It’s so interesting to me to see how many novels and movies and personal stories have been focused on post-natal depression. At first, it seemed like a fluke. A once-in-a-while thing that affects some women sometimes. As more narratives are created and shared, it seems far more common than I thought.
This novel explores several intertwined stories of mothers. Mothers who love their children, but whose emotions and brain chemistry don’t match those feelings. Mothers who had children when they weren’t ready, but their partner and/or society demanded it. Mothers who don’t feel motherly and who “know” they “should” feel differently.
When an infant comes into the ER with a serious injury, the doctor on duty has some questions. But she’s friends with the mother, and her personal relationships conflict with her professional opinions. And her questions have consequences for the entire community of which both women are a part.
This book feels like it was written by someone who deeply understands the complexities of parenthood and motherhood and the level of performance those roles demand, especially in particular communities.
There is, as all domestic thrillers include, a twist which is fairly obvious for people who read dozens of these books a year (read: me), but it also made me consider, as someone who is notamother (c) (thanks, Obsessed with Disappeared Podcast – namely Patrick and Gillian), the struggles that parents, and especially mothers, face.
Would recommend.
