print retail price: 27.99
e-book retail price $8.99
Genre: Fiction
Coming Fall 2026!
Description
Bernice Hastings has survived everything life has thrown at her — a violent childhood, the foster care system, and years of scraping by on the margins of Toronto’s west end — guided by the one constant she has always trusted: the voice in her head that has been with her since she was ten years old.
When she spots a woman she is convinced is the only teacher who ever showed her kindness, Bernice does the only thing that makes sense to her. She takes her.
Told across twelve days, What No One Knew moves between the desperate world of the basement and the frantic search unfolding above it — through the eyes of a woman trying to survive, a man terrified of losing his wife, and a damaged, fiercely loving woman who believes she is doing the only thing she can to protect the two children who need her most.
Tender, brutal, and utterly compelling, this is a novel about the people who fall through every crack — and what it costs, for everyone, when no one catches them in time.
“One right thing. Every day.”
What Advance Readers are saying:
“Heartbreaking, gripping, and deeply human, What No One Knew explores the hidden scars of childhood trauma with compassion, insight, and unflinching honesty. Brewer has crafted an unforgettable story that will linger in readers’ hearts long after the final page.”
Cindy Watson, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author
“Beverley Brewer has written a chillingly believable story about a troubled woman whose well-meaning efforts to protect her vulnerable niece and nephew end up causing havoc for all those around her, as well as herself.”
Simon Hally, Award winning journalist, Author, Losing It.
“My lungs burned with tension. What No One Knew–teeter-tottering despair, countered with hope, before dashed again, is a gripping read.”
Sheridan Rondeau, Author, Dear Braveheart.
“Sharp, original writing by Beverley Brewer brings an unusual protagonist into the life of a social worker in this psychological thriller. The female kidnapper’s mind, twisted by the ominous voice in her head, keeps the pages turning as we are driven towards the conclusion of who will survive and who will triumph and at what cost.”
Nancy E. Beal, Author, The Endurable Alex Tilley
No one knew what Bernice Hastings survived as a child. No one knew what she carried into adulthood. And no one knew that one desperate mistake would change everything. What No One Knew is a gripping psychological thriller about trauma, survival, and the fragile possibility of redemption.
David Bruce Patterson, Author, Square Wheels and Forthright but Furtive
