What do you think?
Rate this book
You'll Never Know, Dear
An addictive novel of psychological suspense from the award-winning author of Night Night, Sleep Tight, about three generations of women haunted by a little girl’s disappearance, and the porcelain doll that may hold the key to the truth . . .
Seven-year-old Lissie Woodham and her four-year-old sister Janey were playing with their porcelain dolls in the front yard when an adorable puppy scampered by. Eager to pet the pretty dog, Lissie chased after the pup as it ran down the street. When she returned to the yard, Janey’s precious doll was gone . . . and so was Janey.
Forty years after Janey went missing, Lis—now a mother with a college-age daughter of her own—still blames herself for what happened. Every year on the anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, their mother, Miss Sorrel, places a classified ad in the local paper with a picture of the toy Janey had with her that day—a one-of-a-kind porcelain doll—offering a generous cash reward for its return. For years, there’s been no response. But this year, the doll came home.
It is the first clue in a decades-old mystery that is about to turn into something far more sinister—endangering Lis and the lives of her mother and daughter as well. Someone knows the truth about what happened all those years ago, and is desperate to keep it hidden.
Seven-year-old Lissie Woodham and her four-year-old sister Janey were playing with their porcelain dolls in the front yard when an adorable puppy scampered by. Eager to pet the pretty dog, Lissie chased after the pup as it ran down the street. When she returned to the yard, Janey’s precious doll was gone . . . and so was Janey.
Forty years after Janey went missing, Lis—now a mother with a college-age daughter of her own—still blames herself for what happened. Every year on the anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, their mother, Miss Sorrel, places a classified ad in the local paper with a picture of the toy Janey had with her that day—a one-of-a-kind porcelain doll—offering a generous cash reward for its return. For years, there’s been no response. But this year, the doll came home.
It is the first clue in a decades-old mystery that is about to turn into something far more sinister—endangering Lis and the lives of her mother and daughter as well. Someone knows the truth about what happened all those years ago, and is desperate to keep it hidden.
290 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2017
480 people are currently reading
4371 people want to read
About the author
Hallie Ephron
21 books559 followersHallie Ephron (http://hallieephron.com) is a New York Times bestselling author of suspense novels. Her last five have all been Mary Higgins Clark Award finalists.
Her (August 2019) Careful What You Wish For tells the story of a professional organizer married to man who can't pass a yard sale without stopping. In this respect, Hallie is writing from personal experience. Her husband is a champion yard sailor who's packed their basement, garage, and attic with his finds.
A STARRED review in Publisher's Weekly proclaimed it an "outstanding standalone." Reviewing it for TIME Magazine, Jamie Lee Curtis called it "thrilling and suspenseful." From Kirkus: "Ephron's tidy approach to stowing clues, arousing suspicions, keeping the chaos of the climax under control, then tying up loose ends makes her a professional organizer of this type of entertainment. In a word—neat."
Hallie's Never Tell a Lie was made into the Lifetime Movie Network film.
A book lover, she also wrote The Bibliophile's Devotional and 1001 Books for Every Mood. For twelve years she reviewed crime fiction for the Boston Globe. Her Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel (now in a revised/expanded edition) was an Edgar and Anthony award finalist. She teaches writing at writing conferences and workshops all around the world.
Hallie lives near Boston with her husband and has two fabulous daughters. She is the third of four writing Ephron sisters.
Her (August 2019) Careful What You Wish For tells the story of a professional organizer married to man who can't pass a yard sale without stopping. In this respect, Hallie is writing from personal experience. Her husband is a champion yard sailor who's packed their basement, garage, and attic with his finds.
A STARRED review in Publisher's Weekly proclaimed it an "outstanding standalone." Reviewing it for TIME Magazine, Jamie Lee Curtis called it "thrilling and suspenseful." From Kirkus: "Ephron's tidy approach to stowing clues, arousing suspicions, keeping the chaos of the climax under control, then tying up loose ends makes her a professional organizer of this type of entertainment. In a word—neat."
Hallie's Never Tell a Lie was made into the Lifetime Movie Network film.
A book lover, she also wrote The Bibliophile's Devotional and 1001 Books for Every Mood. For twelve years she reviewed crime fiction for the Boston Globe. Her Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel (now in a revised/expanded edition) was an Edgar and Anthony award finalist. She teaches writing at writing conferences and workshops all around the world.
Hallie lives near Boston with her husband and has two fabulous daughters. She is the third of four writing Ephron sisters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews
March 11, 2018
You’ll Never Know, Dear by Hallie Ephron is a 2017 William Morrow publication.
Deceptively addicting-
Three generations of women work to find the answer to a forty- year old puzzle in which the biggest, most important clue is a priceless porcelain doll.
Miss Sorrel, is a doll maker and collector, who at one time had a booming doll making business and made a name for herself among collectors. But, the doll that means the most to her, the one she is always in constant search of, is the one that disappeared along with her daughter, Janey forty years ago.
Lissie never got over the disappearance of her younger sister and always blamed herself for what happened. The incident has haunted her all her life, even through marriage, divorce, and motherhood.
Vanessa is Lissie’s only child, a sleep/dream researcher who returns home after her grandmother has a health scare. Little does she know her area of expertise will come into play while she is there.
With all three generations now under one roof, the women are ready to seriously consider the possibility that Janey’s doll has found its way back to them and that the doors of the decades old cold case are about to blow wide open.
I thought the cover of this book was a little creepy, and the title was intriguing. While the missing child theme is hardly a new one, I always find this to be a compelling storyline, and also falls within my favorite mystery trope- the cold case.
