Well that was a rush and I sure didn't see that ending coming!

So the book starts with a group of first-time mothers who happen to collectively congregate in a city park in New York where they begin to slowly share their concerns, joys and advice on pregnancy and newborns. Their weekly gathering at the park gives each a moment's release where they can share their fears about inadequacies as a mother or complain about the lack of sleep, etc. They call themselves the "May Moms" and they know each by first name only, refraining from sharing much personal information about themselves. Then the unthinkable happens -- one of their newborns goes missing and suddenly everyone looks suspicious and everyone is unmasked.

As each member of the May Moms group advances towards the spotlight, you begin to see that each of member is flawed, carries scars and MANY carry secrets. It was all I could do to save the final two chapters until morning but I wanted to make sure my mind was fresh and ready to embrace the grand finale.

I never saw the ending coming until the moment it unfolded. Perhaps I was just too engrossed in the plight of each of the characters to see it hidden, but nevertheless, it was a great ride and worth the price of admission.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. If the flow, content and suspense found in THE PERFECT MOTHER is indicative of this author's writing style, I'm going to be looking for further books by her.

This was a 3 out of 5. I wasn’t able to figure out the end! Looking forward to discussing this one. There is no such thing as a perfect mom.

This was not one of my favorite reads. The author was not able to successfully develop the characters and maintain the secret of the story, so even after the truth was revealed, I was still confused. There was also not that one character who really grabbed me or that I was pulling for. I did find myself recalling my own struggles as a new mom, seeing a little bit of myself in each of them. If I were able to join you all tonight I would want to know who everyone else related to the most.

THE PERFECT MOTHER is a surprise. And then it's a surprise again, and then it's a surprise again, and then it's a surprise again, etc. The first surprise for you may be, as it was for me, that this is more than just a book about young mothers and the trials of motherhood. THE PERFECT MOTHER contains so many twists and turns that it really is a pleasure to read.

The epigraph Aimee Molloy puts at the beginning of the book refers to three blind mice, a hint of what is to come. Three young mothers (Collette, Nell, and Francie) with newborn babies are members of a "mommy group," a support group for, yes, mothers of newborn babies. They become determined to help another member of the group (Winnie) when her baby boy is kidnapped.

This is not only a plot-driven novel, though. Molloy also goes into the thoughts, difficulties, backgrounds, and secrets of each of the "three blind mice." In other words, THE PERFECT MOTHER is a character-driven novel as well. It also involves the hidden characters of a couple other people (more surprises), although the character at the end could have used more development.

you can read the summary for yourself. I do agree with some criticism that there are a lot of characters -- i did find it a bit hard to keep track of the ladies. But if you like a LIanne Moriarity stories I think you'll like this one. Good thriller and I had a hard time figuring out until the very very end. Good read.

As a BOOKCLUB we would recommend this book!