Book Review - Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage

This is yet another novel I decided to pick up based on the flyleaf summary and it's also my first experience with Elizabeth Brundage.  Somebody Else's Daughter is a fantastic read that combines literary fiction with the thriller element, a blending that makes a refreshing combination.

Two young and troubled drifters, bottomed out on drugs, are forced by stress and circumstance to give up their infant daughter for adoption. Seventeen years later, Nate, a recovered heroin addict, public school teacher and struggling writer, returns to his alma mater by accepting a teaching position where he ends up being his daughter's professor.

The modern day story takes place in a small New England town located in the Berkshires. The setting is an elite private school and the interwoven, conflicted lives of the faculty, students and their families.  There are two different types of fathers, the adoptive and the biological. There is a woman whose artistic talents and independence have lead her to dead ends in life and love. There are young, struggling teens learning that the world they thought was known is actually a strange and foreign place. There's also a villain whose intentions slowly reveal themselves at the expense of all those around him.  It's not long before the reader finds out that the Berkshires are a place where people go to live their dreams and also to hide their secrets.

I was originally drawn into Somebody Else's Daughter because of its many themes like adoption, New England, and boarding school life. Though not quite on the level displayed within the story, these were tangibles I could personally relate to and in the end, they did not disappoint.

Aside from the themes within this novel, the aspect that impacted me the most was Brundage's ability to build her characters from the perspective of their friends, enemies and others around them, rather than their own internal revelations.  The stereotypes formed at the beginning of the work about these people are far different from the impressions you're left with upon concluding it. This was a different approach and it was quite surprising to me.

The ending was a tad bit rushed, a problem I find in so many novels today. I think Brundage should have taken another twenty pages or so to keep the same pace as the rest of the story. It's a small setback and the only negative thing I can really say about the book. I don't want to provide any other specifics because I feel they may ruin the story for future readers. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Somebody Else's Daughter and thought it was definitely a worthwhile read. I'm glad I discovered this one. Has anyone else read it?