This book also appealed to me in a way because my grandmother made her own ceramics, and on occasion made porcelain dolls, as a hobby. Not only that, my daughter had a nice doll collection we displayed behind glass when she was younger, so I could understand the value and work that goes into the making of these dolls.
The mystery is intriguing, and kept me interested, and guessing for a good while, but I did guess who was behind the kidnapping before it was revealed. Still, I couldn’t figure out the motive, so there was still an element of mystery to keep me invested in the story. There were a few too many conveniences, and for some reason the dream thread didn’t do anything for me.
But, I did like the way it all came together in the end, although one may have to suspend belief a little for it to work. However, the feel good, grab a tissue, emotional parts won me over, causing me to overlook a few implausibilities.
I’ve never read anything by this author, so didn’t have any expectations one way or another, but I liked this book well enough to give the author’s other work a try. Even though it wobbles here and there, I enjoyed the book, overall.
3 stars
Deceptively addicting-
Three generations of women work to find the answer to a forty- year old puzzle in which the biggest, most important clue is a priceless porcelain doll.
Miss Sorrel, is a doll maker and collector, who at one time had a booming doll making business and made a name for herself among collectors. But, the doll that means the most to her, the one she is always in constant search of, is the one that disappeared along with her daughter, Janey forty years ago.
Lissie never got over the disappearance of her younger sister and always blamed herself for what happened. The incident has haunted her all her life, even through marriage, divorce, and motherhood.
Vanessa is Lissie’s only child, a sleep/dream researcher who returns home after her grandmother has a health scare. Little does she know her area of expertise will come into play while she is there.
With all three generations now under one roof, the women are ready to seriously consider the possibility that Janey’s doll has found its way back to them and that the doors of the decades old cold case are about to blow wide open.
I thought the cover of this book was a little creepy, and the title was intriguing. While the missing child theme is hardly a new one, I always find this to be a compelling storyline, and also falls within my favorite mystery trope- the cold case.
This book also appealed to me in a way because my grandmother made her own ceramics, and on occasion made porcelain dolls, as a hobby. Not only that, my daughter had a nice doll collection we displayed behind glass when she was younger, so I could understand the value and work that goes into the making of these dolls.
The mystery is intriguing, and kept me interested, and guessing for a good while, but I did guess who was behind the kidnapping before it was revealed. Still, I couldn’t figure out the motive, so there was still an element of mystery to keep me invested in the story. There were a few too many conveniences, and for some reason the dream thread didn’t do anything for me.
But, I did like the way it all came together in the end, although one may have to suspend belief a little for it to work. However, the feel good, grab a tissue, emotional parts won me over, causing me to overlook a few implausibilities.
I’ve never read anything by this author, so didn’t have any expectations one way or another, but I liked this book well enough to give the author’s other work a try. Even though it wobbles here and there, I enjoyed the book, overall.
3 stars
October 4, 2017
The blurb for this book makes it sound like a suspense novel and the cover with the creepy doll is also pretty sinister. Unfortunately, the book didn't live up to either the blurb or the cover. It's not a thriller, it's really women's fiction about mothers/daughters/sisters (to such an extent that there are only a handful of men in the book and only one of them appears on more than 2 pages, even the dog is female).
The story is about a toddler who went missing almost forty years ago. Her custom-made doll disappeared at the same time and the doll has now been delivered to the toddler's mother by a young woman looking for the promised $5,000 reward. You can probably guess most of the rest of the story from here. I was hoping for something more suspenseful, atmospheric and unpredictable.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
The story is about a toddler who went missing almost forty years ago. Her custom-made doll disappeared at the same time and the doll has now been delivered to the toddler's mother by a young woman looking for the promised $5,000 reward. You can probably guess most of the rest of the story from here. I was hoping for something more suspenseful, atmospheric and unpredictable.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
June 8, 2017
When a child disappears, the pain never goes away no matter how long ago it has been.
Lis Woodham's four-year-old sister, Janey, along with her doll disappeared forty years ago and was never found. There were no clues about what happened then and no clues now.
Each year Janey's mother, Miss Sorrel, would put an ad in the paper on the anniversary of the disappearance in hopes that someone would come forward with the doll or information about her daughter's disappearance and earn the reward offered. There never was an answer to the ad for all of those years except for now. Someone saw the ad and brought a battered doll to their house hoping it was Janey's.
Before they could tell if the doll was actually Janey's, the person bringing the doll ran out of the house and disappeared.
This caused more anxiety for the family, and it seemed that once the doll was returned, the family was plagued with danger. Their house was burglarized and then filled with carbon monoxide causing harm to Grandma Sorrel and Lis.
The accident brought Lis's daughter, Vanessa, home to help take care of her mother and grandmother, and Vanessa got involved in the forty-year-old investigation.
YOU'LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR was a mystery that will definitely hold your interest because of Ms. Ephron’s talent of drawing the reader into the story.
YOU’LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR wasn't fast paced or gripping, but had just enough intrigue to keep you turning the pages.
The ending revealed quite a few secrets that some of the characters wished had not been revealed and other secrets that were welcome revelations.
YOU'LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR was a good mystery with tense moments and a mystery that will keep you guessing. 4/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.
Lis Woodham's four-year-old sister, Janey, along with her doll disappeared forty years ago and was never found. There were no clues about what happened then and no clues now.
Each year Janey's mother, Miss Sorrel, would put an ad in the paper on the anniversary of the disappearance in hopes that someone would come forward with the doll or information about her daughter's disappearance and earn the reward offered. There never was an answer to the ad for all of those years except for now. Someone saw the ad and brought a battered doll to their house hoping it was Janey's.
Before they could tell if the doll was actually Janey's, the person bringing the doll ran out of the house and disappeared.
