The Push: A Novel, Ashley Audrain, author; Narin Ireland, narrator
When the book opens, a woman is watching a house, locking eyes with a child who is looking out of the window. Who is the child? Why is the woman there? This intense novel is about a woman who seems to deteriorate after the birth of her daughter. She fears the child, believes she is cruel and suspects that she is capable of heinous behavior. When odd things happen, her husband explains them away, blames it on her imagination, yet Violet seems old beyond her years. Even as a five-year-old, she seems capable of manipulating situations to her advantage and to Cecilia’s disadvantage. Cecilia suspects that her daughter has hurt others, but she has no allies who agree with her. They tell her she is overreacting, doesn’t love Violet enough, is just suffering from exhaustion as a new mother. They believe her emotions are at fault, not the child’s behavior. Her perception are skewed because she is not being rational about it. Her husband, Fox, who comes from a more loving and stable family than she did, seems to believe Violet is innocent of the kind of behavior Blythe suspects. Violet actually prefers her father and never asks for her mother. Blythe’s mother Cecilia, was not a stable parent, nor was Cecilia’s mother Etta. They could be distant and cruel. Mothering was not their strong point. Could Cecilia be good mother, unlike her own parent? The implication is that the women in her family were just not “right”. Is there something wrong with Cecilia too, or is Violet not quite “right”?
Cecilia begins to fall apart. She hides her feelings and suspicions. She doesn’t reveal certain information to the doctors or to her family. She begins to question her own judgment, but she still remains very fearful. She distances herself from Violet, giving her the space she thinks she needs. A rift opens between Cecilia and Fox. Their marriage is strained. Is he having an affair? Doesn’t anyone else see what Cecilia sees? Cecilia decides another child will save their marriage and heal her. She has a son and names him Sam. At first, Violet and Sam are close. He loves Violet. Violet still prefers her father, but she seems to love Sam too. Soon Cecilia sees Violet’s behavior as suspicious again. She finds her in the baby’s room staring at him. She takes his favorite toy away. Is Violet overreacting again? Is her daughter planning something? When a terrible accident occurs, Blythe believes Violet caused it, but did she? No one else believes the child was involved but Blythe. Once again, Blythe’s emotional fragility is blamed. She is just exhausted from motherhood and the tragedy. She needs help, not Violet. However, try as she might, nothing takes away her pain or her suspicions.
Soon, Fox leaves Blythe for another younger woman, Gemma. They have a child together. Violet prefers Gemma to Cecilia. Cecilia wants to know more about Gemma and secretly arranges to meet her. They attend the same class for mothers. She pretends to be Anne, a single mother of a son named Sam. Blythe worries that Violet will hurt Gemma’s son Jet. She likes Gemma in spite of the circumstances. They grow very close. Things spiral out of control when Gemma discovers who she really is, and soon their relationship ends. As Violet moves further and further away from Cecilia emotionally and begins to announce her hate for her, Cecilia continues to try to be a good mother, but cannot develop a healthy relationship with Violet who keeps rejecting her. How will this end? Is there really anything for her to fear? Is her child really “a bad seed”?
The book holds the readers interest from the get-go, but occasionally, as the story goes back and forth in time to explain Blythe more completely, because of her family background, it was difficult to discern which character was being featured. Was it Blythe’s mom, her grandmother, her mother-in-law or Blythe? It was sometimes difficult to discern the context of the moment. Still, once the family tree became clearer, the confusion ebbed and the drama unfolded with unstoppable momentum.

Well done!

Couldn’t put it down. Life is difficult. Trying to escape one’s past can seem impossible. This book is brutally honest about the dark side of motherhood and the effect a mother can have on a child. It is a page-turner that will leave you guessing until the end. It’s so well written and brings you into the mind of a woman whom motherhood does not come easy.

Some difficult spots to read but I loved this book! Brings up some really good topics of post partum

When Blythe Connor has a baby girl, she is unable to make a motherly connection to her. As the child grows up life becomes increasingly difficult and odd things begin to happen, until the unspeakable happens, but no one will believe Blythe. Her life now spirals out of control, until year later horrors begin again.