveting domestic drama with the compulsive intensity of The Good Girl, The Pocket Wife, and The Stranger, about a long-lost brother convicted of a horrifying crime and a sister's fight to clear his name.

A single mother and lawyer, Iris has a colorful caseload, a young son with behavior issues, and a judgmental mother.

She also has a brother--shocking news she uncovers by accident. Why did her mother lie to her for her entire life? Why did she hide the existence of Ray Boelens from her?

Curious about this sibling she has never known, Iris begins to search for long-buried truths. What she discovers surprises--and horrifies--her. Her older brother is autistic--and in prison for brutally murdering his neighbor and her daughter.

Visiting Ray, she meets a man who looks heartbreakingly like her own son. A man who is devoted to his tropical fish and who loves baking bread. A man whose naiveté unnerves her. There is no question that Ray is odd and obsessive, unable to communicate like the rest of us. But is he really a killer?

Told in the alternative voices of Ray and Iris, Girl in the Dark is a compulsive, page-turning thriller about lies, murder, and the tenacity of a family determined to stay together even as they are pulled apart at the most vulnerable seams.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Lawyer Iris Kaselstein, the heroine of Dutch author Pauw's intriguing if flawed U.S. debut, is having a hard time managing her workload while fulfilling her responsibilities as a single mother to her three-year-old son, Aaron. Aaron's aggressive behavior in day care forces Iris to interrupt a conference with a client, Peter van Benschop, who's facing civil charges for using an underage teenager in a porn film. Meanwhile, Ray Boelens, an inmate convicted of stabbing his neighbor Rosita Angeli and her four-year-old daughter, Anna, to death, before stubbing a cigarette out on the little girl's corpse, consistently maintains his innocence. Finally, Iris learns by chance that Ray is her older brother, and she agrees to advocate for him. Her natural questioning of her mother's choice to keep Ray's existence a secret leads to serious tension between them. The truth about Rosita and Anna's deaths may surprise some readers, but even they may view it as a contrivance. Agent: Michael Carlisle, Inkwell Management (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Winner of the Netherlands' Golden Noose Award for crime fiction, Pauw's American debut is a tense revelation of dangerous family secrets and a challenge to preconceptions about autism. Attorney and single mother Iris Kasterlein is often forced to rely on her mother's help, so she's obligated to return the favor by house-sitting during her mother's annual spa retreat. While house-sitting, Iris uncovers a devastating family secret: she has a half-brother, Ray, whom her mother has hidden from everyone. Ray, once a gifted baker, is serving a prison sentence for the violent murders of his neighbor, Rosita, and her young daughter. Prosecutors alleged that Ray flew into a violent rage when Rosita rejected him, and, although he claimed innocence, autism and distrust proved insurmountable obstacles to helping his defense. Ignoring her mother's protests, Iris visits Ray and becomes determined to work for his release. As Iris investigates his case, it becomes clear that beautiful but manipulative Rosita had many potential killers. Ray's sad, bewildered voice is riveting as his memories inch toward revealing the truth about the murders, and Iris' struggle to understand her mother's betrayal and right her wrong is gut-wrenching and relatable. A must-read for fans of character-driven stories, such as Tana French's Faithful Place.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2016 Booklist

Library Journal Review

This U.S. debut by Dutch author Pauw is another entry in the domestic thriller category. Iris is a single mother and a lawyer who is trying to keep her career on track while parenting her son. Ray has been locked up in prison for eight years for a double murder he claims he did not commit. The story is told in alternate chapters by Ray and Iris, and we soon learn that these two are siblings. Why didn't Iris's mother tell her about her brother? After visiting him, Iris decides to help Ray prove his innocence. Ray is the spitting image of her son, Aaron, and seems to be too gentle to have killed a young mother and her daughter. Verdict Already a best seller in Europe with over 200,000 copies sold and winner of the Golden Noose Award in the Netherlands, this very readable, fast-faced thriller will keep readers who enjoyed Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train turning the pages. [See Prepub Alert, 8/10/15.]-Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.