This caused more anxiety for the family, and it seemed that once the doll was returned, the family was plagued with danger. Their house was burglarized and then filled with carbon monoxide causing harm to Grandma Sorrel and Lis.
The accident brought Lis's daughter, Vanessa, home to help take care of her mother and grandmother, and Vanessa got involved in the forty-year-old investigation.
YOU'LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR was a mystery that will definitely hold your interest because of Ms. Ephron’s talent of drawing the reader into the story.
YOU’LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR wasn't fast paced or gripping, but had just enough intrigue to keep you turning the pages.
The ending revealed quite a few secrets that some of the characters wished had not been revealed and other secrets that were welcome revelations.
YOU'LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR was a good mystery with tense moments and a mystery that will keep you guessing. 4/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.
July 20, 2017
3.5 stars and a thank you to LibraryThing.Com for my review copy.
I was attracted to this book by the creepy doll on the cover, wondering if dolls can still get to me like they once did. Well, this was not as creepy as I had expected (and hoped) -- no dolls displaying signs of life; no Twilight Zone flashbacks. This has more of an underlying suspense running throughout.
Two friends/neighbors, Miss Sorrell and Evelyn, are retired from their business of making dolls. Miss Sorrell's daughter Janey went missing some forty years ago, along with the doll Miss Sorrell had made especially for her. The older daughter Lis was supposed to be watching Janey so she's felt guilty all these years, and still lives with her mother. They place a yearly ad offering a reward for the missing doll and any information as to where it came from. A young woman answers the ad with a very old, damaged doll, leaves in a huff without giving her contact information, and the story takes off as the family tries to pursue this very strong possibility of a connection to Janey.
The story is engaging and did keep me wanting to read on to see how the various mysteries would come out; to see if what I thought had happened to Janey came true (I had it pegged almost to the letter). As in many suspense novels, this had its red herrings and implausible coincidences. A rather slow start for me and then it took off, with well-drawn characters and an interesting sleep study program as a side story.
I was attracted to this book by the creepy doll on the cover, wondering if dolls can still get to me like they once did. Well, this was not as creepy as I had expected (and hoped) -- no dolls displaying signs of life; no Twilight Zone flashbacks. This has more of an underlying suspense running throughout.
Two friends/neighbors, Miss Sorrell and Evelyn, are retired from their business of making dolls. Miss Sorrell's daughter Janey went missing some forty years ago, along with the doll Miss Sorrell had made especially for her. The older daughter Lis was supposed to be watching Janey so she's felt guilty all these years, and still lives with her mother. They place a yearly ad offering a reward for the missing doll and any information as to where it came from. A young woman answers the ad with a very old, damaged doll, leaves in a huff without giving her contact information, and the story takes off as the family tries to pursue this very strong possibility of a connection to Janey.
The story is engaging and did keep me wanting to read on to see how the various mysteries would come out; to see if what I thought had happened to Janey came true (I had it pegged almost to the letter). As in many suspense novels, this had its red herrings and implausible coincidences. A rather slow start for me and then it took off, with well-drawn characters and an interesting sleep study program as a side story.
June 14, 2017
"I always knew one day she'd come home."
You'll Never Know, Dear sees three generations of women dealing with a haunting past. Forty years ago, young Lissie was playing in the yard with her sister Janey. The two girls occupied themselves with handmade dolls that their mother modeled after their likeness. Lis became distracted by a dog and left her sister to play alone. That was the last time anyone ever saw little Janey.
Fast forward to present day. Miss Sorrel, the girls' mother, never recovered from Janey's disappearance. Clouded in grief, she gave up on creating porcelain dolls with her friend Evelyn, but she never gave up hope that she would see her daughter again. Each year, Miss Sorrel posts an add in the paper searching for the doll that disappeared with Janey. Each year, the ad goes unanswered. But this year is different. This year, the doll has come home.
Vanessa is in the midst of deep sleep when she's suddenly awakened. For years, she has studied the way people dream. She seeks a way to control actions in dreams and help people who suffer from nightmares and PTSD. She is awakened with the news of a terrible accident involving her mother and grandmother, Lis and Miss Sorrel. An explosion in Sorrel's kiln, a tool that sat mostly unused, sent the two women to the hospital and caused considerable damage to Miss Sorrel's treasured doll collection. When Vanessa arrives at her grandmother's home, she learns that Janey's long lost doll recently resurfaced. The very next day, the explosion happened. Could the doll really belong to Janey? After all these years, why did it surface now?
One glance at the haunting cover of this novel was all it took to capture my attention. From the very start, You'll Never Know, Dear, captured my attention and held on to the very end. There is a timelessness to Ephron's writing that makes for an almost enchanting read. While seasoned mystery readers will probably see the ending coming, it is the nuanced characters and vivid setting that make this a worthy read. With an unsolved mystery, strong female characters, and a few creepy dolls thrown in for good measure, You'll Never Know, Dear is everything I needed in a summer read. The book is marketed as "women's fiction", but make no mistake, this suspenseful novel will have men and women reading with fervor into all hours of the night.
You'll Never Know, Dear sees three generations of women dealing with a haunting past. Forty years ago, young Lissie was playing in the yard with her sister Janey. The two girls occupied themselves with handmade dolls that their mother modeled after their likeness. Lis became distracted by a dog and left her sister to play alone. That was the last time anyone ever saw little Janey.
Fast forward to present day. Miss Sorrel, the girls' mother, never recovered from Janey's disappearance. Clouded in grief, she gave up on creating porcelain dolls with her friend Evelyn, but she never gave up hope that she would see her daughter again. Each year, Miss Sorrel posts an add in the paper searching for the doll that disappeared with Janey. Each year, the ad goes unanswered. But this year is different. This year, the doll has come home.
