Tag Archive | Book Outure

The Baby Left Behind by Jen Craven

Sep22

Gripping

The Baby Left Behind by Jen Craven is a totally gripping tale that consumed me from the start. I ‘lived’ through the book as I clung on for an emotional roller coaster read.

The book is about motherhood and the desire for a baby. It seems most unfair that some women get pregnant so easily whilst for others it is a struggle or even impossible. All the carefully laid plans amount to nothing.

In contrast to the full preparation of some, we see a woman thrust unexpectedly into motherhood.

Both women have bonds with a baby. Both women elicit feelings of empathy from the reader. Both women cannot win – there will always be a loser. Where will your sympathies lie?

We see the bonds between mothers and daughters. No matter how old we get, there is nothing a mother will not do for her daughter. There are no regrets just armfuls of love.

Sibling rivalry exists into adulthood. There seems to be the golden girl and the other one. However, when the chips are down, new bonds are formed as a family pulls together.

Continue reading →

The Mother’s Secret by Kate Hewitt

Sep16

Emotionally Charged

The Mother’s Secret by Kate Hewitt is a powerful contemporary novel that had me gripped from the start.

This is a story about two mothers, both with similar feelings but at two different stages of motherhood – the new mum and the mum of teenagers. Both are English teachers. Both feel like misfits. Both lay down their career hopes to do as their husbands wish. Both bond together, as the experienced mum helps the new one as she understands her.

We see just how hard motherhood can be. The adjustment to being a new mum is hard, with the lack of sleep, a baby who cries and a husband who works away. Kate Hewitt writes in such a way as to elicit sympathy from the reader.

Being a mum to teens is a whole different ball game. There are different problems. The isolation felt is huge, after a wife and mother is ripped from her home and a job she loves, in order to follow her husband’s dreams.

Both mums suffer at the hands of their husbands’ jobs. Both are caring and compassionate. And both are fighting demons. The novel is emotionally charged. The two lead characters are easy to identify with. We understand the guilt they feel as they try to balance motherhood with jobs and external problems are not of their making. Guilt and innocence exist side by side.

Continue reading →

The Midwife Of Berlin by Anna Stuart

Sep13

A Desperate Hope

The Midwife Of Berlin by Anna Stuart is a powerful historical novel that consumed me.

Much of the action is set in 1961 Berlin, at the height of the Cold War. It is a time of division as east separates from west.

The Nazi reign of terror has gone, only to be replaced with a Soviet one.

As the Berlin Wall is erected, lives and families are torn apart. ‘Lists’ begin to appear, making defection necessary.

The East is living under communism. It is a nice idea in theory but doesn’t work in practice.

Similarly, lives were ripped apart in World War II by the Nazis. Babies born in Auschwitz were torn from their mother’s arms. Secretly, these babies were tattooed in their armpits with their mother’s number, in the hope that after the war, women could find their babies. “Hope is the greatest pain but also the greatest strength.”

Continue reading →

The Wife In The Photo by Emily Shiner

Sep8

Psychological Suspense Out Of The Top Drawer

The Wife In The Photo by Emily Shiner is an absolutely marvellous contemporary psychological thriller that had me hooked from the start.

I held on for dear life as the action twisted this way and that. I thought I had it all worked out – how wrong was I!

Our actions have consequences. We reap what we sow – or do we? Sometimes carefully laid plans come crashing down. Other times we might just get away with murder!

The Wife In The Photo is cleverly constructed and extremely well executed. The reader witnesses the murder in the opening scenes. The book is then written from before the murder and afterwards from several alternating points of view and also from diary entries.

Are monsters born? Or are they a product of their environment?

Continue reading →