This is an addictive and intelligent debut novel from author and therapist Phillipa East. It’s a tale of a family coping with the aftermath of an abduction. Abigail White has been missing for seven years, after becoming separated from her mum, Anne, on a trip to London. Now aged 15, Abigail walks into a police station along with a younger girl. The novel flits between Anne’s viewpoint and that of Abigail’s cousin Jess. Jess and Abigail were born only four months apart and we’re more like twins than cousins. They had a special connection, and even after seven years apart Jess still feels she knows Abigail better than anyone. Her friend Lena warns Jess that Abigail has gone through a significant trauma and will have changed in ways they can’t see. Soon after her arrival at the police station, detectives discover that Abigail was taken from outside the tube station by a stranger. It seems that he was in the right place at the right time, just as Abigail became separated from her Mum and twin brothers. Anne had been trying to manage Abigail, the twins, a buggy and the train doors. Detective McCarthy has experience with abduction cases and uses his expertise to ask some probing questions: how did Abigail manage to wander off the platform and up to the street above, is this just a crime of opportunity or is there any chance at all that the family know this man?


Anne and her sister Lillian are close, but they are different. Lillian is the older sister and the ‘fixer’ who is organised, sensible and it seems to Anne as if she never makes mistakes. Anne’s life has been more complicated. Abigail’s birth father became an addict, causing difficulties with finances and the safety of their new family. With Lillian’s help, Anne left and despite trying to maintain contact with Abigail he has largely been absent. Anne then met Robert who has always considered Abigail his own daughter, creating a stable family unit for the first time. It is hard to imagine that Abigail could simply slit back into her family as if she never left. Anne is beset by doubts and concerns. Will Abigail expect her bedroom to be as if she never left? Can they let Jess back into her life at once or will she need time to adjust? Have the years of captivity and sexual abuse left her daughter so damaged she won’t recover? There is also the hint of a secret surrounding the moments before Abigail’s disappearance that day. Anne wonders what Abigail remembers and whether they should talk about that day. Lillian advises her to leave it alone. The tension between them and Anne’s concerns kept me hooked. To me, Abigail feels like a ticking time bomb and I found myself waiting for her to explode.

I felt that the author understood the psychology of trauma and she depicted beautifully the way a crime like this affects everyone around the victim. The trauma ripples outwards into the family like a drop of water on the surface of a pond. I really liked the insidious way that secrets are shown to damage trust and erode relationships. The depiction of Abigail is very cleverly written because it delves into the complexity of the relationship between the captor and the child. For example, Anne is startled by the findings of an educational psychologist who concludes that Abigail must have been home schooled. It seems strange that a man who has emotionally and sexually abused a child for seven years, would be concerned about their education. It made me think about the relationship between the child and the abductor. We can accept the negative aspects, but it is harder to accept that Abigail might have positive feelings toward her captor. It is as if, in order to survive mentally, she has had accepted captivity as her reality; when Cassingham abducts a younger girl it prompts her to act, but it still takes her a long time to find her voice again and be angry about her experience. The concern I had was whether Abigail would ever accept her new reality at home with her family.

I enjoyed the character of Jess and her struggle to understand the cousin who was once as close as her shadow. Can she trust that the same Abigail even exists any more? Can they jump back into easy familiarity or will Jess have to get to know this new Abigail who is the sum of her experiences? I truly empathised with her internal struggle between supporting her cousin and keeping the friends she has made since Abigail disappeared. Abigail might find it hard to fit when she has missed out on seven years of music and other popular culture. She is awkward, not knowing what to wear, how to do her hair or even how to speak. There is a gulf between her and other 15 year olds that might be too wide to bridge. It might be embarrassing for Jess, but for Abigail the frustration could be too much to cope with. She can’t find anyone who shares or truly understands her experience.

