‘Two mothers.
Two daughters.
One devastating truth‘
– A Good Mother
[ About A Good Mother ]
Alex Blake was terrified of water, and had been since she nearly drowned at age five. So when police find her body in the river and rule it a suicide, her mother, Jen knows they’re wrong. But no one will listen to a grieving mother.
The police dismiss her. Her husband thinks she’s in denial. Even their neighbours, the Higgins family, urge her to accept the truth and move on. But something isn’t right. Why was Alex messaging Lia Higgins, Jen’s former best friend, the day she died? And why is Lia now so desperate to shut down Jen’s questions?
The more Jen digs into the perfect family next door, the more she realises Alex was keeping secrets. Dangerous ones. Someone knows what really happened to her daughter. And they’re determined to keep Jen from uncovering the truth.
[ My Review ]
A Good Mother by Michelle Dunne published April 29th with Storm Publishing and is described as ‘a breathtaking, stay-up-all-night emotional page-turner about motherhood, friendship and betrayal.‘ With a shocking opening scene, Michelle Dunne takes the reader on a very affecting journey. Set in Cork A Good Mother delves into every parents worst nightmare when a teenage girl is dead, drowned and dragged from the water as a suspected suicide.
Jen Blake is the mother in this tragic tale. Her daughter Alex, had been struggling a little in recent times but at no point had Jan ever considered her life in danger. Jen and her husband, Dale, were in financial straits. When Dale lost his management job, their circumstances took a turn for the worst and Jen had to go back to work full time. No longer available for her daughter as before, Jen was riddled with guilt as she constantly rushed around the place trying to juggle multiple balls simultaneously.
Jen’s neighbour Lia Higgins, meanwhile, has the perfect life with two children and a husband with political ambition. Lia kept herself fit and trim, was always available for her family and to the school, and was the model homemaker and wife. Jen and Lia had once been best friends but now Jen envied Lia and her perfect life. As she lived in a constant state of anxiety, Lia seemed to float through life without much of a care in the world.
Following Alex’s tragic death, Jen begins to have her suspicions that there were others involved. Alex had a mortal fear of water and Jen’s motherly instincts tell her that there is no way Alex would have willingly drowned herself in a bid to end it all. The police are very vague in their response to Jen’s pleading but she is relentless in her quest to uncover the truth. She may have failed Alex in life but she will not fail her in death.
As the layers are peeled back, Jen starts to make some uncomfortable discoveries, many that add to her already overflowing guilt, but also ones that chill her to the bone. What really happened to Alex the day she went missing and who knows the truth?
A Good Mother is a harrowing story, one that highlights many difficult (and possibly triggering) themes such as bullying, obsession, violence and fractured family dynamics. As Jen’s world collapses she somehow finds the strength to poke under the skin and pull back the veneer. She had not been aware of the finer details of Alex’s life and as the hurt is exposed Jen’s life is thrown off balance. How could she have missed the signs? What kind of a mother was she? Jen’s life was not the one she had planned for herself. The hectic nature of her days, the dismissal of her daughter’s needs now all replay in her head as she navigates through the secrets and lies to uncover the darkness beneath.
Tackling multiple sensitive themes, Michelle Dunne doesn’t over simplify any particular issue and doesn’t shy away from the more uncomfortable scenes. A dark and disconcerting tale, A Good Mother is an emotionally bruising and, at times, unsettling read that is unfortunately all too relevant today.
[ Bio ]
Michelle Dunne is a bestselling psychological thriller writer from Cork. Michelle also wrote The Hotel Maid and The Good Girl, which saw its Czech language edition chosen as one of the 12 most exciting books to publish in Czech Republic in April 25. It launched in March at the annual Big Book Thursday event in Prague.
Michelle also wrote the Lindsey Ryan series of psychological thrillers, While Nobody is Watching and The Invisible. The series is currently in development for television and is inspired by Michelle’s own experiences as an infantry soldier and United Nations Peacekeeper.
Michelle is organiser and programmer of the Spike Island Literary Festival – a crime- themed festival set in Ireland’s very own Alcatraz. In 2024 she also joined the team at Dublin’s international crime writing festival, Murder One.
A GOOD MOTHER is her latest novel.
