In The Shadow of Your Smile, worldwide bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark weaves a spellbinding thriller revolving around a long-held family secret that threatens to emerge and take the life of an unsuspecting heiress.
At age eighty-two and in failing health, Olivia Morrow knows she has little time left. The last of her line, she faces a momentous choice: expose a long-held family secret, or take it with her to her grave.
Olivia has in her possession letters from her deceased cousin Catherine, a nun, now being considered for beatification by the Catholic Church—the final step before sainthood. In her lifetime, Sister Catherine had founded seven hospitals for disabled children. Now the cure of a four-year-old boy dying of brain cancer is being attributed to her. After his case was pronounced medically hopeless, the boy’s desperate mother had organized a prayer crusade to Sister Catherine, leading to his miraculous recovery.
The letters Olivia holds are the evidence that Catherine gave birth at age seventeen to a child, a son, and gave him up for adoption. Olivia knows the identity of the young man who fathered Catherine’s child: Alex Gannon, who went on to become a world-famous doctor, scientist, and inventor holding medical patents.
Now, two generations later, thirty-one-year-old pediatrician Dr. Monica Farrell, Catherine’s granddaughter, stands as the rightful heir to what remains of the family fortune. But in telling Monica who she really is, Olivia would have to betray Catherine’s wishes and reveal the story behind Monica’s ancestry.
The Gannon fortune is being squandered by Alex’s nephews Greg and Peter Gannon, and other board members of the Gannon Foundation, who camouflage their profligate lifestyles with philanthropy.
Now their carefully constructed image is cracking. Greg, a prominent financier, is under criminal investigation, and Peter, a Broadway producer, is a
suspect in the murder of a young woman who has been extorting money from him.
The only people aware of Olivia’s impending choice are those exploiting the Gannon inheritance. To silence Olivia and prevent Monica from learning the secret, some of them will stop at nothing—even murder.
Clark’s riveting new novel explores the juxtaposition of medical science and religious faith, and the search for identity by the daughter of a man adopted at birth.
MHC always delivers The Shadow of Your Smile, the latest thriller from Mary Higgins Clark, is in almost every way typical of her previous books. I want to say right away that I enjoyed it, much more than her last book as a matter of fact. MHC raises some interesting points concerning the natural conflict between faith and science in this one.Dr. Monica Farrell, a pediatrician with a successful practice in New York, doesn’t know her father’s birth mother was a woman who later took vows and is now being considered for sainthood. Miracles of healing have been attributed to Sister Catherine, her grandmother, including one involving a patient of Monica’s with terminal brain cancer. Dr. Farrell is no longer a practicing Catholic and considers herself to be a scientist first and foremost. To her, miracles are simply events that will have a logical explanation some time in the future.The man who fathered Catherine’s child was an inventor whose patents provided an enormous income he willed to “any issue” of his, not knowing what had happened to the child Catherine bore in secret. The default heirs are two brothers whose greed and dishonest business practices have resulted in the necessity for multiple murder to keep their house of cards from collapsing. After the suspicious death of a close friend of Dr. Farrell’s, one who was trying to help her find her father’s parents, Monica is marked to be the next victim.As with all other MHC books, there is no bad language, no descriptions of heavy sex or blood or violence, although obviously bodies do turn up – proof that a good thriller doesn’t have to commit assault and battery on the senses. The female characters, whether eighteen or eighty-eight are all lady-like, dress conservatively, drink pots of tea and come from solid Catholic families. Come to think of it, the male characters are like that, too. But MHC is no lady when it comes to plotting. “Shadow” has some very ingenious twists and turns, and the steady pacing kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime.
THE SECRET HEIRESS When 82-year-old Olivia Morrow receives the news that she is dying and has little time left, she must make a big decision. Many years ago, her deceased cousin Catherine, who became a nun, had a big secret. And Olivia has letters in her possession that confirm the details of the fact that, at age seventeen, Catherine gave birth to a baby boy, whom she subsequently put up for adoption. The child’s father, Alex Gannon, went on to become a world-famous doctor, scientist, and inventor holding medical patents.Just to complicate things a bit further, this same nun is being considered for “beatification” because of alleged miracles she has performed, by healing terminally ill children.Meanwhile, also living in New York City is Dr. Monica Farrell, daughter of that same child, completely unaware that she is the only living “issue” of that famous man. His other relatives–nephew, etc.–are squandering the fortune and are involved in nefarious activities. Unaware of the possible connection between them, Dr. Farrell is being called upon to “testify” as to the medical facts and supposed miracle that healed one of her patients, all in support of the sainthood of this nun.So the scene is set. What will Olivia do? And what will certain others do to keep the truth from coming to life?Through the pages and chapters, which I am rapidly turning as the suspense builds, we see glimpses of each of these characters and watch as events speed up and tensions heighten, while lives hang in the balance–literally. I enjoyed the way the author pulled in supposedly incidental characters and created unique circumstances that would help bring down the house of cards built by the unworthy characters, somehow forestalling disaster.This was a very quick read, due in large part to the way this author builds suspense and gives us layers of the story, with each subsequent chapter bringing us closer to the ultimate conclusion. was a definite five star read for me!