Child Abduction | Book Chatter

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.

The Fall of Lisa Bellow
By Susan Perabo
Simon & Schuster, Hardcover, 9781476761466, March 14, 2017, 352pp.

The Short of It:

A tense, finely orchestrated tale of what happens to a person when guilt works its way through you from the inside out.

The Rest of It:

Everyone has known a “Lisa Bellow” in their lifetime. Lisa is that pretty girl who can wear a pair of ugly shoes and somehow make them fashionable. She’s the girl who every other girl strives to be and she knows it. She can cut you down with a look or a couple of words and no matter how confident you are, the hurt takes its toll.

This is the story of Lisa and Meredith, victims of a sandwich shop robbery. Both, told to hit the floor. Both, scared for their lives. Only one taken as a hostage. As Lisa is forced to leave with the robber, Meredith stays on the ground, fearful for her life but is that the only reason she chooses to remain there?

The Fall of Lisa Bellow was a perfect read for me. It had everything I like in a book and then that human nature thing kicked in and I could not put it down. I kept asking myself, “Where is Lisa? Is she alive? Is it just a set-up? Where in God’s name can she be?” I mean, this story really worked my brain but in a totally good way.

Meredith, is also a victim. She’s the one left behind and the one who bears the weight of Lisa’s disappearance and it’s heartbreaking. HEARTBREAKING, I tell you! Her memory of the event is not reliable and she questions what would have happened if she had done something differently. Meredith’s mother is protective of her but also feels a sense of guilt as Lisa’s mom continually makes contact with them and with Lisa’s friends, all in a desperate attempt to keep Lisa in her life.

This author gets into each character’s head and really stirs things up. I’m talking childhood memories, hateful feelings, jealousy and spite and no matter how shocking some of it is, it’s not all that shocking given the circumstances. I could relate to every single person in this story and that’s rare. My heart ached for so many of these characters.

You know how hard it is to turn the last page of a novel you love? I think I read the last page at least three times. Get yourself a copy.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Chatting with friends about books and life…