How far would you go to get what you wanted? The author of Don’t Try to Find Me returns with a taut, riveting novel of psychological suspense—a domestic drama full of secrets and twists—about a woman determined to have a child, her ambivalent husband, and a pregnant teenager with a secret agenda of her own.
“I know now that there was no other way things could have turned out. Tragedies are inevitable, just like the great love stories, like us.”
Thirty-nine-year-old Adrienne is desperate to be a mother. And this time, nothing is going to get in her way.
Sure, her husband, Gabe, is ambivalent about fatherhood. But she knows that once he holds their baby, he’ll come around. He’s just feeling a little threatened, that’s all. Because once upon a time, it was Gabe that Adrienne wanted more than anything; she was willing to do anything. . . . But that was half a lifetime ago. She’s a different person now, and so is Gabe. There are lines she wouldn’t cross, not without extreme provocation.
And sure, she was bitten once before by another birth mother—clear to the bone—and for most people, it’s once bitten, twice shy. But Adrienne isn’t exactly the retiring type.
At nineteen, Leah bears a remarkable resemblance to the young woman Adrienne once was. Which is why Adrienne knows the baby Leah is carrying is meant to be hers. But Leah’s got ideas of her own: Her baby’s going to get a life in California; why shouldn’t she? All she wants is to live in Adrienne’s house for a year after the baby’s born, and get a fresh start.
It seems like a small price for Adrienne to pay to get their baby. And with Gabe suddenly on board, what could possibly go wrong?
Author Info
Holly Brown lives with her husband and toddler daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she's a practicing marriage and family therapist. She is the author of the novel Don't Try to Find Me, and her blog, "Bonding Time," is featured on the mental health website PsychCentral.com.
Reviews
“Holly Brown’s novels are irresistibly readable and infused with a profound understanding of human frailty.” — Sophie Hannah, New York Times bestselling author of Woman with a Secret
“Darkly funny and perfectly twisted, [...] a gritty look at infertility and adoption, and the implications of being deprived those things we want. With elaborate characters you’ll love to hate and an ending that will stun, Holly Brown proves herself a master storyteller and an expert of suspense.” — Mary Kubica, international bestselling author of The Good Girl
“highly stylized [...] Brown adds layer after layer to this well-constructed psychological drama, showing the unchecked emotions seething just below the surface. A clever twist [...] illustrates how watching unsympathetic people battle each other can be quite satisfying.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers
“[A Necessary End] offers a glimpse of a writer whose sensitivity to the nature of the modern family, and all of its possibilities for tragedy, could soon lift her into a league with Paula Hawkins and Jodi Picoult.” — USA Today