This was a great read, with believable characters facing a parent’s worst fear; their child has gone missing. I enjoyed the different perspective, focussing not on the abduction and police operation but on the issues faced when the child returns. It explores the family’s happiness and relief, only to find a relative stranger in their midst. Alongside this central narrative, East also explores the complexity of modern family relationships, and poses the question of whether we truly know the people we love and live alongside. Within the relationship of Jess and Abigail, we see the pains of growing up and fitting in, particularly the realisations that our elders are fallible and the World might not be as safe as we imagine.


I would like to thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of a young girl who was abducted, but after seven long years, returned to her family. It's about how difficult it was for her to adjust to being with them, and how she had to learn to trust them. It also tells how hard it was for her family as, obviously, she was not the same person who was abducted. Mistakes were made along the way, but they got there in the end.

I wasnt sure if I'd like this book when I started it but I was wrong. 

It pulls you in and doesn't let go till the end. The writing makes your imagination run wild.

If you like suspenseful, tension filled story. Then pick this up.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy of this in exchange for an honest review. Little White Lies does an excellent job of building a mystery, setting the reader up to brainstorm potential answers, and... is underwhelming in its ending. The lies told really are little and don't really surmount to anything, and while I enjoyed the read I don't find this to be the so-called thriller people are making it out to be. It reads more like a family drama and I did enjoy the characters (particularly the two girls) as well as their dynamics for all of their flawed realism.

The last ten percent or so was probably my favourite part of the book as it was the first time I was really hooked on what was going to happen, whereas the majority of the plot meandered and dragged. Nonetheless I enjoyed the book as a whole, saving quotes from it and investing in the characters so would recommend as a quick read!

Little White Lies tells the story Abigail White who was abducted 7 years previously and her sudden return when she simply walked in to a police station. What should have been a happy family reunion is anything but and we see the impact her abduction and return has on her family. The story is narrated through two points of view, the Mother's and the girl's cousin. It did a great job of showing how the same events and words can be viewed differently by adults and children. The cousin, Jess, tells things as very black and white e.g my cousin was abducted, the man was a bad guy, she's home and safe now so everything can go back to normal. But throughout the book there are hints of a big secret about that terrible day that are being kept by the Mother which not only makes us think that this was not a straightforward child abduction and that there may be something more sinister going on, but also heightens tensions and emotions within the family.
These hints of a secret kept me reading as fast as I could. I was gripped from the first page and was sneaking in reading in every spare moment I had. I was literally desperate to find out what had actually happened. There were lots of twists and turns in the plot that kept me addicted to reading I felt I could easily relate to the Mother of the book, especially when she is talking about her own downfalls and the guilt she feels. It's easy for us as Mother's to blame ourselves for every little thing that isn't quite right with our kids.
I don't think that there was anything particularly unique about Little White Lies, I just think it was a very, very well written thriller full of suspense that any fans of the genre would love. Little White Lies is exactly what a thriller should be!

Great idea for a book wherein a 15 year old returns home 8 years after going missing, the return doesn’t go as smoothly as the family expected and it turns out there are 2 secrets as to why
The problem is the 2 secrets are at best underwhelming and at worst totally ridiculous and the other problem is it takes 300 pages to get to them, and its a long 300 pages, one whole chapter was describing redecorating a room and the paints using to do so, the author over described everything ( imo ) and it was repetitive, as said when the secrets arrived it was more a ‘oh’ than a OHHHHHHH and the ending way off on a tangent that yes was unexpected but was again unbelievable
No this book wasn’t for me and as say was a good premise with a bounty of possibilities that sadly were not taken
3/10
2 Stars

I requested this book because I was intrigued by the book cover and I have to say the book definitely lived up to it..
The book got going straight away with Abigail walking into a police station and then being handed back to her famil.y. I really did feel for Anne as I think I would react the exact same by putting Abigail’s things back in her room from when she was eight years old being naive to the fact that she is now 15 years old and a teenager.
I enjoyed the book being from both Anne and Abigail’s cousin Jess’ perspective. Jess has remained quite childlike since Abigail has been abducted which Abigail struggles to handle and often lashes out at Jess.
I couldn’t guess what any of the ‘little lies’ were going to be and the last few chapters really had me holding my breath.
I really wasn’t expecting the situation that happened with the abductor, very clever!
I will definitely be looking out for more by the author.

