A swallow flutters its wings into a dimly lit attic as Adele Foyle stumbles across the secret diary of the mother she has never met and a shocking account of a crime committed over 25 years ago.

Adele Foyle has returned to Reedstown, the last place her mother, Marianne, was seen alive. With her mother’s words etched in her mind and in the pages tucked into her jacket pocket, Adele has one purpose: to find those responsible for the devastating attack on Marianne and see them brought to justice.

Born into a mother-and-baby home run by The Thorns, a self-proclaimed religious group led by Gloria Thornton, Adele needs to first unlock the disturbing chain of events that led to her own birth, if she is to understand what happened to her mother. But news of Adele’s arrival and the diary spread like wildfire among the small, close-knit community of Reedstown. Old memories are stirring up fresh wounds. 

No one wants the truth to be told. The diary is just a story, they say. Yet, as Adele begins to unravel the layers of deceit, the tissue paper lies begin to fragment. Her mother was telling the truth. Adele just has to prove it.

A heart-stopping, intense and emotionally engrossing listen. If you listen to one audiobook this year, make it The Thorn Girl.

This book was previously published as In My Mother’s Name.