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Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan

Publication Date 1st May 2020

Published by Simon & Schuster

Genre: Medical/Legal Thriller

My thanks to publisher Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this title. Sarah Vaughan's recent release Reputation and previous book Anatomy of A Scandal (soon to be a TV adaptation) are both high on my list of recommended reads.

Book Description:

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? 

My Thoughts:

This book unfortunately became lost in a batch of titles on my 'to read' pile - possibly due to its content making it a book you really need to be in the right frame of mind for. Post-natal depression is a strong issue throughout the course of this book which can be a trigger for some readers. My advice: proceed with caution.

The story is based around a group of friends who came to know one another through an ante-natal group, their eldest children all due within a matter of weeks of one another in the later weeks of 2007. Jess is the only one lucky enough not to have to return to work, the one with the calm, instinctive approach to parenting; she's also the only one among the mums to go on to have a third child. But all is not well behind closed doors for Jess and her family, and it's about to get a whole lot worse.

Fast forward to early 2018 and one of the mums, Liz, is at work as a doctor in her local hospital in west London.  She is called to the emergency department to assess the condition of a little girl, 10 months old who has been brought in by mum. It's not until she reads the patient's name that she gets concerned: Betsey Curtis, daughter of her friend Jess. Once she has examined Betsey she realises what a difficult position she is in, and reluctantly calls her senior consultant for advice. An arrogant, old-school kind of consultant Liz's boss is quick to get social services involved due to the nature of Betsey's condition, a decision which inevitably causes bad feeling between Liz and Jess's wider group of friends. 

As the chapters switch between timeframes and characters we slowly but surely get the background to events leading up to Jess needing to take Betsey to the hospital. The difference in how society supports mental health issues in recent years compared to the stigma which surrounded it not all that long ago is explored and put into context, at some points making for an emotional read.

I don't want to go into too much detail as this would ruin the whole storyline. I did get an inkling of what had happened but there were still sufficient twists in the tale to lead the reader along a couple of diversions before the end.  I felt that the author presented realistic reactions from the various authorities and friends within the group and had clearly researched processes within health and social care settings so that the story remained credible. The pressures put on the parents of young families these days are demonstrated well too - the way we all feel that we need to put on a public face that everything is fine when really, we should say that we're having difficult day or need some extra support occasionally. 

It seems inappropriate to say I liked this book, more so that I respect the author for tackling some extremely sensitive content in a way which makes it a far less taboo subject and felt satisfied with the outcome.

About the Author:

Sarah Vaughan read English at Oxford and went on to be a journalist. After training with the Press Association, she worked for The Guardian for 11 years as a news reporter, health correspondent and political correspondent before leaving to freelance and write fiction. Her 3rd novel, Anatomy of a Scandal, was an instant international bestseller, a Sunday Times top five bestseller, a kindle number 1 bestseller, a Richard & Judy pick, and was longlisted for the Theakson's Old Peculier Crime Novel and shortlisted for awards in France, Sweden and the UK. It has been translated into 22 languages and is being adapted for TV.

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