From the blurb:

Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died, suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage…and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three month before. He’s an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter-his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel…not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past-even her very name-is a lie.

Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father’s perfidy and bring his-and her half-sister’s-charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn’t as simple it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister’s fiancé…

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have this book to blame for being very tired today – I stayed up so late reading it; I was completely gripped. There is no better feeling than being completely immersed in a story world – and no sadder feeling than the book ending! But I have the comfort that all of the author’s other books await me. I have discovered, through The Other Daughter, a new author to add to my favourites list.

This book is just fabulous: witty, indulgent, pacey escapism. I adore the author’s rendering of the post-war era, and the upper-class society. The fashion (the cover pulled me in!), the drinks, the parties, the style of speech – all have the feel of luxuriant, epic writing, but there is such a poignancy that grounds the novel. I was very moved by the author’s unmasking of various characters to show what pain and uncertainty lies beneath their jolly, confident, devil-may-care veneers. Ultimately, the heroine feels like a fraud, but is no less of one than any other in the circle she has infiltrated.

Rachel is a really refreshing heroine in the genre. At first, I was a little taken aback by her decision to be deceptive, but I soon settled into the subterfuge; I think, like her, I was sucked into it. It made me remember being a young woman experiencing independent life for the first time – parties, men, friendships; and it struck me as authentic that the world appeals to her so. So, too, did her inner struggle with the lies she was telling. No matter her plan for vengeance, it is impossible not to care about Rachel and forgive her for her actions.

Because Rachel isn’t the easiest of characters to fathom, I didn’t easily predict the direction of the plot, which kept me eagerly turning the pages; I just had to find out more. When I reached the denouement I was astonished: I hadn’t seen the twists coming at all, and how I loved them!

The other characters in the book are just as interesting, especially Rachel’s half-sister, who is also playing a part in a sense, and the fabulously cheeky Simon, who is Rachel’s partner in crime. I was also very interested in Rachel’s father, and his motives for having left Rachel’s life, and the character of Cece, who seems at first glance to be entirely vacuous, but is carrying a terrible pain.

And the pain… oh the pain! The author so sensitively weaves in real agonies that people were dealing with in the aftermath of war, and this is the greatest element of the writing. All the romance, all the frivolity, all the humour (and there is plenty of it) work beautifully because they are the supporting acts of the great emotion of the piece.

When I read the last sentence, my first response was, ‘No… I need more!’, and then quite simply, ‘Brava.’ I would love to read a sequel, following the heroine in her next life. Given her propensity for adventure, it would be a riveting read! For now, though, I have settled for buying Ms Willig’s entire backlist. That’s how much I loved The Other Daughter.

The Other Daughter is available now from Amazon; click on the book cover below to visit the store.