Book Review: THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL by Christina McDonald

Title: THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL

Author: Christina McDonald
Read: March 2019

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she's pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia's wrists.

When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia's fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter's life. Was Olivia's fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?

Christina McDonald weaves a suspenseful and heartwrenching tale of hidden relationships, devastating lies, and the power of a mother's love. With flashbacks of Olivia's own resolve to uncover family secrets, this taut and emotional novel asks: how well do you know your children? And how well do they know you?

My musings:

Well, this one will definitely go on my list of “books that made me cry”. It’s not a long list, and kudos to any author who can elicit such strong emotions in her readers that quite a few people in our group read admitted to shedding a few tears.

It starts with a parent’s worst nightmare. Abi Knight is woken in the middle of the night by a phone call advising her that her daughter Olivia is in hospital on life support after a fall from a bridge and is not expected to survive. But that can’t be right – Olivia is right in the next room, safely tucked into her bed. Isn’t she?

I admit I was hooked pretty much from this point onwards, and appreciated the 3.5 hour plane flight that enabled me to devour this book in one massive read-a-thon that left me in tears. Yes, there also is the mystery of who really was responsible for Olivia’s fatal fall, but to be totally honest, this was not the focus of the book for me. Anyone in the long line of suspects could have been guilty, and it would not have changed the gut wrenching truth that a beautiful young life had been lost. As the story slowly unfolds through Abi’s POV in the present, trying to come to terms with the loss of her daughter and searching for the truth, we also hear from Olivia’s POV starting in the past and exploring the events leading up to her fall.

McDonald explores so many interesting and emotional themes in her book. How well do we know our children? How well do we know our parents? As both Abi and Olivia tell us their versions of the story, it becomes obvious that their realities are quite different and that each is hiding things from the other. Abi, who is always questioning her ability to be a good mother and to protect Olivia from harm, has a strong sense of guilt and failure that accompanies her grief. How did she not realise that Olivia was in trouble? McDonald also throws out this interesting question: do you prefer happiness or truth?

I loved the soul-searching journey each and every character embarks on in this thought-provoking book and am so happy that I read it as a group read with the wonderful Travelling Friends. Our discussion added so much more to this book, and brought up some challenging questions and truths that may otherwise have got lost in translation. I highly recommend reading this book with a friend or a group to be able to talk about it – from its moral and ethical dilemmas to its hidden, simple questions in life. There was a depth to this story not often found in other mysteries, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I have read quite a few thrillers in the recent past that featured teenage voices, and I admit that I am very picky and easily underwhelmed with books that get this element wrong. So I am very happy to say that Olivia did not fall into that category. Whilst her chapters truthfully reflect the teenage voice, I always felt that I could relate to her thoughts, be it through raising my own teenagers or memories of my far distant teenage years. It was the contrast of Olivia’s thoughts to Abi’s impressions of her daughter that I found especially thought provoking.

I could go on and on discussing this book and am grateful that I had the opportunity to take part in a Q & A with the author to discuss some aspects of the story that affected me on a personal level. If you are looking for a fast-paced thriller, then this one may not be the right book for you. However, readers who love character driven and emotionally charged narratives with the additional bonus of a mystery at the heart of the story will enjoy this one! I would also fully recommend it for a book club read, as it made for the most wonderful and deep & meaningful discussions. A wonderful debut – I look forward to reading more from this author in future!