Abigail is found after having disappeared for 7 years. Everybody should be delighted and everything should end happily, but somehow something isn’t right, someone in the family is hiding something and events spiral out of control.
I loved this book, a little slow at the start although due to the subject matter it compelled me to keep reading to find out the truth and soon I couldn’t put it down.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ UK for letting me review this book.

Well this is my first review. So here goes... Upon starting this book I was a little unsure of its direction. Loved the easy going slow pace it had, which be a cause of the way it was written drew me in without me even realising it had. Beautifully written with great character detail, loved the way it swapped and changed between all the main characters. This certainly kept you on your toes. Great ending, thoroughly enjoyed. Can’t wait for more by. Philippa West. 👍

When Abigail is snatched from outside a London tube station at the age of 8, her family were distraught and did everything they could to find her abductor, to no avail. But now, seven years later, she’s reappeared and returns to her home. But can their lives ever recover from her long years of incarceration?

At times slow moving, Little White Lies was still a powerful story, showing how tiny mistakes and actions can snowball into a serious incident. Throughout the book, it is clear that Abigail’s mum, Anne, was hiding a secret from her family, which was linked to Abigail’s disappearance. It is only at the end, as the abductor is brought to trial, that the full story is revealed, and each character’s actions made clear. I did find the scene after the trial, with Abigail and Jess rather confusing, but I guess it needed something to help bring closure to the story.

Overall, quite enjoyable, if a little slow paced in parts.

Your child went missing 7 years ago but now has been found....surely this is your dream come true and everything will be well now?

Little white lies shows how the truth is far more complicated than this. It is a story of intricate, complex relationships within a family, all of which have a hand in the events of 7 years ago.

I love how the book shows us how relationships evolve over time and more importantly how this is ok and in fact necessary.

The story is told from the mother and niece’s view points and although at times it felt strange not to have Abigail’s view point the book worked well. The emotions, guilt and confusion of all the characters comes across strongly.

A gripping read, a rollercoaster of emotions.

Anna lost her daughter in a split second. Seven years later Abigail returns. Will the family ever be the same? How much does Abigail remember about that day? The family struggling to come to terms with everything . What did really happen? This story has lots of twists and turns that just keep getting better but you won’t be able to put down. Thank you met galley for the early read

Little White Lies by Philippa East is a cracking debut novel that will have the reader’s heart racing to the end. It is a superb contemporary psychological thriller that deals with guilt and what-ifs.
Once a lie is out there and compounded it spirals out of control. The truth lies buried for fear of making a bad situation even worse.
Lives on hold for seven years hope to resume happy families but restoration seems impossible as everyone seems to be keeping secrets. High expectations were unrealistic.
Childhood bonds resume but some things are too broken to be fixed.
The reader becomes involved in the story as it is told from several alternating points of view. We are aware of the guilt, lies and cover-up we just do not know what it is that is being hidden.
Little White Lies was cleverly constructed with realistic and believable characters. Families are more complicated underneath than the surface shows.
I devoured this book as it consumed my every waking moment. Philippa East is clearly has tremendous talent and I cannot wait to read more by her.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

I found this hard to read because of the subject matter but it was hard to put down nice I started. Abigail is abducted aged 8 and 7 years later walks into a police station with another child. She is returned to her family and they try to build their family again. However there are secrets behind what happened on that day and guilt shared by all the adults involved. There is a bewildered teenager trying to remember and understand what happened. Everything culminates at the trial and the pieces are put together - the ultimate betrayal is faced - the parents did not keep the child safe. The book ends with an unexpected twist.

Hard to read but well worth the effort. A book I will be recommending.

Mixed feelings about this one. I expected more about what happened when Abigail was in captivity but it kept me gripped most of the time. I thought during the dramatic scenes there wasn't enough clarification of what was happening and I had to read it a few times.