Vanessa is in the midst of deep sleep when she's suddenly awakened. For years, she has studied the way people dream. She seeks a way to control actions in dreams and help people who suffer from nightmares and PTSD. She is awakened with the news of a terrible accident involving her mother and grandmother, Lis and Miss Sorrel. An explosion in Sorrel's kiln, a tool that sat mostly unused, sent the two women to the hospital and caused considerable damage to Miss Sorrel's treasured doll collection. When Vanessa arrives at her grandmother's home, she learns that Janey's long lost doll recently resurfaced. The very next day, the explosion happened. Could the doll really belong to Janey? After all these years, why did it surface now?
One glance at the haunting cover of this novel was all it took to capture my attention. From the very start, You'll Never Know, Dear, captured my attention and held on to the very end. There is a timelessness to Ephron's writing that makes for an almost enchanting read. While seasoned mystery readers will probably see the ending coming, it is the nuanced characters and vivid setting that make this a worthy read. With an unsolved mystery, strong female characters, and a few creepy dolls thrown in for good measure, You'll Never Know, Dear is everything I needed in a summer read. The book is marketed as "women's fiction", but make no mistake, this suspenseful novel will have men and women reading with fervor into all hours of the night.
November 25, 2020
I bought this book based solely on the cover and I’m patting past me on the back because this cover buy was a smashing success. Not only is the cover incredibly creepy but so is the story! Dolls and disappearances make for a great combo with this book and I absolutely loved it. I don’t know why (okay I do know why, it’s because dolls freak me out) but the dolls just add an extra creep factor to the story for me and take it from good to great. I loved all the twists and turns and deep, dark family secrets as well. I’m always a sucker for twisty turny thrillers with dark secrets from the past! And this book is definitely that, it kept me guessing from page one until the very end and had my jaw dropping at certain reveals. I really couldn’t have enjoyed this book more and I highly recommend it to mystery/thriller fans!
May 23, 2017
This started out so well, and then went downhill after the first one hundred pages or so. It was predictable overall, but tried to save itself from being predictable by throwing in twists that fell flat. It definitely had promise, but it wasn't for me in the end.
August 12, 2020
Predictable and took too long to get to the end.
April 27, 2018
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
What a great book this was!
Kept me guessing the entire time I was reading it!
Highly recommended!
I will absolutely be looking for more books by this author.
What a great book this was!
Kept me guessing the entire time I was reading it!
Highly recommended!
I will absolutely be looking for more books by this author.
August 9, 2018
As always, dolls were everywhere. Small dolls were tucked between Grandma Sorrel's cherished Blue Willow china on shelves hanging from the wall. Larger dolls nestled in cradle-like baskets on the floor or hung from the walls and ceiling like ripening hams."
I was hoping this would be more horror and frightening than the mystery type story it was. It's a pretty straightforward mystery - a young girl was abducted years ago. Finally, one of the possessions she had turns up- a really old, one-of-a-kind creepy doll. Now it's just a matter of time before they all know what happened to the girl.
I thought the "who done it" and even the trails to the mystery were a bit obvious even though I didn't know how it would all play out. It was pretty good, just not what I had been hoping to read.
I was hoping this would be more horror and frightening than the mystery type story it was. It's a pretty straightforward mystery - a young girl was abducted years ago. Finally, one of the possessions she had turns up- a really old, one-of-a-kind creepy doll. Now it's just a matter of time before they all know what happened to the girl.
I thought the "who done it" and even the trails to the mystery were a bit obvious even though I didn't know how it would all play out. It was pretty good, just not what I had been hoping to read.
April 26, 2020
I was enjoying this until I reached the last third or so. It just wasn't very satisfying for me. Meh.
June 8, 2017
Just one glance at the book cover for You’ll Never Know, Dear by Hallie Ephron and you will know that this tale is going to grab you. An old doll with a chipped face, eerily brought to life with that staring blue eye, those ruby red lips, and that touch of rouged cheek promises that there are hidden depths of buried secrets to discover. And, as the old doll indicates, the story starts in a time long past.
Lissie Woodham and her sister Janey were seven and four respectively when Lissie left her little sister to chase after a passing puppy. When Lissie returned to their yard, Janey was gone, along with Janey’s porcelian doll, which her mother had made for her. Exhaustive searches and police investigations turned up nothing. It was as if Janey vanished into thin air, and Lissie never forgot it was on her watch.
Forty years later, Bonsecours, South Carolina is much the same for Lis Woodham, who still lives in the same house in which she grew up, with her mother, referred to as Miss Sorrel by all, even Lis. Lis had briefly left Bonsecours as a young woman, but she returned after a divorce, to bring up her own daughter, Vanessa. Vanessa is a college student in the Northeast, so Lis runs the family boating business, while Miss Sorrel, retired from making dolls, has turned to repairing old dolls. Miss Sorrel’s tradition of placing an ad in the newspaper on the anniversary of Janey’s disappearance continues, an ad offering a reward for the porcelain doll bearing Janey’s likeness. The reward is now up to $5,000. Lis no longer hopes for a legitimate response, but Miss Sorrel still expects one to be the actual doll. So, when a woman named Maggie brings in a doll that Miss Sorrel recognizes as Janey’s, there is renewed hope for an answer as to what happened to Janey.
Of course, with renewed hope comes renewed danger, as someone doesn’t want the questions about Janey’s disappearance answered. When Vanessa, Lis’ daughter, receives a call from their neighbor and long-time friend Evelyn that Lis and Miss Sorrel have been in an accident in their home involving carbon monoxide and are in the hospital, Vanessa leaves for her southern home to help. That help will become a much-needed aid in discovering who would want to harm Lis and Miss Sorrel to keep past secrets in the past. The suspense builds as each clue uncovered leads to more answers, but also more questions and danger. Could Janey still be alive, or is the porcelain doll the only survivor of that tragedy?
