What’s this book about?
You think you have the perfect family.
But everything can be broken.
Liz and Jess have been friends for ten years, ever since they both started a family. But how well do they really know each other?
When Jess arrives at hospital with a story that doesn’t add up, Liz is the doctor on call.
Jess has devoted her life to family and home. But she is holding so many secrets.
As the truth begins to emerge, Liz is forced to question everything she thought she knew: about Jess, and about herself.
When something feels so personal, how do you stay professional?
What did I think?
This is a gripping and uncomfortable read that explores motherhood with a raw honesty that will resonate with so many women. It is a difficult subject to open the doors on, but Sarah Vaughan does a wonderful job of balancing the narrative without judgment as she delivers complex characters who have all been affected in different ways by becoming a mother. Liz is a working parent, struggling to cope with night shifts and the tiredness they bring with them and, although her husband is supportive, she still has to cope with her guilt about working and her feelings about her own mother who was a negligent single parent. She is put in a difficult position when her friend Jess brings in her daughter to the A&E where she works and has to do “the right thing” as her job expects her to. I found Jess very easy to relate to even though she’s a closed book to those who are investigating what happened to baby Betsey.
I think this book will be a huge bestseller in 2020 as in my humble opinion it’s even better than Anatomy of a Scandal. It’s not an easy read but that is probably because nothing is held back and the truth is often harder to stomach. But it is never depressing even through the darkness of a very heartbreaking story and it even managed to surprise me with a twist that I hadn’t been expecting.
One thing I do expect though is for this book to be on my favourite reads of 2020 list at the end of the year. It is stunning!
Meet the author…
mychestnutreadingtree 
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