ABOUT THE BOOK
From Nora Murphy, author of The Favor, The New Mother is both relatable and nerve-wracking, sympathetic and bone-chilling— a fresh new twist on motherhood and murder in suburbia.
Isolated. Lonely. Tired. It’s hard being The New Mother. Sometimes it’s murder.
Nothing is simple about being a new mom alone in a new house, especially when your baby is collicky. Natalie Fanning loves her son unconditionally, but being a mother was not all she wanted to be.
Enter Paul, the neighbor.
Paul provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest.
But Paul wants something in return. It’s no coincidence that he has befriended Nat—she is the perfect pawn for his own plan. Will Nat wake up in time to see it?
- Publisher : Minotaur Books
- Publication Date : May 30, 2023
- Hardcover : 304 pages
This book had me turning pages and searching for answers. Unfortunately, too much time was spent searching for where the book was heading, and that’s not a good reason to turn pages.
Natalie is a mother who is consumed with wanting to be a good mother to her baby boy, Oliver. Natalie’s husband, Tyler, is more than happy to help with their newborn, but Natalie interprets accepting help as a weakness.
One day as Natalie pushes Oliver in a stroller throughout their new neighborhood, she meets a stay-at-home father. In time they begin talking and the neighbor who also stayed at home with his baby seems to be able to sympathize with Natalie. Something she is badly in need of, understanding and companionship.
But will Paul, the neighbor, have secrets that Natalie isn’t aware of?
My Concerns
The pace was slow, and not much happened until at least halfway through the book.
Natalie is an educated woman, but one who seemed to know no other method of calming her crying baby than to feed him. If I counted how many times the word “nurse” was used in this book, the number would be extremely high. Every time Natalie grabbed up her fussy baby and nursed him made her appear naive. It was repetitive and irritating.
Final Thoughts
While this book does pick up toward the last half, I have to wonder if the first is strong enough to keep readers interested.
If you’re looking for a thriller or a suspense story, you will only find those things sparingly added. Much of the story is about a mother’s expectations of herself and the difficulties of caring for a newborn.
I appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book. Her wish to include postpartum depression in the story was understandable, but it consumed too many pages. It would have helped to broaden the aspect rather than rely on repetition.
If the story could have been paired down, the last half of the book did pick up and become exciting.
My thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nora Murphy attended law school in Washington, D.C., then worked as a judicial law clerk before transitioning to private practice. During law school, she participated in two clinics through which she represented and studied the issues facing survivors of intimate partner violence. A practicing attorney, Nora writes as much as she can, usually long before the sunrise or on her phone for brief moments when the inspiration strikes. Nora resides in Maryland with her husband, young son, and five rescue pets. The Favor is her first novel.
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