Hallie Ephron is a master at building suspense and keeping the reader on the edge of the seat. I wanted so badly to be able to read faster while reading this book, and, yet, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know how it ended. Triumph or more tragedy? Ephron knows how to twist it and turn it so that the reader is fully engaged and invested. It is possible to discover who the culprit is before the end of the book, but even with that, you won’t be expecting what comes at the end. And, readers will delight in how superbly Ephron captures the essence of the South in the characters and the setting.
I was indeed fortunate to receive a copy of You’ll Never Know, Dear from the author, and I have reviewed it with honesty and exacting standards.
Lissie Woodham and her sister Janey were seven and four respectively when Lissie left her little sister to chase after a passing puppy. When Lissie returned to their yard, Janey was gone, along with Janey’s porcelian doll, which her mother had made for her. Exhaustive searches and police investigations turned up nothing. It was as if Janey vanished into thin air, and Lissie never forgot it was on her watch.
Forty years later, Bonsecours, South Carolina is much the same for Lis Woodham, who still lives in the same house in which she grew up, with her mother, referred to as Miss Sorrel by all, even Lis. Lis had briefly left Bonsecours as a young woman, but she returned after a divorce, to bring up her own daughter, Vanessa. Vanessa is a college student in the Northeast, so Lis runs the family boating business, while Miss Sorrel, retired from making dolls, has turned to repairing old dolls. Miss Sorrel’s tradition of placing an ad in the newspaper on the anniversary of Janey’s disappearance continues, an ad offering a reward for the porcelain doll bearing Janey’s likeness. The reward is now up to $5,000. Lis no longer hopes for a legitimate response, but Miss Sorrel still expects one to be the actual doll. So, when a woman named Maggie brings in a doll that Miss Sorrel recognizes as Janey’s, there is renewed hope for an answer as to what happened to Janey.
Of course, with renewed hope comes renewed danger, as someone doesn’t want the questions about Janey’s disappearance answered. When Vanessa, Lis’ daughter, receives a call from their neighbor and long-time friend Evelyn that Lis and Miss Sorrel have been in an accident in their home involving carbon monoxide and are in the hospital, Vanessa leaves for her southern home to help. That help will become a much-needed aid in discovering who would want to harm Lis and Miss Sorrel to keep past secrets in the past. The suspense builds as each clue uncovered leads to more answers, but also more questions and danger. Could Janey still be alive, or is the porcelain doll the only survivor of that tragedy?
Hallie Ephron is a master at building suspense and keeping the reader on the edge of the seat. I wanted so badly to be able to read faster while reading this book, and, yet, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know how it ended. Triumph or more tragedy? Ephron knows how to twist it and turn it so that the reader is fully engaged and invested. It is possible to discover who the culprit is before the end of the book, but even with that, you won’t be expecting what comes at the end. And, readers will delight in how superbly Ephron captures the essence of the South in the characters and the setting.
I was indeed fortunate to receive a copy of You’ll Never Know, Dear from the author, and I have reviewed it with honesty and exacting standards.
July 5, 2017
a woman is living with her mother, who is a doll maker. Her daughter is finishing medical school. When the woman was 7, her 4 year old sister was abducted. Her mother never stopped looking for her, and every year, on the date of her abduction, she places an add in the paper offering a reward for the doll that he daughter had when she disappeared. Finally, someone does. The doll is old and in bad repair, but the mother recognizes that it is the one her daughter had. Her next door neighbor says it's not, that the mother, Miss Sorrel, just wants it to be so much that she isn't thinking clearly. The woman that brings the dolls throws the doll down and runs away, but they track her down. She and her mother have lived on the street since the daughter was born, but finally they get enough money to rent a trailer and for the daughter to go to college. The daughter at home remembers that the doll had the human hair of the lost child, so she sends it in for analysis. The results is mixed. It shows that the girls have the same mother but different fathers. They find that Miss Sorrel had an affair with the woman next doors husband, and the kidnapped child was his. The woman next door kidnapped the girl and gave her to a family who's daughter had died. She had also kidnapped another child that had been fathered by her husband and given her to another couple in her church.
October 10, 2025
I was convinced this was about haunted dolls and said NOPE and put it down.... but this the season, so I picked it up and forced myself to be scared..... and then found out I was wrong hahahaha this is actually a very deep story. I did know the who early on but the lead up was actually well done. I mean it did convince me it was the dolls in the beginning haha well wrote, worth the read!!!
October 20, 2017
I enjoyed this book by Hallie Ephron very much. It was a light, fun read. A child goes missing 40 years ago and her mother never gives up hope that she will be found. I guessed the culprit around a third of the way into the book, but still found it very well written and held my attention throughout.
May 21, 2019
A spooky thriller that'll keep you at the edge of your seat. It's every parent's worst nightmare and brilliantly conceived in You'll Never Know, Dear. I must read Ephron's other book(s). Highly recommend!
My Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by: Mrs. N
My Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by: Mrs. N
January 27, 2020
What’s started out as an intriguing mystery involving porcelain dolls became a convoluted mess involving way too many confusing plot lines.
February 26, 2023
Full disclosure, the book cover is a lot more creepy than the book itself. Was it still an amazing thriller/suspense novel? Yes, yes it was.
I figured out who did it pretty early on, but there was still a twist in there I didn’t see coming. The short chapters, and the page turning suspense had me flying through the pages. The characters were likeable, and the overall story was so well done. The last few chapters, gave me major anxiety and I was here for it. I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a quick suspenseful read.
