Her Mothers Shadow

by Diane Chamberlain

Book Overview

Annie

A loving mother and wife, Annie O'Neill was the heart of the small community of Kiss River. But her generous nature hid a darker side that remained secret for years after her tragic death.

Lacey

When Lacey O'Neill finally learns the shattering truth about the mother she's spent a decade emulating, the foundation of her life begins to crumble. Then her close childhood friend dies, leaving her teenage daughter, Mackenzie,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778314804
• ISBN13: 9780778314806
• Release Date: October 2012
• Publisher: Harlequin Sales Corp
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Damaged and dirty book

This book is in terrible shape! The seller said very good condition. I'm appalled at the lie or stupid Ness of someone's opinion. I only buy very good quality books. This one has yellow pages, marks, stains, crumbs, bug debris, abd water damage! What was somebody thinking when I bought this book? Now I have to go through the trouble of returning it. Shame on the sellers!

Love this author

The authors unique writing gives you multiple perspectives from seemingly unrelated sources then weaves them together into usually a single moment in time releasing the entire plot in a big rush. Hard to describe. Easy to read and get caught up in. This story is no different in style but so unique in its tale of self discovery and trying to change your most inner self.

Great Buy

I ordered the book... got it quickly... and there was little to no damage to the book, just like the description had said! Great Book!

Fantastic characters and plot!

After reading SECRET LIFE OF CEECEE WILKES, I went on to read BEFORE THE STORM and BAY AT MIDNIGHT. I loved these three novels so much that, based upon recommendations here and at Diane's blog, I purchased the KEEPER OF THE LIGHT trilogy. I am so glad I did. I love the characters and plots in these novels, and I especially love how there were always secrets to be learned in each book. HER MOTHER'S SHADOW was a real page-turner, and it is my greatest hope that Diane will continue this excellent series by eventually writing a fourth...

Originally Posted on Romance Junkies in 2005

Diane Chamberlain is a master storyteller, able to blend romance with women's fiction in a seamless flow of words. In a trilogy set in North Carolina's Outer Banks, HER MOTHER'S SHADOW is the grand finale to a tale that began with Keeper of the Light and flowed flawlessly into Kiss River (Mira). HER MOTHER'S SHADOW focuses on Lacey O'Neill, a woman in her late twenties who has spent the past decade molding herself into the image of her mother. When Lacey was thirteen, her mother, "Saint Anne," was fatally wounded in front of her, the result of a gunshot wound from a distraught husband coming to take his wife and son home from a women's shelter. For ten years, Lacey has done everything within her power to emulate the woman who could do no wrong-Annie O'Neill, the perfect mother, the doting wife, the community volunteer, the Mrs. America of North Carolina. She's living a good life, working as a stained glass artist with a man she admires, living with her brother, Clay, and his wife and daughter. Lacey's life is thrown into turmoil, not solely with the arrival of an almost-teenager who resents being uprooted after the death of her own mother, but with the knowledge that her perfect mother, the bastion of North Carolina society, was not the woman she had thought her to be. Because suddenly everything she's ever believed to be true comes crashing down upon her. Secrets are dangerous things to keep. And everyone involved in HER MOTHER'S SHADOW has secrets. Who is mysterious attorney Rick Tenley, and what is he doing in Kiss River? Bobby Asher, a fellow artist who brings out deep feelings in Lacey, spent a lot of time with Jessica, her young charge's mother. Could he be the father Mackenzie never knew she had? And what about Lacey's own father, the man who somehow forgot to mention for the last twenty years or so that his own wife engaged in acts with half the town's male population that were far less than saintly? Her boss and mentor suddenly takes on a new roll in her life, her brother, Clay, and his wife begin having marital problems over a young girl who should have nothing to do with them, and suddenly the lighthouse Lacey lives in is no longer the refuge it's always been. HER MOTHER'S SHADOW is a wonderful book. Filled with characters as real as any you know in real life, it's a page-turner that will keep you reading long into the night. This book is a story of forgiveness, of redemption, of love, and most of all, of hope. How many children really know their parents? How many parents do outrageous things to keep their children innocent? And how many people, being as imperfect and human as they are, have secrets that are kept solely to protect those they love? I'm sorry to see this trilogy end, but I'm looking forward to what Ms. Chamberlain comes up with next. HER MOTHER'S SHADOW is definitely not a book to be missed.

