| Category: | Fiction - Literary |
|---|---|
| Author: | Jennifer Manocherian |
| Publisher: | MindStir Media |
| Publication Date: | July 6, 2026 |
| Number of Pages: | 226 |
| ISBN-10: | 196957271X |
| ISBN-13: | 9781969572715 |
| ASIN: | BOH83QDSKS |
And No One Knew by Jennifer Manocherian is a
character-driven thriller that surprises at many levels. It follows Gertrude
Sidenstricker, a reclusive sixty-nine-year-old New Yorker who has spent her
life hiding behind cover-up makeup for a facial birthmark and her late parents’
warnings that people cannot be trusted. The tall, plain, large-boned elderly
woman wears a faded bun, rimless glasses, and a large hemangioma that covers
most of her left cheek. Her life begins to unravel when a ninety-five-year-old
neighbor dies mid-dinner party. Gertrude impulsively takes in Venera, the warmhearted young Croatian aide who recently became jobless and happens to help her when she needs help the most. Now, her sealed-off
world begins to crack. Venera slowly goads her to build a “bucket list,” which
leads Gertrude to hunt for her birth certificate so she can get a passport. She
instead uncovers a hidden cache of documents revealing a kidnapping from a
hospital nursery and stolen identities. Posing as a stranger, she journeys to
Cape Cod to secretly observe a lively Irish family and twin brothers and a
dying mother. What unfolds is surprisingly ingenious.
I didn’t give you everything. The details are just as
stunning and intriguing. And No One Knew asks the question: Can one
be old enough to choose to reinvent their lives? You read about a fully drawn
heroine who, at her ripe old age, must disguise herself to unravel the truth
about her past, and every moment of the story is achingly compelling. You will
root for you. You will feel every emotion. The pathos hits hard. Jennifer
Manocherian blends the elements of literary fiction with psychological mystery
like an expert, delivering a masterclass in conflict, character work, and pacing.
Gertrude is an extraordinary literary creation: prickly, funny, snobbish, and genuinely
flawed. Her inner voice is sharp; even small moments, like a funeral or a
fallen lamp, feel charged. The three-part structure moves cleanly from
loneliness to revelation to resolution, and while the pacing is unhurried, the
kidnapping mystery supplies real suspense and a forward pull to the story. You may
not have action in this book, but terrific descriptions will pull you in, and
the suspenseful plotting keeps your eyes glued to the pages, with scenes such
as nervous eavesdropping, a near-drowning experience, and a clandestine
hospital visit. The twists are there, and what makes the book a winner is how
the author skillfully builds a heroine who slowly uncovers the lie she's lived
with for more than half a century, seeking her origins and true identity. Absolutely
mesmerizing.
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