*spoilers ahead*
Little Face is a gripping thriller that keeps you turning the page. This is the first of Sophie Hannah that I’ve read and I’m excited to read more of her work. Little Face is a story around the Fancourt’s with Alice, the mother, and her journey on finding out what has happened to her baby. Alice leaves her husband, David, in charge of their baby for a few hours and upon Alice’s arrival home, she begins screaming when she sees ‘her’ baby again. In hysterics, Alice shrieks how the baby is not hers and demands to know from David what he has done with their baby Florence. With a gripping start, the reader is instantly sympathetic to Alice’s trauma, wanting to find out what’s happened to Florence as much as Alice.
As the story progresses, I really like how the chapters were short and told through different people’s perspectives to keep the narrative fresh. Throughout Little Face, I was constantly on Alice’s side, especially when David’s mother, Vivienne, becomes a more suspicious character; her obsessive devotion to her son in the sense that he cannot do any harm quickly became questionable. With the benefit of hindsight, after reading the ending of the book, when David begins abusing and taunting Alice, this confirms her delusion of reality and how much she believed the baby, Little Face, was not Florence. It also raises questions as to why Alice allowed the abuse to happen when she knew David was not involved in the ‘abduction’ of her baby and Alice knew the correct series of events. Yet, this situation may not have been predicted, resulting in further obstacles for Alice in her attempts to flee the rest of the Fancourt’s. It is also because of David’s actions that even if the reader did suspect Alice to be lying from the start, one would grow increasingly suspicious of David too. If he was truly innocent, then why would he commit such acts of abuse? There are lots of themes in the book, especially concerning morals, which are exciting to explore.
As Hannah uses the first person to explore the character’s narrative, it is interesting to see that as we discover that Alice knew the reality of her baby’s existence, why throughout the book did she have so many thoughts captivated around people believing her, even though she was lying and knew the detriment of her own actions. This suggests how desperate Alice must have been, that she had to convince herself of her new reality, in order for others to see it too.
However, there are some frustrating elements to the storyline. For example, when Alice gains suspicion of her mother-in-law in terms of the brutal murder of David’s ex-wife, Laura Cryer, it is hard to believe that her first reaction would be to plan a fake abduction of her baby when she could have gone to the police separately. This would come with the benefit of not wasting police time, which happened when the true reality of Florence was revealed. Nonetheless, this is a minor criticism that is rescued by how well written the book is, with interesting characters descriptions and their back story. Although I feel that David, one of the main characters of the book, could have had more closure on his narrative. It is never fully disclosed whether he was a part of his ex-wife’s murder, or if it was simply his mother’s plan.
Little Face is a really good story that I would recommend as I did not expect the ultimate plot twist – I did truly believe Alice’s baby had been abducted. The sub-story of David’s first wife, Laura, being murdered was very intriguing and although it was clear David’s mother, Vivienne, was involved, I did not think she actually committed the crime herself. Although, I did feel as though the ending was slightly rushed and could have been a few more chapters in itself, especially with Alice and Simon’s (the detective working on the case) exchange at the end. However, I cannot deny that I was frustrated upon the knowledge that the abduction of the baby is fake, but this may have come from Simon’s frustration at the news too, as he was determined to find the truth. Simon, like the reader, has a soft spot for Alice, making sense of the confusing pieces of the story to try and find an answer, yet results in even more frustration when Alice is the antagonist all along.
It would definitely be an interesting book to re-read knowing the ending and that the events are all Alice’s plans to protect her and her baby from the Fancourt’s. As we now know Alice is an unreliable narrator, it would be impressive to see if there are any hints throughout the book. I especially liked how it started at the Health club and ended there also. I really enjoyed all the characters and their backgrounds, making all aspects of the book engaging. I must also credit Hannah’s smooth style of writing, resulting in me reading the book quickly in the space of two days.
This book got me back into reading psychological thrillers and so ultimately, it should be on anyone’s to-read list.
3/5 stars
Soph's Library 