Published by Bookouture on October 23 2019
Pages: 332
Amazon UK
Goodreads
Also by this author: Love You Gone, The Honeymoon, The Ex Boyfriend, The Liar's Daughter, The Guest Room, The Bigamist, Keep You Safe, Bride and Groom
‘She hasn’t told you, has she?’ He squeezed his eyes shut. She watched the muscles of his jaw tense, then his eyes blinked open and he took a deep breath… ‘I’m not your father.’
He was there for her first steps, for her first day of school. He helped her with her homework, and took her for ice cream at the weekends. And then, two days before her ninth birthday, Martha’s father walked out. She never knew what went wrong, but she and her mother Fran never saw or heard from him again.
Fifteen years later, frustrated in a life which consists of caring for an increasingly-ill Fran, and heartbroken after the death of a beloved friend, Martha decides she needs some answers, and she knows it’s time to track down the father who left them behind.
Except when she comes face-to-face with him for the first time in fifteen years, he tells her a brutal truth.
He isn’t her father.
Her mother has been telling lies.
And not just about who her real father is…
A page-turning, gripping psychological thriller for fans of Paula Hawkins, Clare Mackintosh, and C. L. Taylor.
✮ My Review ✮
I really do not know where to begin with this book! Another book by Rona and another story where she has spun so many plates I do not know how she managed to keep them all spinning without dropping anything!
The first half of this book is slowish, in terms of the scene is being set, creating so much tension I was on edge, curveballs are being pitched and characters are being introduced. It is not until the second half of the book where I was urging the characters to catch up with me did you see the proverbial mud hit the fan and it just did not stop. One reveal and then another and another. I was kept completely on my toes, where I was not sure where the book was going for about 60% of the book, Her Mother’s Lies is like a steam train flying down the track for the last 40%.
We have a small pool of characters with Martha, Fran her mother, Izzy the friend and Anna the neighbour. Each and every one of them plays a role in Martha’s life, the main character, all intertwining and tightening that web around Martha with their lies. Will she see things before it’s too late? Will anyone just tell the truth? Pah, don’t be silly where is the fun in that! Because if everyone told the truth we wouldn’t have the mess we have now and poor Martha wouldn’t be poor Martha.
I did find it hard to “like” any of the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I just did not warm to the characters. I found at times it was a bit hard going when all Martha and Izzy would do was cry. Do not get me wrong I completely get why they were crying, they were exhausted, there were lies, there was anger but I just wanted to shake them and make them wake up and smell the roses. That being said they all played their part well and kept me engrossed in their lives.
Nothing is ever what it seems in Rona’s books and I love that about her writing! She creates a hailstorm of lies making you question everything and just when you think you have got the eye of the storm, she leaves you with uncertainly and definitely with a chill down your spine and she always has the final say.
Until next time xxx
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