Clever Little Thing
A Novel
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- USD 9.99
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- USD 9.99
Publisher Description
“Clever Little Thing taps into the heart of maternal fear and will shock you in the best way. This one will give you goose bumps.” —Ashley Elston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of First Lie Wins
"Sharp and unflinching—a perfectly unnerving story." —Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push
A taut, powerful psychological thriller following a mother who must confront a sudden and terrifying change in her daughter after the abrupt death of their babysitter
Charlotte’s daughter Stella is sensitive and brilliant, perhaps even a genius, but a recent change in her behavior has alarmed her mother. Following the sudden death of Stella’s babysitter, Blanka, the once disruptive and anti-social child has become docile and agreeable. But what’s unsettling is that she has begun to mirror Blanka’s personality, from Blanka’s repetitive phrases to her accent, to fierce cravings for Armenian meat stew after being raised a vegetarian.
Charlotte is pregnant with her second child, and depleted and sick with the pregnancy. She is convinced that Blanka herself is somehow responsible for Stella’s transformation. But how could Blanka, dead, still be entwined in their lives? Has Blanka somehow possessed Stella? Has Stella become Blanka? As Charlotte becomes increasingly obsessed, she is sure that only she can save her daughter. . . even though it’s soon clear that her husband believes this is all in Charlotte’s head.
Helena Echlin’s singular, chilling voice holds light to the blurred lines of diagnosis in children and to the vital power of maternal instinct. Kaleidoscopic and tense, pulse-pounding and genuinely creepy, and infused with shades of the supernatural, Clever Little Thing is an ode to motherhood and a nuanced critique of the caretaking industry, a page-turner that will haunt readers long after its epic, surprising finale.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A mother’s love for her daughter is tested by both natural and supernatural challenges in this intense thriller. Charlotte’s daughter Stella is a problem child, prone to being antisocial and throwing extreme tantrums. She’s also brilliant and way ahead of her third-grade class intellectually. But after the death of her Armenian babysitter, Blanka, Stella becomes docile and loses her interest in science and aviation, starts parroting Blanka’s standard phrases, wants spicy Armenian food, and writes in Armenian. Charlotte is convinced that Blanka has come back, but her husband, Pete, blames Charlotte, with dire consequences. Author Helena Echlin takes the concept of the unreliable narrator and bends it with startling results, as Charlotte desperately fights for her and Stella’s lives. Clever Little Thing has smart twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A newly pregnant London mother notices alarming changes in her eight-year-old daughter in this haunting psychological thriller from Echlin (Gone). Former lifestyle blogger Charlotte Mason's precocious daughter, Stella, has always been difficult—something Charlotte embraces, but others, including her husband, Pete, have concerns about. After Stella's longtime caretaker, Blanka, dies, the child becomes unusually compliant and sluggish, often parroting the simple phrases ("Oh, yes") uttered by her late Armenian sitter. Pete, swamped with work, initially brushes off Charlotte's concerns about Stella, attributing her anxiety to hormone spikes from the pregnancy. Charlotte finds a more sympathetic ear with Blanka's mother, Irina, with whom Stella seems to have a curiously close relationship. As Charlotte's concerns mount, she grasps at wilder and wilder hypotheses about Stella's situation—some of which are supernatural, though none are nearly as jaw-dropping as the climax Echlin eventually delivers. At once a propulsive page-turner and a thought-provoking exploration of maternal attachment, this is a devilish good time.
