Little Face

She's only been gone two hours.

Her husband David was meant to be looking after their two-week-old daughter. But when Alice Fancourt walks into the nursery, her terrifying ordeal begins, for Alice insists the baby in the cot is a stranger she's never seen before.

With an increasingly hostile and menacing David swearing she must either be mad or lying, how can Alice make the police believe her before it's too late

“'Women in peril flit through the pages of traditional Gothic fiction, murmuring 'Had I but known!' as they fall for the wrong man, open the wrong door or apply for the wrong job. Sophie Hannah takes the trusty formula in both hands, gives it a vigorous shake and uses it to produce something fascinating and original in her novel. Beautifully written the novel is outstandingly chilling - terror lurks in the half understood and in anticipation. Little Face is a hugely promising debut. Sophie Hannah is an author to watch.'”

Sophie Hannah is a real star. - P J Kavanagh in the Daily Telegraph

The language and atmosphere are high-quality stuff, and the portrait of a woman in the throes of post-natal depression will be a revelation to some, to others a reminder. - Literary Review

This taut psychological thriller is full of heart-thumping suspense. - Sainsbury's Magazine

Sophie Hannah's comic fiction produces reams of entertaining moral sophistry. Her novels sparkle. - Independent

'Sophie Hannah is nothing if not flexible. An awardwinning poet, she has also published short stories and can now add accomplished "thriller writer" to her list of achievements. On first impression, however, the plot of Little Face may appear borrowed: an unhinged mother gives birth to a darling child only to find, after the initial bonding, that someone has switched babies. That's the nightmare of Alice Fancourt, who returns home after her first outing in two weeks to find the door open, her husband David napping and someone else's child in the nursery. When a controlling mother-in-law and a suspicious policeman enter the plot, readers will realise something is afoot. Adding to the tension are fears surrounding the death of David's first wife, and the discovery of a family "tradition" of estranged children. But just when readers think the plot offers no surprises, Hannah wrong-foots them and works her way, at a heart-thumping pace, to a delicious ending. Unless she wants to try her - South China Morning Post

Hannah has a keen ear for her characters' foibles, snobberies and hypocrisies, and the observation remains acute throughout. - Observer

This may well turn out to be the detective novel of the year . . . So develops a terrifying mystery of manipulation, counter-manipulation and, finally, astounding revelation - it's a haunting story told with bewitching skill - Scotsman

This may well turn out to be the detective novel of the year . . . A terrifying mystery of manipulation, counter-manipulation and, finally, astounding revelation - it's a haunting story told with bewitching skill - Scotsman

Sophie Hannah is a bestselling poet, a novelist and a childrens writer. She has won awards for her short stories and for her poetry, including first prize in the 2004 Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition. In June 2004 she was chosen for the Next Generation poetry promotion as one of the best twenty poets to emerge in the last ten years.

She has won several awards for her poetry, which is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. She was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is thirty-three and lives in West Yorkshire with her husband and two children.

She's only been gone two hours. Her husband David was meant to be looking after their two-week-old daughter. But when Alice Fancourt walks into the nursery, her terrifying ordeal begins, for Alice insists the baby in the cot is a stranger she's never seen before. With an increasingly hostile and menacing David swearing she must either be mad or lying, how can Alice make the police believe her before it's too late? 'A chilling thriller. I was left thinking about the book for days, and that's usually a good sign' GUARDIAN 'Fascinating and original . . . beautifully written . . . outstandingly chilling' SPECTATOR 'Sophie Hannah is the new British queen of the psychological thriller' HEAT

She's only been gone two hours.Her husband David was meant to be looking after their two-week-old daughter. But when Alice Fancourt walks into the nursery, her terrifying ordeal begins, for Alice insists the baby in the cot is a stranger she's never seen before.With an increasingly hostile and menacing David swearing she must either be mad or lying, how can Alice make the police believe her before it's too late

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