I enjoyed this book at the beginning however, it started to become quite long-winded and a little predictable. I found it hard to engage with the characters. I'm glad I persevered with the book as I liked the ending. It is very similar to the BBC programme 'Thirteen'.

This was definitely an enjoyable read. The story and characters were engaging and there was an 'unknown situation' all the way through.

Although sometimes I felt the suspense was so high, it held you in a place where there should have been more of an outcome that what there was. This is not necessarily a negative point, its more about how I felt.

Very well written and, without a doubt, worth a read if you like suspense novels.

Highly recommended.

Thank you HQ and NetGalley.

This is a well crafted, engrossing novel, where the tension builds, gradually from start to end. What would you do if your daughter disappeared at 8 years old? If you had told just a small white lie? But then seven years later she turns up and is brought back home, you wonder if she remembers what happened that day, could you have done anything different?

Anne and Lillian are sisters, Anne is married to Robert and Lillian is married to Fraser. Both sisters had a daughter each within two weeks of each other Abigail and Jess. Abigail is from Anne’s first marriage which ended badly, Anne and Abigail had lived with Lillian, Fraser and Jess for a while and the girls had been inseparable, it was like they were joined at the hip, they liked the same things. But then one day Abigail disappears, leaving Anne and Robert just with the twins who at the time were only 9 months old.

Eight years later Abigail walks into a police station holding the hand of a 7 year old girl who had gone missing, she was returning her. Only when asking questions did the police realise Abigail was a girl who had disappeared 8 years earlier.

But when she back home with her family, she is wary, what has she been told by her captor. Jess has been waiting for this return, it’s like her life has been on hold for the whole 8 years, she hasn’t’ told moved on either. Anne struggles to deal with her daughter being back, she doesn’t know what to say or what to do.

The story is told from two points of view from when Abigail is back on the 27th May, from Jess’s view and Anne’s viewpoint. Initially it’s days after her being home going up to the 27th September when the verdict of the trial is revealed.

The characters are relatable, believable. Although at times I wanted to slap Lillian, she is the most dominant character, she has always told Anne what to do and Anne has always followed her instructions. It’s like Anne has no mind of her own. She always has to ask her sister, not her husband Robert. Even Lillians husband Fraser, is reluctant to stand up to her. There marriage doesn’t seem to be the happiest.

With plenty of twists and turns keeping the reader to wonder what the secret is, with more twists afterwards, a complex tale of a family.

But as you near the end of the book the tension just keeps ratcheting up, leading to a heart pounding climax. A definite must read.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #HQ for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, and unbiased review.

I could not put this book down. The story moved along with pace and pitch perfect for the subject matter. Abduction and child abuse are difficult subjects to read about and even more difficult to write if the author is to avoid gratuitous, shocking and tasteless sensationalIsation. The way this story unfolds is the personification of less is more.. A teenager just short of her sixteenth birthday and missing for eight years walks into a police station. A family unable to come to terms with loss, presumed death of their child receive a phone call. Walking on broken glass all those involved attempt to pick up the pieces of a family life thought lost to them for ever. The police want information to apprehend the perpetrator; the media are intent on information ensuring press coverage outlining all salacious details whilst those involved and extended family are hell bent on getting life back to their memories of normality. No one emerges from trauma unscathed and we the reader wait with baited breadth as both past and present events slowly emerge in heartbreaking detail. At the core of this story is a young adult trapped in the events of eight years previous trying desperately to understand what why and how she was abducted before she can move on. Balanced against this is a complex family full of good intentions but unable to break the tentacles of past events , good intentioned lies and old family history. An ARC from NetGalley which has had me totally engrossed and involved from start to finish. An excellent story line extremely well executed and all the more shocking when done with such sensitivity and no exaggerated hyperbole .

This is the first book from this author and I hope it's not the last. A story told from many points of view with a dramatic twist at the end. Thoroughly enjoyed and I'd really recommend.