A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
The Good Son by Jacquelyn Mitchard
4.0
‘I saw what happened that night’, she said.
What does a parent do when a child is found guilty of manslaughter? How can we help that child find a way back into the world after serving time in prison? These are some of the issues confronting Thea Demetriou when her son Stefan Christiansen is released on parole after serving three years of his sentence. While he has no memory of it, because he was under the influence of drugs, Stefan was found guilty of beating to death his girlfriend Belinda McCormack.
Returning to life outside prison is made more difficult by community outrage and vigilante activity, partly fuelled by Belinda’s mother, Jill. And then, Thea receives sporadic text messages from someone who claims they knew what happened on the night Belinda was killed. But despite his family’s best efforts, the world is not prepared to let Stefan move on, and his own feelings of guilt threaten to overwhelm him.
There’s a twist that, while it did not completely take me by surprise, left me thinking. This novel held my attention from beginning to end. I found myself wondering how I would feel if I was Thea or Jill. And, at the very end, I wondered about Stefan. Highly recommended if you are interested in a violent crime from a different perspective.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
What does a parent do when a child is found guilty of manslaughter? How can we help that child find a way back into the world after serving time in prison? These are some of the issues confronting Thea Demetriou when her son Stefan Christiansen is released on parole after serving three years of his sentence. While he has no memory of it, because he was under the influence of drugs, Stefan was found guilty of beating to death his girlfriend Belinda McCormack.
Returning to life outside prison is made more difficult by community outrage and vigilante activity, partly fuelled by Belinda’s mother, Jill. And then, Thea receives sporadic text messages from someone who claims they knew what happened on the night Belinda was killed. But despite his family’s best efforts, the world is not prepared to let Stefan move on, and his own feelings of guilt threaten to overwhelm him.
There’s a twist that, while it did not completely take me by surprise, left me thinking. This novel held my attention from beginning to end. I found myself wondering how I would feel if I was Thea or Jill. And, at the very end, I wondered about Stefan. Highly recommended if you are interested in a violent crime from a different perspective.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith