Becoming Marlow Fin

A Novel

By: Ellen Won Steil

Narrated by: Jordan Cobb, Jennifer Aquino, Kimberly Woods

The pieces of a troubled actress’s mysterious life come together in a riveting novel about family secrets and unspeakable lies by the bestselling author of Fortune.

Marlow Fin is as famous for her beauty and success as she is infamous for her past, some of which is a mystery even to her. Is the public ready for the truth? Is she?

In 1995, young Isla Baek finds an abandoned six-year-old Marlow in the woods near the Baek family’s lakeside cabin. With little memory of where she came from or how she got there, Marlow is soon adopted by the Baeks into a seemingly idyllic Midwest life as Isla’s enigmatic new sister. But no one is prepared for how unnerving and disruptive Marlow’s presence will be over the years. Nor could any of them have foreseen the shocking tragedy that upended all their lives forever.

Now the whole world is watching as Marlow reveals everything in a hotly anticipated prime-time interview. In her harrowing story, spanning decades, the truth finally emerges—about Marlow herself, the damages of family secrets, and the unthinkable things people do in the name of love.

©2024 Ellen Won Steil (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Steil cleverly presents her provocative thriller in a dovetailed dual stream. Eight-year-old Isla begins in 1995 and moves slowly forward; Marlow, who grows up to become 'one of the most prominent models and actresses of our time,' publicly shares her POV via transcript of an exclusive interview that aired July 3, 2021. The decades between reveal the fatal power of family secrets.” —Booklist

“A first class suspense thriller...” —Midwest Book Review

“Exquisitely written and hauntingly powerful, Becoming Marlow Fin is a fascinating, wholly original story about the fragile bonds of family. Ellen Won Steil has created riveting, superbly structured dramatic suspense with multiple POVs and an interviewer trying to unearth the secrets behind who Marlow Fin really is and what she’s done. The twists and turns will shock you, and the emotional impact will wrench your heart out.” —Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of A Friend in the Dark

Must listen! Suspenseful, emotional, and chilling!

Suspenseful, Emotional and Chilling! This book was so skillfully written and polished. The narrators were terrific telling the story. The family drama mixed with thrills I couldn’t put it down! Marlow and Isla are characters that will stay with you long after that last page! It’s Evelyn Hugo meets Gone Girl! And those interview format chapters!!! One of the best this year!

What twists and turns!

Loved the suspense and kept me guessing. I’ll have to go read her other books.

Bad narrator

I went back to make sure that it wasn't actually an AI narrator. The narration was so bad for at least one I could hardly make it through what should have been a fairly good story.