The Push by Ashley Audrain

 

The Push - Ashley Audrain 

303 pages

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family–and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn’t behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.

This was probably the best book I have ever read. I read it in 3 days and could not put it down. The whole time I was back and forth - is she sane? Is she crazy? Is her daughter that bad really? I really, REALLY connected with the mother and how she felt about her daughter because that is exactly how I felt with my oldest when I had her at 17. She is my bestfriend now, but back then I wanted someone to just take her away and never bring her back because I was so sleep deprived. A lot of people don't like to talk about PPD because they feel mothers should always be happy and perfect. Postpartum depression is real and it can be very serious.

If you like psychological thrillers check out this book. This is the author's first book and I was amazed at how good it was.

Balancing In Heels:My Journey To Health, Happiness, And Making It All Work by Kristin Cavallari

Balancing In Heels: My Journey To Health, Happiness, And Making It All Work by Kristin Cavallari, 239 pages

I did not know Kristen Cavallari had a book out until I saw it on the shelf.  Most people know her from her reality shows The Hills and Laguana Beach, but I knew her from Dancing with the Stars.  Also, she is married to the Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler.  This book is full of pictures of her and her family.  The books offers health, fitness, and fashion tips for the busy working woman, mom and wife. She also writes about her love story with Jay Cutler and her pregnancies.  

A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith

A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith - 352 pages

A Star for Mrs. Blake is a novel set in the middle of the Depression years, but focuses on a lesser known piece of its history.  Cora Blake is her town's librarian who also sidelines as a fish cannery worker.  What makes Cora significant is the fact she is a Gold Star Mother, one of the many who lost her son in the Great War.  When she receives an invitation to join the Gold Star Mother's Pilgrimage to the graveyards in France, she does not hesitate to say yes.  Soon she finds herself en route with four other mothers, their soldier escort, and a nurse.  Cora finds instant companionship with Bobbie Olsen, an upper class woman, who also a widow and lost her only son.  Two of the other mothers, Kate and Minnie, grouped together and do not get along with the elderly socialite.  The final mother in the group, Wilhelmina, is the eccentric one who bonds with all.  Adding to the relationships, the solider escort, Lt. Thomas Hammond, and nurse, Lily Barnett, begin to grow close.  Once in Paris, Cora accompanies Bobbie to visit an old friend and meets journalist Griffin Reed, a man who becomes loyal to Cora and provides a gift that made the trip more than worth it, especially after a tragedy strikes their party.

While the book begins to an iffy start, once the journey begins the novel becomes much better and we understand this is a book about relationships and the power of love.  The historical aspects align to drive that home.  The mothers still hold close the memories of their lost sons and sharing those memories and the pilgrimage experience with the other mothers bonds them together.  We also see a unique bond formed between Cora and Griffin, but I cannot explain that one here without exposing one of the story's main conclusions.

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, by Sun-mi Hwang

 The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, by Sun-mi Hwang, 144 pages

Sprout is an egg-laying hen who refuses to lay any more eggs that will simply be taken away from her. She longs to lay an egg and sit on it until it hatches.  Life has a funny way of working sometimes.  This short novel was surprisingly tender and may have made me a bit teary at the end.