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The Abortionist’s Daughter
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The Abortionist’s Daughter
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The Abortionist’s Daughter
Audiobook5 hours

The Abortionist’s Daughter

Written by Elisabeth Hyde

Narrated by Beth McDonald

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

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About this audiobook

Set in a small town in Colorado, The Abortionist’s Daughter is an utterly compelling novel of family secrets, dark passion and, ultimately, catharsis for those whose lives have become so strangely entwined.

'The problem was Megan had just taken the second half of her ecstasy when her father called with the news.'

Nineteen-year old university student Megan Thompson is beautiful, cool, clever and sexy – the kind of girl boys fall in love with. She's mostly steered clear of family life since the death of her younger brother. That is until the day she hears her mother, Diana, has been found floating face down in their swimming pool.

Diana, as Director of the Center for Reproductive Choice, was a national figure who inspired passions and made enemies. Detective Huck Berlin is brought in to investigate the case when it becomes clear that Diana was murdered. Several people have quarrelled with Diana on that fateful day, not least Frank, her husband of twenty years, and her wayward child. Now father and daughter are thrown together in an unexpected twist of family life.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateAug 7, 2006
ISBN9780007246540
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The Abortionist’s Daughter
Author

Elisabeth Hyde

Elisabeth Hyde is the author of three previous novels, including Crazy as Chocolate. Born and raised in New Hampshire, she has since lived in Vermont, Washington DC, San Francisco and Seattle. In 1979 she received her law degree and practised briefly with the US Department of Justice. She teaches creative writing and currently lives with her husband and three children in Boulder, Colorado, where she is at work on her fifth novel.

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Reviews for The Abortionist’s Daughter

