The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

Title: The Perfect Mother
Author: Aimee Molloy
Genre: Adult, Thriller
Pages: 336
Rating: 4 Stars

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Synopsis

Vanity Fair calls it one of the most anticipated books of the summer. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Scandal’s Kerry Washington.

An addictive psychological thriller about a group of women whose lives become unexpectedly connected when one of their newborns goes missing.

They call themselves the May Mothers—a collection of new moms who gave birth in the same month. Twice a week, with strollers in tow, they get together in Prospect Park, seeking refuge from the isolation of new motherhood; sharing the fears, joys, and anxieties of their new child-centered lives.

When the group’s members agree to meet for drinks at a hip local bar, they have in mind a casual evening of fun, a brief break from their daily routine. But on
this sultry Fourth of July night during the hottest summer in Brooklyn’s history, something goes terrifyingly wrong: one of the babies is abducted from his crib.Winnie, a single mom, was reluctant to leave six-week-old Midas with a babysitter, but the May Mothers insisted that everything would be fine. Now Midas is missing, the police are asking disturbing questions, and Winnie’s very private life has become fodder for a ravenous media.

Though none of the other members in the group are close to the reserved Winnie, three of them will go to increasingly risky lengths to help her find her son. And as the police bungle the investigation and the media begin to scrutinize the mothers in the days that follow, damaging secrets are exposed, marriages are tested, and friendships are formed and fractured.

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Trigger Warning(s): Child Abduction, Murder, Adultery, Mentioning of Sexual Assault/Rape, Depression, Mentioning of Abortion, Mentioning of Pregnancy Loss, Violence

It’s so amazing that this book is a debut!! It has already been picked up to be made into a movie with Kerry Washington. This book gave me tons of anxiety, and I shed a few tears in different scenes. I have a bad anxiety about leaving my baby with babysitter so what happened to Winnie terrified me. I felt really connected to these new mom’s and there struggles.

This story follows a group of first time moms who meet in a mommy group, these moms all shared the same month as a due date. The main characters are Francie, Nell,Colette, Scarlet, Winnie and Token( who is a man).Once there babies are born, they all decided to meet up meet up in a local park along with the babies to chat about there struggles and concerns about being a new mom .On the Fourth of July some of the women organized a girls night out, while out, it is discovered that one of the babies has gone missing from his crib.

I read this book with a million questions going through my head. I flew through this because I wanted to find out what happened to this baby! I had no idea who was responsible for the disappearance and was shocked when finally finding out.The author tells the story through multiple POVs, letting different character’s share their theories about the babies disappearance. At times I found it confusing as to who’s chapter it was as there were no chapter headings, but it also made it really interesting. There were some chapter’s were someone is talking but you have no idea who it is.

Molloy does an amazing job addressing a lot of relevant issues that new parents face . I felt really connected to these women, as I myself am a second time around new mom, I could empathize with how they felt.There is so much pressure for new moms, and it comes from everywhere, social media, friends, family and strangers will even comment with their opinions.

The Perfect Mother is the perfect binge read.A clever ending that surprised me. This would be the perfect book to read while sitting on a beach. I highly recommend!!

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