The
Mother, by Jane Caro.
Miriam Duffy is a successful Real Estate Agent on
Sydney’s North Shore. She has a loving
husband, two successful adult daughters, one of whom is the mother of a darling
granddaughter. Her cup should really
runneth over – in fact, when Jane Caro’s dark and disturbing suspense novel
opens, Miriam and her husband are at the wedding of their youngest, gorgeous
Ally, to Nick, the man of her dreams.
They are tying the knot after a brief whirlwind courtship and, because Ally
has always been a bit of a Drama Queen, Miriam is secretly pleased that someone
else will now be custodian of all the teary tantrums: her daughter has always been hard work, but
Love should Conquer All, and Economist Ally is clearly thrilled to be a handsome,
charming Vet’s wife, even if they do have to move to a nondescript little town
in the Hunter Valley where Nick has found work at a Vet Practice. Yes, the future looks rosy – and infinitely
more peaceful!
Until the family’s life is upended by the sudden, tragic
death of Miriam’s husband and, as if that weren’t awful enough, Love hasn’t
Conquered All in the Hunter Valley: Ally
has produced a beautiful baby boy but doesn’t seem to want her family to visit,
or see the baby – until Nick calls Miriam and asks for her assistance. He is frightened that Ally is having a
breakdown, and needs help – which she certainly does, for three months after
giving birth, she is pregnant again.
Miriam rushes to her daughter’s side, and is horrified by
the change in her; she obviously loves
her little son but the honeymoon seems to be over with her husband and Miriam,
a rampant feminist – and not a character I could warm to at first – starts to
notice cracks in Nick’s charming, considerate façade. He seems to be doing his best to convince
people that Ally is mentally unstable to the extent that he sends her to a
Psychiatrist, who arranges visits from a mental health nurse – who advises Ally
that it is time she goes back home to mum before she gets killed!
This is a take-no-prisoners story of domestic abuse, so
prevalent in society, and so accepted;
Miriam’s eventual solution to her daughter’s heartbreak has far-reaching
and terrible consequences, but if someone has to die, it won’t be her beloved
daughter and grandchildren.
Ms Caro has written a novel that everyone should read: your
family is not your punching bag. FIVE STARS.
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