A REAL DAUGHTER is a horror novel that offers a frightening take on step-parenting and a disturbing testament to the unknown in all of us.
When her infant daughter Sarah unexpectedly dies, Claire moves to Los Angeles and reinvents herself as a landscape gardener. Meanwhile, Claire imagines Sarah alive, marking the child's birthdays, Christmas, first day of school-almost as if Sarah never died.
Remarrying, Claire acquires a step-daughter about the same age Sarah would have been. But eight-year-old Mandy - part vamp, part jealous and troubled child - is nothing like Sarah, who still lives on in Claire's imagination.
As Claire lives two lives-one real, one imagined-the clash between the two daughters threatens to destroy her, releasing her demons and forcing her to choose between a new life and a haunted past.
“A morbidly eerie and artistically crafted psychological thriller” - Kirkus Reviews
"A REAL DAUGHTER is the real thing: a compelling, psychologically astute inquiry into the seismic shifts of one, uneasily blending California family haunted by the past." - Cristina Garcia, National Book Award Finalist for Dreaming in Cuban
"The writing is luscious and chilling. Expect to be afraid--and then horrified." - Mary Morrissy, Lannan Fiction Award Winner
“Harbors thorns that can pierce both the skin and the heart.” - Joe Kilgore, US Review of Books
“Un-put-downable” - Jim Krusoe, Novelist, Founder, Santa Monica Review
