The Teacher by Freida McFadden

Description

Claire Sanders is a kind but restless substitute teacher who comes to Willow Creek Elementary School. She expects the classrooms to be messy and her coworkers to be grumpy, but nothing prepares her for ten-year-old Lily Harper, a smart girl with empty eyes and an unsettling warning: “My mom’s not who she says she is.” Claire is instinctively worried and decides to find out what Lily’s strange plea means. But every time she tries to save the youngster, she gets further into a nightmare scheme that puts both Claire’s and Lily’s lives in danger.

Claire has a feeling that something is wrong from the first day she starts working. Lily’s seat is always empty until the last bell, and she never talks unless someone asks her a question that leads her to do so. Claire finally gets Lily to tell her the basics: her mother is gone all day and they have whispered phone calls that end in tears. Claire then calls child protective services, only to find out that Lily’s mother, Marissa Harper, is a well-liked member of the local school board who is known for her dedication to her family and community. People who live nearby say Lily is just bashful, while Marissa’s coworkers feel sorry for Claire’s “overactive imagination.” But Claire’s concerns grow when Lily shows her a secret compartment inside a dresser that holds dozens of disturbing Polaroids of the girl alone at night, with mascara running down her face and terror in her eyes.

Claire ignores cautions to keep out of adult business and teams up with Detective Alex Ramirez, an investigator who is tired and plagued by past failures. They find a pattern: in the past year, several kids in Willow Creek have gone missing without a trace, and their disappearances have been written off as “runaways.” Claire and Alex look through school records and surveillance footage and find out that Marissa’s charitable foundation for at-risk youth hides a dark secret: a network of rich donors, illegal adoptions, and a disturbing medical trial that is hidden behind the facade of community outreach.

Claire is willing to jeopardize her work, her reputation, and her sanity to save Lily before Marissa finds out about Claire’s suspicions. Claire gets anonymous threats on her voicemail, and Alex’s loyalties waver as his bosses put more and more pressure on him. Late-night stakeouts result in frenetic chases through empty warehouses. Claire’s own previous trauma, an estranged father she believed she had gotten away from, comes back to haunt her when she’s weak, testing her strength. It seems like every friend has a hidden agenda, every closet could have cameras in it, and every shadow could hide a predator.

Claire and Marissa meet face-to-face at the foundation’s secluded country house in a heart-pounding climax. Claire reveals Marissa’s twisted reasoning and the lengths she will go to “save” youngsters she thinks are not deserving of normal lives. Claire has to outsmart a merciless enemy as Lily’s life hangs in the balance. She turns The teacher‘s impulse to protect into a ferocious battle for truth and atonement.

About the Translator

Freida McFadden’s The Teacher melds pulse‑quickening suspense with emotional depth, exploring themes of trust, maternal obsession, and the dark underbelly of small‑town respectability. As Claire races against time, readers are left breathless, questioning how far one will go to protect innocence and what horrors lurk behind even the most benign facades.

Product Details

• Title: The Teacher

• Author: Freida McFadden

• ISBN-13: 9781728296210

• Publisher: Bookouture

• Published: February 2024

• Pages: 320

• Binding: Paperpack