The Trophy Child

Publication Date: 26 January 2017

Goodreads Description

A doting mother or a pushy parent? Karen Bloom expects perfection. Her son, Ewan, has been something of a disappointment and she won’t be making the same mistake again with her beloved, talented child, Bronte. Bronte’s every waking hour will be spent at music lessons and dance classes, doing extra schoolwork and whatever it takes to excel. But as Karen pushes Bronte to the brink, the rest of the family crumbles. Karen’s husband, Noel, is losing himself in work, and his teenage daughter from his first marriage, Verity, is becoming ever more volatile. The family is dangerously near breaking point. Karen would know when to stop . . . wouldn’t she?

My Review

The best way for me to describe this book is to say that it's utterly "gripping". I read the whole book in a matter of days. The story twists and turns, and many of the characters act strangely which causes beads of suspicion to lodge in one's brain in regard to many of them. There is no clear front runner when it comes to the unfolding of the plot. I was guessing right up until the end.

Kate is an absolute tyrant and one can only feel terribly sorry for ten year old Bronte who has to deal with her mother's ridiculous demands and expectations on a daily basis. I must say that I did want to hit Noel around the head on a number of occasions for marrying such a terrible woman and then allowing her to treat their daughter like she did. This story made me appreciate the gentle nature of my own mother and the support that I received from both my parents growing up. The strange thing is that I could actually see some truth in the way Bronte was treated. Pushing children to do tons of extra mural activities and to excel at everything that they do is a symptom of modern parenting. Children are expected to be brilliant at everything they do and if they aren't, extra lessons are arranged, private tutors are employed and teachers are engaged on how best to deal with the child so that they can improve. One can't help but wonder whether this is ultimately in the best interest of the child. Could the weight of such expectation not be doing more harm than good?

I'm not quite sure whether I could classify this book as a crime procedural or a psychological thriller. I actually think it has elements of both and so it doesn't fit squarely into one genre. I rather liked that about the book.

If I was to be critical of the book in any way at all it would be to say that I found the ending a slight let down and I was expecting something a little more twisted perhaps. Also, Noel was a character that I didn't like at all and I wasn't quite sure how Joanne became quite as besotted with him as she did. I found that a little hard to swallow. Be that as it may, I still loved this book. It's a look into a completely dysfunctional family and although the characters are generally unlikable, it was a great read.

My rating: * * * *

Many thanks to author Paula Daly and publishers Penguin Random House SA for my copy.