Diane Chamberlain Does it Again!

Do you remember the last time you started a book at 9:00 PM and read all night until you finished? I thought I was too old to do that anymore, that surely no matter how good a book was that I would fall asleep before long. I was wrong. Last night at about 9:00 PM I went into the bedroom to watching Trading Spaces (hubby was watching TV out in the living room) and started HER MOTHER?S SHADOW by Diane Chamberlain. Eight hours, three cans of Diet Pepsi and a bag of microwave popcorn later, I finally turned the last page (#380) and turned off the light. I would have read faster but I did watch quite a bit of TS and SNL . I can?t for the life of me figure out why Diane Chamberlain's books aren?t regulars on the bestseller lists (she is the second author I think this about, the other being Emilie Richards). She is definitely on par with Kristin Hannah, Barbara Delinsky, et al. HER MOTHER?S SHADOW concludes the ?Kiss River Trilogy? that began with KEEPER OF THE LIGHT in the early 90s (reissued last year) and continued with KISS RIVER last year. As much as I loved KOTL, I think I liked this one even more. For those of you unfamiliar with this series, KOTL has one of the most powerful opening chapters I have ever read where Olivia is called to the ER to try to save the life of a woman who has been shot. She is shocked to find that the woman is Annie O?Neill ? the woman her husband has been having an affair with; a woman who does so much good in the community she is referred to as ?Saint Anne.? So that is really Olivia?s story. When I heard Chamberlain was writing a sequel, I thought sure the second book would be Lacey?s story ? the daughter of Annie who witnessed her murder and began a downward spiral of self-destructive behavior told in KoTL. But KISS RIVER instead brought in a new character, Gina, who although new to Kiss River, had family ties there. I was thrilled to know though that the third book in the trilogy would indeed be Lacey?s book. In HER MOTHER?S SHADOW, Lacey?s story is interwoven with the story of Faye Collier, a nurse in San Diego. Her connection with Lacey and Kiss River isn?t known right away but her story is very interesting as she helps a successful physician overcome the grief of losing his wife. Of course, Faye has a secret, one that is not revealed until much later in the book. There are two main story lines in HMS, one of Lacey?s mother?s killer coming up for parole, and the one of Lacey?s childhood best friend being killed in an auto accident and inexplicably putting in her will that Lacey is to be 11-year-old Mackenzie?s guardian. I am trying so hard to avoid spoilers here! As in her other books, suffice to say there are rather shocking secrets, family relationships, and romance. We also have appearances by characters in the other two books of the trilogy. All of this combine for a book that is absolutely unputdownable!

Another brilliant book by Diane Chamberlain

I have a complete library of all novels written by Diane Chamberlain. Each one she writes is her "best" until the next one comes along to take the place of that "best" to become "even better". And this one does it in spades. She's a fantastic writer keeping you interested from the first page. Her writing is easy to follow,the story line is always interesting and the social aspects she interjects into the story are truly the work of a former social worker. It has it all----love,mystery,murder,forgiveness---probably a key ingredient in the story----as well as abandonment,anger,promiscuity,regret,sexual addition,bi-polar disease---so many issues all tied up with a big bow by the end.And I didn't want it to end.It's the story of a young girl who witnesses her mother's death at the hand of an angry man holding a gun. Her mother was a beautiful but promiscuous woman who ran in front of another woman and her son--saving their lives. Fast forward to when Lacey matures into a look-alike of her mother,Annie, and the story continues from there----with the weaving of the other family into the story as well as people from her past. Diane manages to have part of the story take place in San Diego and obviously draws upon her time spent there in her earlier life.But the majority of the book is about life in North Carolina's Outer Banks. A couple of her previous books also took place there and some of the characters return in this story. Kiss River and the lighthouse become so real to the reader----you feel like you're there and can picture the setting as she describes it in her books.And the people in the story become so life-like that you feel you begin to "know" them.I hope Diane writes another story about the Outer Banks and continues with Lacey and Bobby with Mackenzie growing up in the part of the country where her mother once lived.I want this saga to continue for many books in the future------as only Diane can do in her masterful way.My only complaint is that when I buy another book by Diane Chamberlain, I get nothing else done including sleep. Her stories captivate me from page one and I just can't put the book down until I've absorbed every page. Way to go, Diane. And thank you for yet another beautiful story.