All mothers have secrets...some are unforgivable
Kate Marshall lives
an enviable life. Married to handsome, charming, James, owner of a
successful company, she seems to have it all.
But falling pregnant at 45 was never part of the
plan. Especially as Kate’s hiding a devastating secret – one that she’s been
running from for twenty years.
So when ex-boyfriend Paul comes
back into her life, threatening to expose the truth about what Kate did, the
clock is ticking. Can she keep her secrets and finally be the mother she always
dreamed of – or will her past lies destroy her perfect life?
An unputdownable, complex and twisty psychological
thriller about mothers and daughters – fans of Shalini Boland, Liane Moriarty
and Jane Shemilt will love this gripping read.
Purchase Links
AMZ: https://amzn.to/2FfsLaE
Kobo: https://bit.ly/33mjXbc
Apple: https://apple.co/35s6KQz
My Review
A Mother Like You is one of those books that will make you angry because of how hypocritical so many of the characters are. Secrets and lies abound within these pages, and when they start coming out into the open, things get messy.
The story opens with an unnamed woman screaming at her crying newborn to stop. Stop crying. Stop making noise. Just stop. And then...well, I won't spoil anything.
Ominous. Dark. Sets the tone and makes you wonder how that scene will come back into play later on (because you know it will).
Kate is a 45 year old woman, married to her loving husband of ten years, James. Neither of them have plans to ever have kids, preferring to live their lives as they please, with no responsibilities or ties to one certain spot. They're free and loving it.
Until Kate gets pregnant. And then her past comes back to haunt her in the form of her ex, Paul.
How does Kate manage this new complication? You'll have to read and see for yourself.
I really liked this story. It's tense. It's fraught with stressful moments. And it will tick you off something fierce. At least it did for me.
I was so angry and annoyed with James a lot of the time, although Kate frustrated me too sometimes. And Paul...ugh. Hated him. Everyone seemed to enjoy piling on Kate and blaming her for so many thing, accusing her of just making excuses. But what did any of them really do?
I really related to Kate in a lot of ways, which is why I think I was so annoyed by how everyone around her seemed to be treating her when the truth of her past was starting to come to light. Being a mother isn't easy. It's not all sunshine and rainbows. And sometimes you just don't bond with your baby right away. It sucks, but it happens. And because I know how that is, I felt for Kate. I understood her. And I wanted to hug her and tell her she wasn't alone when everyone else was blaming her for things. She had a terrible moment, sure (and she shouldn't have done what she did, that's for sure), but she made what she thought was the best decision for herself and everyone else at the time. She wasn't making excuses. She was just being honest. That's how I saw it.
As for the plot, it's definitely a quick pace, keeping you on edge, wondering who, exactly, the other person sending her threatening messages could be. I suspected at least two people, but the person it ended up being I had forgotten about, so it kind of took me by surprise. Especially with the one scene near the end.
Overall, this was a pretty great psychological thriller. It kept me glued to the pages, so if you're looking for something exciting to read, give A Mother Like You a whirl.
4.5 stars!
Author Bio
–
RUBY SPEECHLEY was born in Lisbon,
Portugal, and was brought up in a British-Portuguese family. She has an MA in
creative writing from Sheffield Hallam and is a Faber Academy alumna. Her work
has been longlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction prize, The Bath Novel Award
and Caledonia Novel Award, amongst others. She also won Best Opening Chapter at
the York Festival of Writing in 2017. Ruby’s debut novel, Someone Else’s Baby was published by Hera Books
in July 2019. It is a chilling psychological thriller about a young woman who
becomes a surrogate but finds that her act of kindness comes with devastating
consequences. Her second novel, Every Little Secret was
published in April 2020.
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