Favourite Daughter. Kaira Rouda Sturdivant

      

      From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Best Day Ever comes a gripping novel of psychological suspense for fans of B. A. Paris and Shari Lapena.

       The perfect home. The perfect family. The perfect lie.

      Jane Harris lives in a sparkling home in an oceanfront gated community in Orange County. It’s a place that seems too beautiful to be touched by sadness. But exactly one year ago, Jane’s eldest daughter, Mary, died in a tragic accident, and Jane has been grief-stricken ever since. Lost in a haze of antidepressants, she’s barely even left the house...until now.

      As Jane reemerges into the world, it’s clear she’s missed a lot in the last year. Her husband has been working long days—and nights—at the office. Her daughter Betsy seems distant, even secretive. And then Jane receives a note warning her that Mary’s death wasn’t an accident. What really happened on the day Mary died? And who is lying to whom in this family?

      The bonds between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives should never be broken. But you never know how far someone will go to keep a family together...

      KAIRA ROUDA is a bestselling, multiple-award-winning author of contemporary fiction. Her work has won numerous awards, including the Indie Excellence Award and Reader’s Choice Award.

      She lives in Southern California with her family and you can connect with her on Facebook at Kaira Rouda Books, and on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram: @kairarouda.

      For more, visit Kaira’s website, www.kairarouda.com.

       Also by Kaira Rouda

       Best Day Ever

      Favorite Daughter

      Kaira Rouda

       Copyright

      An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

      First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019

      Copyright © Kaira Rouda 2019

      Kaira Rouda asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Ebook Edition © June 2019 ISBN: 9781474064699

       DEAR READER LETTER

      Years ago, just after my family and I moved to the West Coast, I was lucky to become friends with an amazing woman, Malibu City Council member and clinical psychologist Laura Rosenthal. As you may have guessed, Laura is the inspiration for the doctor character in THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER. One evening Laura joined us for dinner on a night my husband and I were discussing the baffling character traits of someone we knew. We just couldn’t figure this person out.

      “Well, that sounds like a classic narcissist,” Laura said.

      At that, the light bulb turned on and it has been shining brightly in both my imagination, and in real life, ever since.

      Maybe you’re more aware of this than I was, but narcissists are everywhere in our society. Some estimate narcissists comprise 10 percent of the population and experts believe access to social media is creating more: Selfies are a narcissist’s best friend.

      Although it may seem terrifying to some that I enjoy getting inside the heads of these types of people in my most recent novels, to me, it’s cathartic. Since first learning about narcissists from Laura all those years ago, I’ve somehow become blessed with a superpower: I can spot a narcissist. I’m not sure it’s a gift or a curse, but it’s true.

      I also enjoy writing stories with unreliable narrators, and Jane Harris, like Paul Strom in BEST DAY EVER, is at her core a very unreliable person, among other things. These characters are obsessed with perception. Everything they show to the world is carefully calculated to portray perfection, even in their marriages, even when their lives may be falling apart. Narcissists suffer from a self-esteem problem coupled with low empathy. Failure is unacceptable, especially with their family, where they expect unflinching loyalty and subservience. Grandiose self-worth, vanity and entitlement are the foundation of the disorder. When any of this is challenged, rage is the result.

      A special, terrifying subset of narcissist are those called “malignant narcissists.” Erich Fromm first coined the term in 1964 to describe the “quintessence of evil.” Some of the most difficult narcissists to spot are malignant narcissists who are mothers. She often gets away with her abuse because she is unseen to all but those she controls, her children, and no one wants to imagine a mother could be the monster in her own home.

      No one wants to imagine that, except as a starting point for a novel, perhaps.

      I asked my friend Laura if therapy works with narcissists. Her answer: It’s a pretty tough one to fix because they cannot see themselves for who they are and cannot take responsibility. When things go wrong they blame other people, so therapy is tough. They aren’t motivated to change. They like themselves just the way they are.

      I hope you enjoyed Jane’s story. She wants you to believe she is the perfect mother, a loving wife, a connected and compassionate member of her community. Did she convince you? And who is her favorite daughter?

      Thanks for reading,

       Kaira

       To my perfectly imperfect family.

      And especially to my favorites: Trace, Avery, Shea and Dylan.

       I love you all so much!

       Nature, the gentlest mother,Impatient of no child,The feeblest or the waywardest—Her admonition mild

       Emily Dickinson, 1893

      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       About the Author