Rating: 3.1578947368421053 out of 5 stars
3/5

19 ratings19 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    VERY suspenseful and good till the end. Very much like The Doctor's Wife!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Kind of a mystery novel, about who killed the abortionist, but it was quite well-written with good characterization.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was an odd one - not a bad read, with some interesting points raised around the subject of abortion, and some elements that surprised me too, particularly the way in which the victim's family were pretty much left to fend for themselves when they weren't allowed back into the house as it was a crime scene. Does it really happen this way? I wouldn't know but was a bit surprised all the same. On the face of it this is a standard whoddunit, but structured differently from the norm. The author sets up a scenario when any one of three or four people could have 'dunnit', but in the end it was a toss-up which one it was. The police's role seemed not so much to solve the crime (did they do any detecting?) as to get in the way.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Family relationships are so complicated and this book portrayed that very accurately. Every character in this book is complex. The story wasn't surpriing. I don't know how they didn't figure out who killed Diane from the beginning. Unless, you chalk it up to the fact that in real life the police wouldn't have figured it out that quickly either. Not a heavy book, but it has it's moments.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    was slightly disapointed by this, as i expected much more of an insight to the issues surrounding abortion, the title is misleading, the story isnt about megan:the abortionists daughter. it is about a crime.was a frustrateing read when i had intended on a more phylosophical story, hardly touched on the controversial issue of abortion.however, as a light read, not dissapointing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Two weeks before Christmas, Diana Duprey, an outspoken abortion doctor, is found floating in her pool, a bruise the size of a golf ball visible through her dark curls. A national figure, Diana inspired passion and ignited tempers, never more so than on the day of her death." "Her husband, Frank, an attorney in the D.A.'s office for more than twenty years, had fought bitterly with her on the day of her murder. Yet to reveal the nature of their fight would cost him not only his career but something greater still - a relationship he will go to any lengths to protect. Diana's daughter, Megan, a college freshman, had also quarreled with Diana that day, and her role in her mother's murder will prove more significant than she ever could have anticipated. The Reverend Stephen O'Connell, founder of the town's pro-life coalition, obviously had issues with Diana, but his anger extended beyond the political to the personal - namely, Dr. Duprey's involvement with his own troubled teenager. Meanwhile, the detective on the case grapples to make sense of it all. His investigation implicates many in this town and reveals a series of gross miscalculations, each one challenging what we know, or think we know, about community, fidelity, justice, and love.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book. I started this book after previously starting three or four books that were just awful and that I didn't finish. This one was great. I thought it was very well written. The plot revolves around the murder of an abortion doctor, Diana Duprey, but it is about more than that. Hyde is great at writing about the interworkings of a familial relationship. I loved this whole book from start to finish.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A Great read! I know the title turns off people, esp mothers but despite that it really was a good book. Highly recommend it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Dr. Diana Duprey—abortion clinic director, wife of local Colorado DA Frank Thompson and mother of 19-year-old college freshman Megan—has plenty of enemies, so when her body is found floating in the exercise pool of her garden tour–featured house, the list of suspects is long. Aside from abortion opponents and distraught parents, there were the arguments overheard between Frank and Diana, and Megan and Diana shortly before. The coroner, a woman with whom Frank had had an affair, won't do the autopsy, and a man harboring a grudge against Frank takes her place. Meanwhile, Megan finds herself attracted to Huck Berlin, the policeman assigned to the case, and Huck finds Megan in various compromising positions. Former U.S. attorney Hyde (Crazy as Chocolate) describes Megan's contradictory, confused emotions without oversimplification ("Have fun killing babies" were Megan's inadvertent last words to her mother). Hyde also jumps back in time, delving into Diana's work at the clinic and her feelings about it, as well as the lives and feelings of her clients. Rather than generating suspense, the murder provides a frame for the turbulence in and around a woman propelled by idealism and strongly held beliefs. Look for this book to get play as South Dakota's challenge to Roe v. Wade wends through the courts
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It kept me intrigues throughout, but at the same time, sometimes felt like there wasn't much going on during it. It felt, at the end, like the set up was the person "whodunit" said that s/he did, the next chapter was a set up of the doctor's last day, and then a chapter about how life was going along with everyone afterward. Quick read, though.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    So so so predictable. I knew who the killer was from the start. The characters were not very believable because they all did things that didn't seem true to their nature. **SPOILER** What police detective falls in love after seeing nude pics on the internet of a 19-year-old relative of a victim in the case he's working? And what detective would risk his career and relationship with a woman he loves to sleep with that teen? But he's still portrayed as the best and brightest on the force and it doesn't work. For many reasons in addition to the "romance," it doesn't read like Hyde consulted any law enforcement agencies for info on protocol and procedures.I'm not sure why the book is called The Abortionist's Daughter. The author never decides whether the book is a story about Megan's bad relationship and sexual choices or the murder of her mother. The fact that Megan's mother is an abortion provider, as Megan calls her, is pretty incidental to the story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a light crime novel. The fact that that an abortionist is involved is almost incidental and not central to the plot. But if light crime novels are your thing then I guess this is a good'un.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I've had this book sitting on the shelf for awhile. One of my friends off-loaded it during a visit because she didn't have room in her luggage. In hindsight, that really should have been a sign. I usually love mysteries, any mysteries, but this one was a complete snooze fest, extremely predictable, and for whatever reason, the author decided to weave in a completely bizarre romance angle that did not work for me at all. This one is headed straight for my sell pile.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really liked the book but the title isn't great. I suspect since the success of the book "The Timetraveller's wife" publishers just hope to make a book successful by using the "the 's " titles. It's not only about the daughter. It deals with a family falling apart because of the violent death of one member. In this aspect it reminded me of "Songs for the Missing" by Stewart O'Nan I read earlier this year. I particularly liked the story being told from three different viewpoints - daughter, father and detective and how it dealt with the topic of abortion throughout the book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's pretty good, but definitely not great. I saw the end coming almost since the beginning, which kinda sucks. But, I did finish it, which says something.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I quite enjoyed this - typical holiday reading though. Thought that it was very predictable.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A terribly predictable and contrived plot. This certainly isn't the greatest book in the world. But it served me well for a quick weekend read. Don't start reading this with any great expectations. You'll be disappointed.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Meh. This is an OK book for killing time while traveling. But I think anyone that was, say, an English major once upon a time or cares about language will find it hard to ignore the poor character development, erratic pacing and unbelievable police work.The author--a wife and mother--doesn't know how to establish the relationship between mother and daughter. Were there some other kids? I forget already. Worse, she doesn't describe well at all the critical relationship between the girl and her high school boyfriend--how and why the girl is attracted to the guy. It's *summarized.* The girl is the daughter of a gynecologist/obstetrician/abortionist yet when she begins to have sex, frequently at that, neither party gives a thought to contraception. Forget the mother's role here. The book takes place in the present age, the girl is supposed to be popular, the high school doesn't appear to be in the Bible Belt: Elisabeth Hyde, you don't think girls and their male peers aren't talking about sex, condoms and other contraceptives all the time? Now perhaps the girl is acting out her resentment of her mother or something ... but nowhere is this hinted at. As I say, this crucial relationship between the girl and boy is just summarized.Yet Hyde goes into quite a few details about the life of the youngish cop on the case, supplying bits of business about his relationship with his girlfriend. Maybe she has a series in mind--in which case, he should be even more front and center. Instead, it's mostly from the POV of the husband/father character.And, oh yeah, how about the ridiculous bit when nude pix of the girl are found on a porn site *and the cops decide not to tel her*? Ah, yes, it's so easy to keep these things secret. Moreover, all you (or the police or a lawyer such as the father) would have to do is threaten the website or the host with holy hell and/or damages to get the photos taken down immediately. Her age is beside the point: they need the subject's permission. They would need the subject's permission even if she wasn't nude. And the author is a lawyer?! I guess we're lucky she dropped out of that profession.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Abortionist's Daughter - Elisabeth HydeDespite the title, I found this book to be a light read. Rather than delve into the arguments and issues surrounding the Right to Life/Abortion debate, Elisabeth Hyde presents the reader with a murder at the beginning of the novel. The victim's relationships and the lives of her family are revealed --and, of course, the mystery solved. This book is a well-written page-turner, not a fierce intellectual discussion.