When you first meet Debbie, she seems like any other stay-at-home mother. She has two teenage daughters, a husband, a fairly ordinary suburban life and a popular advice column called Dear Debbie, where she responds to readers’ problems with advice that is so sharp and direct and, at times, downright absurd. Her life seems mundane, almost predictable. But as the story progresses, you realise that Debbie is anything but ordinary. Debbie, for lack of a better word, is a vigilante. She cannot stand injustice, particularly when someone she loves is at the receiving end of it. And when she believes someone has been wronged, something within her snaps. She doesn’t believe in waiting for karma to do its job, she would rather deliver justice herself. When a gardening magazine where Debbie was supposed to be featured on its cover, suddenly cancels the interview, she finds herself determined to find out what happened, and when she suspects that a neighbour may have sabotaged her opportunity, she decides to settle the score. Her response is so disproportionate that you may find yourself wondering whether Debbie has completely lost her mind. But that’s the thing about Debbie. Her idea of justice rarely follows the rules of a civilised society. And that’s just the beginning. She dislikes her elder daughter’s boyfriend. Her younger daughter is hiding something disturbing. Her husband seems to have a mysterious presence in his life. And then there’s Harley, a friend she makes at the gym, who becomes part of her increasingly complicated world. As these threads begin to unravel, so does the image of the nice, agreeable housewife. Debbie is extraordinarily intelligent, with an IQ of 178. An MIT dropout, she is also exceptionally good with technology. She has even developed a family-tracking app called Findly, which everyone in her household is expected to use. What initially appears to be an overprotective mother’s obsession with knowing where her family is turns out to have much deeper roots... because Debbie has a past. A past she has never shared with anyone, one that she has spent years trying to bury and a past that, despite her best efforts, continues to shape her present. Twenty years ago, something happened to Debbie that changed her life. She chose silence, perhaps believing that moving on was the only way to survive but some experiences don’t disappear simply because we refuse to talk about them. They stay buried until something brings them back to the surface and when Debbie’s past finally begins to explain her present, you start looking at her actions differently. This is where Dear Debbie becomes more than just another psychological thriller. Freida McFadden creates a protagonist who is difficult to like unconditionally but equally difficult to dismiss. Debbie’s actions are often outrageous, sometimes frightening and certainly not something you would condone in real life. She crosses lines that most of us wouldn’t even dare approach. And yet, there are moments when you understand her anger. We live in a society that places enormous value on women being nice, patient, forgiving and accommodating. Women are often expected to move on, to let things go, to avoid making a scene. Even when they have been wronged, there is an unspoken expectation that they must respond with dignity and restraint. Debbie has spent years doing exactly that. Until she decides she won’t anymore. Does that justify her actions? Certainly not. But does it make her anger understandable? At times, absolutely. And perhaps that’s what makes the book interesting. It forces you to confront the uncomfortable difference between understanding someone’s rage and approving of what they do with it. I also feel that Dear Debbie may not be for everyone. Some readers may find the plot too far-fetched, Debbie’s reactions excessive and her methods impossible to justify. There are moments when the story stretches credibility, and you have to remind yourself that you are reading fiction. But for women who have experienced harassment, molestation or assault, or have watched injustice go unpunished, Debbie’s anger may strike a particularly familiar chord. Not necessarily her actions, but the emotion behind them. That feeling of having been silenced, of having swallowed anger, of wishing that, just once, the person responsible would face consequences. McFadden takes that emotion and turns it into a dark, unsettling and often outrageous thriller. Kalpana Sharma is currently the Lifestyle, Health and Education Editor at Times Now and Editor of Health and Me (Times Networks' health website). With... View More