Showing results for "The Good Mother" in Literature & Fiction

With an eight-year-old son struggling with ADHD and nowhere else to turn, soon-to-be-divorced mom Lacey answers a life-saving ad. When she arrives at Wildwood Lane she finds a ramshackle house with a bright yellow door and a wraparound porch with its cozy couch and scattered toys. And inside, three mothers who have forged their own rules for survival. As Lacey battles her conspiracy-theorist ex-husband for custody while juggling a new, make-or-break job, she discovers these women offer more than shared childcare, communal dinners and late nights bonding over wine after the kids’ bedtime.

I've always known Jack was different. Ever since he was eight years old and he killed his father. He was protecting me, just like I've always protected him. But now he's eighteen and this time he's gone too far. Steve is dead. He was a good man, and god, we could have been really great together—but now he's bleeding out on our kitchen table. I must keep my boy safe. No one can ever know what he's done. What he's capable of. And I won't let him get caught. I'll do whatever it takes to keep him safe, keep him with me. Even if it means becoming a monster myself.

Amy's life is picture perfect. Mess with that picture and you're going to pay. She has two lovely daughters, a wonderful husband, and she's queen bee in her circle of soccer moms. She feels content, like she's finally put some distance between herself and the terrible events of long ago. The only fly in the ointment is Charlotte, a recent arrival to this affluent suburban community.

‘Oh. My. Word. This is a one sitting read kind of book. The kind with a twist that will have you gasping out loud.’ – Katherine Sunderland, Goodreads The greatest bond. The darkest betrayal. Susan wakes up alone in a room she doesn’t recognise, with no memory of how she got there. She...

Frida Liu is a struggling mother. She remembers taking Harriet from her cot and changing her nappy. She remembers giving her a morning bottle. They'd been up since four a.m. Frida just had to finish the article in front of her. But she'd left a file on her desk at work. What would happen if she retrieved it and came back in an hour? She was so sure it would be okay. Now, the state has decided that Frida is not fit to care for her daughter. That she must be re-trained. Soon, mothers everywhere will be re-educated. Will their mistakes cost them everything?

For Rose O’Connell, enrolling her seven-year-old son, Charlie, into the prestigious school across the road marks a bright new future for her family. One where she can finally forget the dark stains of her childhood. The school is ruled by The Circle, an elite group of influential mothers with beauty and wealth. Every other mum would kill to join it—but to Rose’s shock, it’s her they invite. Rose is so close to having the life she’s dreamed of. But there’s something peculiar about The Circle. What is each woman hiding beneath her perfect exterior?

Mia is telling me a story. It’s about a princess, who lives in a castle, on a street that bears a remarkable resemblance to ours. About a kind old lady who’s the queen. I’m distracted for a moment by her little hand softly slipping into mine. My daughter. My angel. But then she says something that pulls me from my reverie. She says that the queen doesn’t treat the princess well. She punishes her and doesn’t let her eat anything…Helen, my neighbour, has been so good to me. And more importantly, she’s so good with the children. Surely this is just another story of Mia’s, just make believe.

Ruth Hartland is the director of a trauma unit, a psychotherapist with years of experience, wise and respected by her peers. But professional skill is no guard against private grief. The mother of grown twins, she is haunted by the fact that her beautiful, difficult, fragile son Tom, a boy who never 'fit in', disappeared a year and a half earlier. She cannot give up hope of finding him but feels she is living a kind of half life, waiting for him to return.

America, 2049: Summer temperatures are intolerably high, the fossil fuel industry has shut down, and humans are implanted with a 'Flick' at birth, which allows them to remain perpetually online. The wealthy live in the newly created Floating City off the coast, while people on the mainland struggle to get by. For Rose, a job as a hostess in the city's elite club, feels like her best hope for a better future.

Read brilliantly by Laura Aikman (Gavin and Stacey) HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO FOR A YEAR OFF WORK . . . ? 'The comedy gold standard' – Stylist 'This book will make you guffaw out loud' – Prima 'It’s one that’s sure to have you laughing and crying in equal measures' – Express Meet Barri...

**Narrated by the Author!** A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by Ms. Magazine A raw and lyrical exploration of the confining expectations of womanhood and, if we dare, what lies beyond those limitations—from a writer Roxane Gay calls “vibrant and thoughtful.” Gorgeous, badass, and...

Mum always knows best… The stunning debut for fans of Celia Imrie and Dawn French. Meet the daughters of Iris Parker. Dee; sensitive and big-hearted; Rose uptight and controlled and Fleur the reckless free spirit. At the reading of their mother’s will, the three estranged women are aghast to...

Brought to you by Penguin. A mother and son, estranged for many years, reckon at last with the secret that has kept them apart in this highly anticipated novel by one of the most talented American writers of his generation At forty, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and...

What if Europe had never colonized the world? It is a world that never had overseas empires, the transatlantic slave trade, or the Protestant Reformation. There is, however, in an obscure island nation called England, a woman running for her life. Marie, Duchess of Suffolk, has no choice. In this society, women are a reproductive commodity. Marriage is the only available occupation. And barren wives like Marie are expendable trade. After absconding with the family jewels, Marie fakes her own death and seeks a life outside the confines of her family and her marriage.

A feel-good tale of old secrets, new friendships and second chances from the Sunday Times bestselling author of An Ideal Husband 'You won’t want to put it down once you start reading' Five Star Reader Review 'Had me hooked from the first page. The characters feel like friends and I find myself...

Two Girls. One Chance. When Lizzie's car crashes with her two daughters inside, she faces a terrible choice. And when she recovers from her injuries, she has to deal with the impact of that tragedy as well as the police investigation into it. As Lizzie and her family struggle to come to terms...

A daughter and mother: two women miles, years, and dreams apart. One defies traditions and expectations. The other conforms to them, even in a new land. Their emotional distance grows while the daughter, now a wife and mother herself, comes to better understand the woman she’s become and why, as she ruminates on inherited trauma, the need to forgive, and the lengths she’ll go to free herself from the past.

Could it be time for a rebrand? When Becca's daughter, Sophie, leaves for university, she finds herself with a very empty nest and no idea how to fill it. Her marriage to Steady Steve hasn't excited either of them since the noughties, and with her job being taken from under her by someone much...

Don't miss this transporting novel full of old family secrets and new beginnings… 'Warm, escapist and ultimately uplifting. Erica James is on top form' Five Star Reader Review 'An emotional rollercoaster … Erica James weaves a tale that tugs at the heartstrings' Five Star Reader Review 'I...

Adventure, romance and history combine in this thrilling 19th century journey through the South Australian bush and along the mighty Murray River in the company of a determined heroine. 1895, Renmark, South Australia Maggie O'Rourke has always had a hard head. No man was going to tie her down to...