Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: 8th June 2023
Book Description:
You want to be one of them. Until you know them.
The unguessable, unputdownable new thriller from the author of international bestseller Greenwich Park.
Ex-journalist Tash has been searching for a story to launch her freelance career. But she has also been searching for something else. New friends to help her navigate motherhood.
She sees them at her son’s new playgroup. The other mothers. The sleek, the sophisticated, the successful mothers… The women she wants to be.
And then one day they welcome her into their circle and Tash discovers the kind of life she has always dreamt of; their elegant London townhouses a far cry from her cramped basement flat and endless bills.
These families seem to have everything. But they also have their secrets.
And it’s soon clear that not everyone at the playgroup can be trusted...
My Thoughts:
I buddy read Katherine's earlier book Greenwich Park with my daughter last year and we were both impressed by the author's writing. When the opportunity to read The Other Mothers came up for me via NetGalley I was keen to sign up - I wanted to see whether the author could keep up her excellent ability to hide clues amongst the general storytelling, one of the strengths of Greenwich Park for me. I'm delighted to say, she hasn't let me down in this book. In fact, I can confidently say that she has risen to the challenge I had silently set her, and excelled far further than I could have hoped.
The opening scenes of the book are set in a police station in Cornwall, with Tash explaining to officers how she met the other members of the group she is staying with. How these scenes could possibly link to a new development of flats near Tash and her family's home in London, her faltering career as a freelance journalist and her son Finn's playgroup were a mystery to me.
Like many new mums with a limited support network Tash struggles to find her feet integrating into the groups of expensively presented, highly polished women who are established regulars at the local playgroup - in her head Tash brands them "the ponytail mums". Imagine her delight when one of them invites her into their clique of coffee dates at the cafe across the road, safe in the knowledge that her son Finn is in good hands, making his own friends and growing in confidence without her. And that's just the start of it.
But while the playgroup is good for Finn, it quickly becomes clear that Tash's latest investigative report is upsetting some of the locals - and to her shock, actually involves the former nanny of one of the ponytail mums. She's soon in a worrying dilemma as to whether to keep looking into the case or, as the disturbing warnings suggest, she should steer well clear.
This is where the quality of Faulkner's writing comes in; all the clues point to there being connections to the playgroup parents, but which ones? Who should she be wary of? The more Tash digs, the more skeletons start rattling at cupboard doors and soon Tash has more to be worried about than just a newspaper article: she and her family are beginning to suffer in her search for the truth. Will she be able to set aside her quest to settle what she feels is a huge injustice in order to protect her family?
The more I read about the ponytail mums and their associated families, the more I felt uncomfortable. It just goes to show that the gloss and veneer of wealth and being part of the in-crowd, whilst seeming attractive from the outside, also has its downsides. I felt that the author perfectly captured the pressures there are on new mums to fit in, the feeling that certain people just know what to do and how to act so that they fit seamlessly into the role, while others are left floundering on the outside looking in, waiting for that golden ticket of invitation to the circle of acceptance. The secrets and hidden links are all there amongst the pages, woven so discreetly into the story that I only picked up on a couple of them.
With Tash getting closer to the truth every day, the big question is: as the group closes ranks, will she be included in their number or left on the outside looking in as she was in the beginning? Do they see her as one of them or an outsider with her less than desirable home and limited budget? I was glued to this book as the facts were gradually disclosed, the pacing absolutely pitch perfect.
I highly recommend this book - and if you missed out on Greenwich Park then I suggest you grab a copy of that one too!
About the Author:
Katherine is a London-based author and journalist. She studied History at Cambridge University, graduating with a First, then completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism. Since then she has been working as an investigative reporter and latterly an editor. Her work has been published in many national papers, and she most recently worked at The Times, where she was the joint Head of News.
While working as an undercover reporter, Katherine won the Cudlipp Award for public interest journalism and was nominated for a string of others. She was also commended by a committee of MPs for 'the highest standards of ethical investigative reporting.'
Katherine was inspired to write her debut novel about the complexity of female friendships after attending NCT classes when pregnant, and her experience of sudden intimacy with complete strangers.
She lives in Hackney, East London, where she grew up, with her husband and two daughters.
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