I figured out who did it pretty early on, but there was still a twist in there I didn’t see coming. The short chapters, and the page turning suspense had me flying through the pages. The characters were likeable, and the overall story was so well done. The last few chapters, gave me major anxiety and I was here for it. I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a quick suspenseful read.
June 27, 2017
A taut, wonderful mystery with a powerful sense of place and character. I couldn't put it down.
September 14, 2017
I had this one figured out from the beginning! No suspense and I was bored. Love the book cover though. Creepy doll face!
September 24, 2017
I thought this book was a delightful read on many levels. There was a lot of interesting information about the art of doll making which I did not realize is still very much present even in today's 'assembly line' culture. (My mother owned several handmade and beautifully made dolls when she was a child). Besides the doll making, as the core of the story, the location in South Carolina is described really well by the author. The story itself is quite involved and is not at all what I expected. Sorrel Woodham, known by all as Miss Sorrel, has been a doll maker for many years, and is quite well known for her beautiful and intricate work. Forty years before the present, Sorrel and her husband had three sons and two daughters, Elizabeth and Janey. One afternoon, Janey disappeared and until the present day, was never seen or heard from again. She was four years old at the time of her disappearance. Her sister, Lis, has always blamed herself for Janey being lost, because she had been distracted by a dog which ran through the area where they were playing, and Lis ran after it; when she returned just a few minutes later, Janey was gone. Every year on the anniversary of Janey's disappearance, her mother has reminded people of it through the newspapers and other media, and a reward for information which has steadily been increasing yearly, is part of the scenario. At the beginning of the book, Lis, Sorrel and Sorrel's best friend and neighbor, Evelyn, were at home doing some work on a few of the dolls, when a stranger pulled up in an old, broken down car, and left a doll which was in very bad condition, there, before she raced off in her car. The next thing: the kiln in the home explodes and Lis and Sorrel end up in the hospital due to carbon monoxide poisoning; all of Sorrel's prized dolls had been stolen at the same time. Lis's daughter Vanessa who is doing research on sleep and dreams in Rhode Island, is called and she immediately comes home. Then the fun begins. I thought the story was kind of a delightful variation and take off point for a variation of "Arsenic and Old Lace." There is a lot of humor dished up along with the suspense, and I had a great time reading it. The plot is really something else, and I would never have thought of some of the reasons for events in the story. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of surprises in this delightful story, and it also reminds the reader about the importance of DNA to all of us. I thought this just a delightful and different type of suspense novel!
June 20, 2017
Seven-year-old Lissie Woodham and her four-year-old sister Janey were playing with their porcelain dolls in the front yard when an adorable puppy scampered by. Eager to pet the pretty dog, Lissie chased after the pup as it ran down the street. When she returned to the yard, Janey’s precious doll was gone . . . and so was Janey.
Forty years after Janey went missing, Lis—now a mother with a college-age daughter of her own—still blames herself for what happened. Every year on the anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, their mother, Miss Sorrel, places a classified ad in the local paper with a picture of the toy Janey had with her that day—a one-of-a-kind porcelain doll—offering a generous cash reward for its return. For years, there’s been no response. But this year, the doll came home.
It is the first clue in a decades-old mystery that is about to turn into something far more sinister—endangering Lis and the lives of her mother and daughter as well. Someone knows the truth about what happened all those years ago, and is desperate to keep it hidden.
My Thoughts: In the opening pages of You'll Never Know, Dear, we meet Lis’s daughter Vanessa, living in Rhode Island and working on post-doctoral sleep studies. One morning, she is awakened by a vision of her grandmother, Miss Sorrel, holding a doll out to her. Soon after, a phone call summons her home to Bonsecours, South Carolina. Her mother and grandmother have been hospitalized due to an explosion at the house. Carbon monoxide poisoning keeps her grandmother hospitalized for a while. But her grandmother insists that the doll is the one she made for Janey.
Once she is home, Vanessa is drawn into the search for the strange doll that might be Janey’s…but busybody neighbor Evelyn, who works with Miss Sorrel on the doll repairs, is sure that the doll is not the right one.
A search leads Vanessa to the woman who brought the doll, who had disappeared when Miss Sorrel asked her where she got the doll…and from there, we follow some twisty pathways to unexpected answers.
Why is the doll that Miss Sorrel first saw now different? Was Miss Sorrel seeing things, or had someone switched the dolls? What happened to all the other dolls the night of the explosion? Were they stolen, and by whom? Why does every path that seems the right one suddenly become even more twisted?
The characters drew me in, and I was captivated by the quest for answers. There were characters that seemed very suspicious to me. Why did they seem to be everywhere and always keeping Vanessa and Lis from the answers? I had my eye on one particular character, but the extent of the deception was so layered and seductive that I literally could not put the book down. Another brilliant read from Ephron. 5 stars.
Forty years after Janey went missing, Lis—now a mother with a college-age daughter of her own—still blames herself for what happened. Every year on the anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, their mother, Miss Sorrel, places a classified ad in the local paper with a picture of the toy Janey had with her that day—a one-of-a-kind porcelain doll—offering a generous cash reward for its return. For years, there’s been no response. But this year, the doll came home.
It is the first clue in a decades-old mystery that is about to turn into something far more sinister—endangering Lis and the lives of her mother and daughter as well. Someone knows the truth about what happened all those years ago, and is desperate to keep it hidden.
