The phrase “His mother didn’t love him or her” is pervasive in discussions of serial killers and child murderers, as if a mother is to blame for the sins of her child. These assumptions are even more pronounced when a child is accused of antisocial or criminal behavior. If a mother does not express love for her child in ways that are familiar or expected, many assume that something is wrong with the mother. Humans, however, with their complex brains and complex societies, cannot divorce this imperative from the social conditioning they receive from television, movies, commercials, and their own parents. To some extent, motherhood is a biological and evolutionary imperative, as newborns across the animal kingdom cannot survive without a mother’s support. It’s worth pondering where these expectations come from. Blythe narrates as if she’s speaking directly to her husband and the technique provides for a wonderfully immersive and intimate read that culminates in one of the best last lines I’ve read in years, hands down.īottom line: This debut is a masterful mix of suspense and inventiveness, captivating from the first page-in other words, the exact thing we could all use right now.One of the novel’s earliest and most important quotes is, “We all expect to have, and to marry, and to be, good mothers” (7). But he’s out of the house most of the day and doesn’t see what she does-a young girl, devoid of empathy and incapable of affection.īlythe’s complicated feelings for her daughter are made more complicated by the arrival of a second child, a son she adores. Her husband disagrees, accuses Blythe of imagining things. Her daughter Violet arrives and, overwhelmed and exhausted, Blythe decides there’s something very wrong with the child. The premise: A woman named Blythe, who is disinclined to motherhood, gets married and then pregnant. Hours later, there I was, reading the last page by iPhone flashlight, unaware of anything other than the world I’d just inhabited. And then, behold, I received a copy of The Push by Ashley Audrain. No matter how much I’ve longed to read, or how many worthy books have found their way to me, I’ve been too distracted by the state of the world to stick with anything for long. Confession: it’s been a while since I’ve been able to read a book cover to cover.
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