A Real Daughter: A Novel

A REAL DAUGHTER is a horror novel that offers a frightening take on step-parenting and a disturbing testament to the unknown in all of us.

When her infant daughter Sarah unexpectedly dies, Claire moves to Los Angeles and reinvents herself as a landscape gardener. Meanwhile, Claire imagines Sarah alive, marking the child’s birthdays, Christmas, first day of school—almost as if Sarah never died.

Remarrying, Claire acquires a step-daughter about the same age Sarah would have been. But eight-year-old Mandy – part vamp, part jealous and troubled child – is nothing like Sarah, who still lives on in Claire's imagination.

As Claire lives two lives—one real, one imagined—the clash between the two daughters threatens to destroy her, releasing her demons and forcing her to choose between a new life and a haunted past.

“A morbidly eerie and artistically crafted psychological thriller” — Kirkus Reviews

"A REAL DAUGHTER is the real thing: a compelling, psychologically astute inquiry into the seismic shifts of one, uneasily blending California family haunted by the past." — Cristina Garcia, National Book Award Finalist for Dreaming in Cuban

"The writing is luscious and chilling. Expect to be afraid--and then horrified." — Mary Morrissy, Lannan Fiction Award Winner

“Harbors thorns that can pierce both the skin and the heart.” — Joe Kilgore, US Review of Books

“Un-put-downable” — Jim Krusoe, Novelist, Founder, Santa Monica Review

© 2020 Lynne McKelvey (Audiobook): 9781094206134

Release date

Audiobook: March 11, 2020