My Thoughts: In the opening pages of You'll Never Know, Dear, we meet Lis’s daughter Vanessa, living in Rhode Island and working on post-doctoral sleep studies. One morning, she is awakened by a vision of her grandmother, Miss Sorrel, holding a doll out to her. Soon after, a phone call summons her home to Bonsecours, South Carolina. Her mother and grandmother have been hospitalized due to an explosion at the house. Carbon monoxide poisoning keeps her grandmother hospitalized for a while. But her grandmother insists that the doll is the one she made for Janey.
Once she is home, Vanessa is drawn into the search for the strange doll that might be Janey’s…but busybody neighbor Evelyn, who works with Miss Sorrel on the doll repairs, is sure that the doll is not the right one.
A search leads Vanessa to the woman who brought the doll, who had disappeared when Miss Sorrel asked her where she got the doll…and from there, we follow some twisty pathways to unexpected answers.
Why is the doll that Miss Sorrel first saw now different? Was Miss Sorrel seeing things, or had someone switched the dolls? What happened to all the other dolls the night of the explosion? Were they stolen, and by whom? Why does every path that seems the right one suddenly become even more twisted?
The characters drew me in, and I was captivated by the quest for answers. There were characters that seemed very suspicious to me. Why did they seem to be everywhere and always keeping Vanessa and Lis from the answers? I had my eye on one particular character, but the extent of the deception was so layered and seductive that I literally could not put the book down. Another brilliant read from Ephron. 5 stars.
Read
July 3, 2017"You'll Never Know, Dear"....how much I love you -- please don't take my sunshine away...
Two little girls are playing outside one day when a little puppy runs past. The older girl, Lis, is captivated and leaves little Janey behind as she chases after it. When she returns, Janey is gone. She was never found.
Flash forward almost 40 years. Lis and her daughter are living with Miss Sorrel, a renowned dollmaker (she is Lis's and Janey's mother), and have almost made their peace with Janey's absence all these years. Miss Sorrel still believes that Janey is out there somewhere, and every anniversary of her disappearance, she puts an ad in the paper with the picture of the portrait doll she had made for Janey -- hoping that somehow it will be recognised and Janey will see it -- wherever she is. Well, someone does see it. Jenny Richards brings the doll to Miss Sorrel. And Lis and her daughter Vanessa feel that somehow Jenny is connected. I won't give any spoilers, but this was a satisfactory -- though predictable -- story.
I enjoyed the characters and the family drama as these women go about solving the mystery through revelations and gut instinct. I've never read any of this author's previous work, but I'd definitely like to give it further attention. Nice little domestic drama.
Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me the hardcover and to Edelweiss for the e-book ARC to review. I enjoyed the book!
Two little girls are playing outside one day when a little puppy runs past. The older girl, Lis, is captivated and leaves little Janey behind as she chases after it. When she returns, Janey is gone. She was never found.
Flash forward almost 40 years. Lis and her daughter are living with Miss Sorrel, a renowned dollmaker (she is Lis's and Janey's mother), and have almost made their peace with Janey's absence all these years. Miss Sorrel still believes that Janey is out there somewhere, and every anniversary of her disappearance, she puts an ad in the paper with the picture of the portrait doll she had made for Janey -- hoping that somehow it will be recognised and Janey will see it -- wherever she is. Well, someone does see it. Jenny Richards brings the doll to Miss Sorrel. And Lis and her daughter Vanessa feel that somehow Jenny is connected. I won't give any spoilers, but this was a satisfactory -- though predictable -- story.
I enjoyed the characters and the family drama as these women go about solving the mystery through revelations and gut instinct. I've never read any of this author's previous work, but I'd definitely like to give it further attention. Nice little domestic drama.
Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me the hardcover and to Edelweiss for the e-book ARC to review. I enjoyed the book!
December 30, 2020
When a book can surprise the hell out of me with an ending I had no idea was coming....that is a good suspense thriller! Will definitely read more from this author!
Having never read anything from this author, i was thoroughly surprised with how well her writing was, and to think that I thought i had it all figured out, no way.
Now this book kind of reminded me of a book I had read in my early 20's titled 'Savage Ransom' but this really had a great twist in the story and this doll on the cover was a PERFECT image of what I pictured in the story. So, 40 years ago, Lissie and her 4 year old sister Janey are playing in their front yard with their favorite dolls (that just happened to be made by their mother, who is a doll artist and creator) and playing Tea Time, when a cute little puppy runs by catching Lissies attention.....well what do little kids do when they see a puppy, then want to pet it. She leaves the front yard leaving her baby sister alone with her doll to seek out the puppy, with no luck she comes back to the yard......only to discover Janey's doll is missing, and SO IS JANEY!!
Every year since then, Miss Sorrell, their mother puts a Reward Posting in the paper asking for the safe return of the daughter or the doll, and it is a lot of money.....after no such returns, well this year the doll comes home. Now with Lissie being a mother of a college aged daughter herself, Vanessa, who is a sleep study specialist, and when Vanessa is called home to the family's estate because her grandmother has a health scare, the suspense and story unfold. And let me tell you it is a story that any fan of suspense thrillers needs to read.....I LOVED it!
This one got 3.5 Stabbys 🔪 from me
Having never read anything from this author, i was thoroughly surprised with how well her writing was, and to think that I thought i had it all figured out, no way.
Now this book kind of reminded me of a book I had read in my early 20's titled 'Savage Ransom' but this really had a great twist in the story and this doll on the cover was a PERFECT image of what I pictured in the story. So, 40 years ago, Lissie and her 4 year old sister Janey are playing in their front yard with their favorite dolls (that just happened to be made by their mother, who is a doll artist and creator) and playing Tea Time, when a cute little puppy runs by catching Lissies attention.....well what do little kids do when they see a puppy, then want to pet it. She leaves the front yard leaving her baby sister alone with her doll to seek out the puppy, with no luck she comes back to the yard......only to discover Janey's doll is missing, and SO IS JANEY!!
