Dear Darling by Ella King

[ About Dear Darling ]

Dear Darling,

So begins the letter from Daniel Prior.
The man Lauren had sex with when she was fourteen years old.
The man she fell in love with, long before conversations about power and consent and #MeToo.
The man she locked away in the deepest part of her memory.
Eighteen years later, the world is changed, and Lauren, a wife and mother, is changed too.
But now, fresh out of prison, Daniel wants to meet.
And Lauren must finally confront the electricity and devastation of the man who’s loved and harmed her more deeply than anyone in her life…

From bold new voice Ella King, Dear Darling cuts to the heart of some of the most complex issues of our age.

[ My Review ]

Dear Darling by Ella King published April 9th with Harper Collins and is described as a ‘psychological thriller…a twisted tale of revenge, desire and trauma‘.

Lauren Tan is a lawyer. Married with a young daughter, she is just about managing to stay afloat. On the good days, she can pretend. On the not so good days she locks herself in her greenhouse and works with her plants. Her husband has accepted her quirks and wants, mindful of her desires and need for timeout. But Lauren has kept a secret. She has buried a truth deep within, struggling to keep a lid on the horrors of her past. When she receives a letter, everything changes and one morning Lauren walks out the door of her house with a plan. She doesn’t let her husband know where she is or what has happened. He understandably panics, sending her emails, searching through her stuff. He searches for clues, anything that would lead him to her. But he can’t find her…and she won’t let him…not until Lauren is ready to be found.

In her early years it was just Lauren and her mother, but one day everything changed when Lauren came under the supervision of Daniel Prior. He was a lepidopterist, a keen student of butterflies and moths. Lauren was fascinated by his gentleness when handling the insects. With a passion for botany, Lauren had always felt different to her peers but with Daniel, she felt seen. He understood her. He listened to her. He gave her his time. Lauren became quite obsessed with Daniel. With no male role model in her life, she studied Daniel and yearned for him to touch her, to place a hand on her shoulder, to lean over her when speaking. She began to crave his attention and he subtly encouraged it, making her feel wanted, making her feel special.

But Lauren was fourteen and Daniel was thirty.

As their relationship deepened Lauren cherished her time with Daniel. He included her on his expeditions searching for rare butterflies. He kept his passion for her in check when in public but privately he taught her how to love and be a lover. He told her she was beautiful and rare like the insects he collected. Following an incident, Daniel spent eighteen years in prison and during that time Lauren moved forward with her life. leaving behind her botany as a hobby and focusing on her career in law and her family. As the #MeToo movement slowly emerged Lauren began to seriously ask questions about her relationship with Daniel. She read up on similar cases. She studied other victims and began to see her personal history in a very different light.

Now Daniel Prior wants to meet her and Lauren has a plan. Does she look for forgiveness or vengeance?

There is no denying the comparison between Dear Darling and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell which published in 2020. At the time I distinctly remember being so uncomfortable reading it, yet also driven to keep turning the pages. Dear Darling had the same impact. This is not a book to be picked up lightly. It is intense, very dark, shocking but also very powerful. Ella King has worked alongside victims of abuse which adds a very frightening level of authenticity to her writing. Dear Darling will certainly be a triggering read for some, with themes of child abuse, manipulation, grooming, mental trauma, control and more. Skillfully written Dear Darling is a challenging yet compelling read, a gut-wrenching and stirring novel, and one that I recommend…but with a caveat.

[Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for a copy of Dear Darling in exchange for my honest review ]

[ Bio ]

Ella King is the acclaimed author of Bad Fruit. Her essays on race and motherhood have been featured in Shado, ELLE and Harper’s Bazaar and she has taught at Faber Academy, University of Arts London and Spread the Word.

She has also worked as a corporate lawyer and for anti-human trafficking and domestic violence charities.