The Mother's Mistake: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller cover art

The Mother's Mistake: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller

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The Mother's Mistake: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller

By: Ruth Heald
Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
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About this listen

Everyone makes mistakes. But does everyone deserve to be forgiven?

She runs past the tinkling of children’s laughter that fills the park. Heart hammering, feet stinging, she reaches the riverbank, her breath catching in her throat. And then she sees...

Three years later.

Claire has everything she’s always wanted. A newborn baby. A doting husband by her side. A picturesque home in the countryside.

But behind closed doors, Claire’s life is falling apart. Her husband is barely ever home, she’s struggling to bond with her baby girl, and she swears that she is being watched in the remote, lonely cottage.

And when a threatening note is posted through her letterbox, saying she doesn’t deserve her daughter, it’s clear that someone knows about the terrible mistake that Claire made - someone won’t let her forget it. Three years ago, she would have known who to turn to. But now she no longer recognizes those closest to her or the person she’s become. Whom can she trust?

A chilling psychological thriller about a mother’s worst nightmare. Fans of K. L. Slater, Shalini Boland, and The Girl on the Train will love the twists, turns and gasp-worthy shocks of this stunning debut from Ruth Heald.

©2019 Ruth Heald (P)2019 Bookouture Fiction Genre Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Exciting Heartfelt Scary Marriage

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All stars
Most relevant  
I enjoyed this story but there were some parts which had a bit to much gross info

good story

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I couldn’t stop listening to this book, it had me gripped from the start.
Stayed up till 4am to find out how it ended! A fantastic read!

Highly recommend!

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loved the story. very dark and definitely gripping attention till the very end.

definitely recommend.

great story

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It was an unputdownable book, or in this case listen. Very much enjoyed it and it was a very good storyline. In parts I felt a bit like the author was rambling on but that was fine. I have to admit that I spotted who the culprit was earlyish on. I'll buy more books by this lady. Just to add the orator of the book was great too. :)

Great story

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I came across Ruth’s books as I am a fan of Tamsin the narrator, another brilliant book. I couldn’t figure it out until the end which is rare! Would recommend

Another brilliant book

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loved this book! gripping, twists and turns. we'll written and really we'll narrated. I will be looking for more from the author and narrator.

gripping couldn't put it down

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Couldn't put it down kept me guessing till near the end. Will look for more by this author

Great book

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Yes, three stars for the good twist, but boy, was it a longwinded journey to get to it. It didn’t matter if I lost the thread though because the heroine would still either be breastfeeding the baby, feeling tears prick her eyes or feeling completely exhausted 🙄. And the baby who screamed relentlessly for most of the book still managed to sit for hour upon hour in coffee shops or bars without so much as a murmur. Relieved this one’s over.

Zzzz

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I haven't really enjoyed this book or been eager to get back to listening to it each time I pick it up. The main reason is the lead character, Claire, a mum with a newborn baby. She is really really whiny and irrational. I really struggled to like or empathise with her. Having said that, she is realistically depicted as a person suffering from anxiety after an abusive marriage and the death of a child, so naturally that would lead to her struggle to cope with everyday life and suffering from severe anxiety and postnatal depression as a result. So in that way it is quite realistic and shows a believable character, just not a very likeable one!

Claire has a new friend who has just popped up out of nowhere when they moved to the country. Emma, her new friend, initially seems well-intentioned and overly kind and sympathetic, but there seems to be an ulterior motive going on, because she is accidentally on purpose making Claire feel much much worse. Claire has lost a child to drowning and is now terrified of water as a result. Emma insists on gifting her a picture of children playing by a river and insists on hanging it in her baby's bedroom over the cot. Claire is morbidly terrified of losing her baby. Emma runs off with the baby in her buggy while Claire is up on a high fairground ride and can't do anything about it. Emma tells Claire that she saw Claire's husband buying a bracelet for his ex, and pretends that her husband has been cheating on her so she can really empathise with Claire (who falls for it). Claire appears to be an ex alcoholic. Emma arranges a wine tasting for a "treat" for her. Then, both half drunk, she insists they climb up thousands of narrow steps of a dusty, claustrophobic church bell tower "to see the view" with the baby strapped to Emma's front. Emma has had a previous suicide attempt, jumping from a height. So this really isn't the best idea. Next, Emma drags Claire out clubbing and gets her so horrendously drunk that she injures herself and falls down unconscious in a shop doorway, then Emma abandons her.
it doesn't take a genius to work out that Emma is not what she seems but someone out to get Claire. But Claire is unfortunately not that kind of genius....

Claire becomes desperately paranoid and blames herself for everything. Like when her baby's buggy brakes get let off (by evil mum in law Ruth who was left in charge of the buggy while Claire went inside) and the buggy falls into the pond, nearly drowning the baby. After this happens, she finds the baby's car seatbelt unlocked and immediately assumes it's her own fault - even though she's just watched her malicious mother-in-law open the door and speak to the baby. So it's blatantly obvious that Ruth just unlocked the seatbelt. Claire finds a scarf she thinks belongs to her husband's ex girlfriend, Sarah, pushed down the side of her bed and reacts by dumping all her husband's stuff outside the door, locking him out and refuses to let him in or speak to him (even though she loves him). Matt was actually pressured into working with Sarah his ex by Ruth, who secretly wants them to get back together and to push Claire out. It's blatantly obvious that either Ruth or Emma - who Claire found snooping round her bedroom shortly beforehand - planted the scarf, because there's nothing going on between Matt and Sarah. So Claire is literally driving Matt away with her behaviour. She's really not thinking things through because she's not working, so she can't pay for anything on her own. They are also living in his dead grandmother's house, so so Ruth could chuck her out at any time if they split up. Matt is struggling to figure out what's the matter with Claire, hasn't got time to deal with her nervous breakdown and is convinced that she's losing the plot, so he keeps urging her to see a psychiatrist, and I must say I can sympathise with him. he's clearly got compassion fatigue as it seems they have been through all this before. Poor Matt is really quite long-suffering, because Claire insisted they have a new baby and now she is really struggling to cope with the baby. She also insisted they move to the countryside and now she's desperately unhappy because the grandmother's country house is still full of all her clutter and Claire can't settle in. And Ruth is really nasty and manipulative, which is why Matt didn't want to move back to the countryside near her. But still he did it just to please Claire, and he was proved right, because they are now miserable! Although with all the nasty tricks that have been played on her in her already very highly anxious state, I can't really blame her for responding appropriately and losing it a bit!

So I found it boringly predictable to work out who was really causing the events that made Claire so paranoid. It was plainly Ruth and Emma (who is probably a friend of Matt's ex Sarah). It wouldn't surprise me at all if she was in league with Ruth. It seems that several people around Claire are all conspiring against her to make her believe she's losing her mind. But it's really obvious that she's not and that it's them. This made for a bit of a tedious story. I was just waiting for the big "reveal" while already knowing what was going to happen. Just not sure why.

The narrator is excellent, really expressive and gives each character a distinct voice. So she really saves this book.

Irritatingly whiny mum!

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I’m normally 3 steps ahead guessing the ‘who did it’ well before the clues come but this book really kept me wondering. Extremely well written

Gripping, unpredictable and very enjoyable

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