Every year since then, Miss Sorrell, their mother puts a Reward Posting in the paper asking for the safe return of the daughter or the doll, and it is a lot of money.....after no such returns, well this year the doll comes home. Now with Lissie being a mother of a college aged daughter herself, Vanessa, who is a sleep study specialist, and when Vanessa is called home to the family's estate because her grandmother has a health scare, the suspense and story unfold. And let me tell you it is a story that any fan of suspense thrillers needs to read.....I LOVED it!
This one got 3.5 Stabbys 🔪 from me
November 8, 2017
A psychological story sent against the backdrop of a Mother (Miss Sorrel)-Daughter (Janey) and Janey's daughter relationship and doll making.
I know does not sound too interesting but it is.
The younger daughter(Lis) of the Miss Sorrel-and Janey's sister gets kidnapped off her front lawn along with the Lis's hand made doll- which has her face painted on it ,so it is one of a kind.
Every year for 40 years Miss Sorrel puts an ad in the paper for anyone knowing the whereabouts of this doll, they will get a substantial reward.
One day a girl brings a doll to the house (wanting the reward) and it appears that this maybe THE missing doll, which means that Miss Sorrel may be able to track down her kidnapped daughter after all these years.
Of course Miss Sorrel "goes off"-asking her all sort of questions about where she got it, who she is etc. The girl freaks out and runs away, smashing the doll as she leaves.
It comes to light that a close neighbour has had a number of extra-marital affairs and that children have been born (all around the neighbourhood). Could the missing child be one of these children and could this man have taken her?
Janey's daughter has come to visit her family when she gets a call saying there has been a fire at the family home- takes it upon herself to investigate. She is undertaking a study on dreams particularly nightmares and how to stop them in mid-dream and not wake up. This research comes in very handy during the course of her investigation.
I know does not sound too interesting but it is.
The younger daughter(Lis) of the Miss Sorrel-and Janey's sister gets kidnapped off her front lawn along with the Lis's hand made doll- which has her face painted on it ,so it is one of a kind.
Every year for 40 years Miss Sorrel puts an ad in the paper for anyone knowing the whereabouts of this doll, they will get a substantial reward.
One day a girl brings a doll to the house (wanting the reward) and it appears that this maybe THE missing doll, which means that Miss Sorrel may be able to track down her kidnapped daughter after all these years.
Of course Miss Sorrel "goes off"-asking her all sort of questions about where she got it, who she is etc. The girl freaks out and runs away, smashing the doll as she leaves.
It comes to light that a close neighbour has had a number of extra-marital affairs and that children have been born (all around the neighbourhood). Could the missing child be one of these children and could this man have taken her?
Janey's daughter has come to visit her family when she gets a call saying there has been a fire at the family home- takes it upon herself to investigate. She is undertaking a study on dreams particularly nightmares and how to stop them in mid-dream and not wake up. This research comes in very handy during the course of her investigation.
May 23, 2017
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy.
Full disclosure: I can't be entirely objective in this review because it's based on my town, I'm thanked in the acknowledgements, and the author did a program at the library for me for free when she was in town researching the book. That being said, she captures Beaufort (Bonsecours in the novel) SO WELL. The descriptions of the town and Lowcountry lifestyle are perfect, but I was especially impressed at how spot-on she depicted the way everyone in small Southern towns knows each other's business and the tension between social classes.
There were a couple of very nice reveals in the book (although one made the identity of the villain very obvious to me), and of course there's nothing creepier than dolls.
Full disclosure: I can't be entirely objective in this review because it's based on my town, I'm thanked in the acknowledgements, and the author did a program at the library for me for free when she was in town researching the book. That being said, she captures Beaufort (Bonsecours in the novel) SO WELL. The descriptions of the town and Lowcountry lifestyle are perfect, but I was especially impressed at how spot-on she depicted the way everyone in small Southern towns knows each other's business and the tension between social classes.
There were a couple of very nice reveals in the book (although one made the identity of the villain very obvious to me), and of course there's nothing creepier than dolls.
August 21, 2018
Predictable, and flat characters. I kept reading to find out what happened to the missing girl. It could have been a much better book. The ideas were there.
May 12, 2017
Review to come soon.
Quick thoughts:
When a doll that went missing with the young daughter of Miss Sorrell returns, she knows that it's Janey's doll- even though others doubt her. Secrets, lies, and a 40 year old missing child case provide the meat of this story.
Quick read. Enjoyable.
Quick thoughts:
When a doll that went missing with the young daughter of Miss Sorrell returns, she knows that it's Janey's doll- even though others doubt her. Secrets, lies, and a 40 year old missing child case provide the meat of this story.
Quick read. Enjoyable.
January 27, 2018
I'll admit I read this book because of the cover of a doll's head ... and the fact that I grew up with shelves of doll's heads and boxes of china and wooden arms and legs and cloth (much of it 19th century) for clothing .. because my grandmother was a dealer in antique dolls, including most of those mentioned in this book. (She put dolls together sometimes, and made clothes for them, but she didn't MAKE dolls, as two of these characters do.) The idea of a child's doll reappearing 40 years after her disappearance was a great hook, and I enjoyed the characters, and the twists, many of which had to do with expectations of family relationships. Hallie Ephron s a wonderful writers, and I enjoyed entering her world. You'll Never Know, Dear is definitely a mystery, not "a novel of suspense" as advertised. Although, of course, as in most mysteries, there is the suspense of not knowing what will happen ... An enjoyable, fast, read, with memorable characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews