The Perfect Mother
By Aimee Molloy
Harper, 9780062696793, May 1, 2018, 336pp.
The Short of It:
Another page-turner that keeps you guessing.
The Rest of It:
Motherhood is a hot topic this summer. I wonder why. Maybe because so many of us are overwhelmed, super busy, and give everything we have to our kids? Whatever the reason, I have at least three books in my stack dealing with motherhood in some way and The Perfect Mother was one of them.
May Mothers is a group made-up of women who had their babies in the month of May. They meet at the park for their regular meetings but now that their infants are a couple of months old, they decide it’s time for a girls night out and head to a local bar for some drinks. Excited to be taking a night off from baby duty, they get a little careless and drink a little too much so when one of the moms suddenly vanishes from the bar, only for them to find out later that she is home, with the police, trying to figure out who took her son from his crib, things begin to escalate as the moms try to make sense of what’s happened.
Mommy groups can be very supportive but also very dramatic. That is the case here. These women take it upon themselves to find the missing baby. They inject themselves into the investigation, steal evidence, put themselves in very dangerous situations, usually with their own infant strapped to their chests. It’s crazy what they do!
Although the missing baby is the focus of the story, Molloy also touches on the loss of identity that can come with having a baby and how difficult it is to figure out those first few months as a mother. This, I could relate to well.
The Perfect Mother is not a perfect book. It’s a little predictable and you might tire of all the “mommyness” contained within its pages but it was a quick, entertaining read and a good distraction from the headlines that continue to find me even though I have made a real effort to avoid them.
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
I’m planning on reading this one before long. I didn’t know all that much about the storyline or maybe just hadn’t read the complete blurb. However, I think it’s one I’d like, despite the ‘mommy-ness’. LOL
These kinds of books are great because they are quick reads and do what I expect them to do, take me out of my element for a little while. The mommy group is a little annoying but hey, I belonged to a mommy group just like theirs and still interact with them to this day and I was probably pretty annoying with all my first time mommy questions. 😉
I’m past the “Mommy” stage so the mommyness might not get to me. I think I’d like this.
I have to say that this one does not really interest me. Your comments about the steps they take to try to uncover the truth on their own would bother me, especially if they bring their babies into harms’ way. I’m glad you enjoyed it though!
I have been reading a lot of books I’d not normally read. I think because I am so stuck in meh, these days. Just changing it up and getting through my review copies at the same time.
Women running around with kids in baby wraps trying to bait a predator would not sit well with you. It did not for me either!
Interesting that you’ve got a bunch of “mom” books while the whole #keepfamiliestogether crisis is raging around us. This one sounds like a fun summer read.
I totally agree!
I have this one sitting on my TBR pile….maybe I’ll get to it this summer. I’m ok with predictable sometimes…..and I’m also ok with a fast, fun read that doesn’t require too much thinking.
I’ve seen mixed reviews on this and although I plan to try it the older I get I have trouble reading about whiny 20 and 30-somethings LOL
They are more meddlesome than whiny. They just seem to run around a lot in a hysterical way (at times).
I’m not sure about this one. Using babies as bait is a turn off for me.
The babies aren’t used as bait but there is one mom who baits someone trying to figure out what is going on. It’s kind of ridiculous. I don’t know of any woman who would put herself in a dangerous situation such as that.
I haven’t joined a mom group because I wasn’t sure I’d want to hear what I should and shouldn’t be doing for my kid, but I guess it could be supportive for many.
My mom group is a 1998 group which was helpful with my first one. But I never joined a group for my 2003 kid. Been there, done that. I still talk regularly to the moms in the 1998 group which actually became helpful again when they all began college.