In 1954, two college students were hiking along a creek outside of Boulder, Colorado, when they stumbled upon the body of a murdered young woman. Who was this woman? What had happened to her? The initial investigation turned up nothing, and the girl was buried in a local cemetery with a gravestone that read, "Jane Doe, April 1954, Age About 20 Years." Decades later, historian Silvia Pettem formed a partnership with law enforcement and forensic experts and set in motion the events that led to Jane Doe's exhumation and eventual identification, as well as the identity of her probable killer. The 2023 paperback edition includes an epilogue with updated information on how the mystery finally was solved.
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I had come to present the story of Mary Rippon, the first woman professor at the University of Colorado, and I was dressed for the part, wearing a high-necked, ivory-colored blouse made by a friend. Around my shoulders I had draped a chocolate brown beaver fur wrap. #2 The cemetery was bustling with activity as volunteers dressed in black played the part of mourners. The land had been occupied by roaming bands of Arapaho Indians in October 1858, when scattered settlements of Arapahos were encamped at the base of the Rocky Mountains. #3 The cemetery was the setting for a Victorian-era reenactment. I was nervous about portraying the Victorian woman professor, but I knew my character well. I had researched her life for a biography. #4 I was talking about Mary Rippon, who had chosen her career over motherhood, when I noticed a woman’s small gray stone next to Jane Doe’s grave. It was engraved with some stylized leaves and a flower with five distinct petals, a cinquefoil.
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I had a difficult time talking to my mother, who constantly told me that I could always come home. I wanted to reply that I would work myself past the white meat, down to the bone, and fistfight every stranger I ran across on the street before we lived under the same roof again. #2 I was trying to make pasta for my boyfriend, Kelly, and I was not a disaster cook. I was able to feed myself food that I knew felt good and tasted good. I was trying to lose myself in the process of creating a meal. #3 I had recurring nightmares about one of my brothers dying. I was relieved to hear that none of my siblings was hurt, and my mother did not do or say anything wrong. #4 I was tempted to take the bait when my mother offered me empathy. I was desperate to find a way to connect with her, but I was afraid that if I called her back, we would fight.
Someone Else’s Daughter: A gripping emotional page-turner with a twist We should have protected her… They’d left their daughter with us, their only child, and we hadn’t protected her. That was all they would see when they looked at us—that we had failed them. I count down the days until we can leave the city behind and return to the beach house. Where James and Katie can roam free over the dunes, like they did as children, and Peter will swap his 6 a.m. starts for the stacks of fluffy pancakes he lovingly serves up for our family breakfasts. These sun-drenched, golden days, just the four of us, are what I hold on to all year long. But this summer Katie’s best friend will be coming with us. I tell myself the girls will have fun together, pushing aside the doubts I have about this uninvited guest. Isa. With her corn-silk hair and luminous skin, who manages to overshadow my daughter at every turn. Who has been dumped on us by her own parents, too caught up in their petty dramas to see what is right in front of them. Because I can see it. There is something dangerous about Isa. Something more than a carefree girl, testing boundaries as she approaches adulthood. She threatens to cast storm clouds across my beach house days. I feel as powerless to stop her as I would in the face of a hurricane. By the end of the summer, Isa will be dead. And I will have to face her mother. I don’t know if I will be able to find the words. How can I begin to explain that she never really knew her daughter at all? A gripping story of the darkness than lurks beneath the surface of the most picture-perfect lives and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love. Fans of Big Little Lies, Kerry Fisher and Diane Chamberlain will be held totally in thrall by this emotional, twisty read.
