The New Mother by Nora Murphy

The New Mother is a terrifying emotional journey about one mother’s life after giving birth to her first child. What was supposed to be the happiest time of her life, turns into a nightmare with irrational feelings, inability to cope with the smallest things, fear, delusions and exhaustion which then leads to a breakdown in her marriage with the man living next door who then preys on her vulnerability.

Natalie and Tyler Fanning have moved into a new home to await the birth of their first child. With the excitement of the soon to be newborn growing, all seems great! Yes, Natalie, a lawyer will be taking a short maternity leave, but she is excited that she is heading towards becoming partner and although she knows it will be difficult with a baby, she’s sure she can handle whatever is thrown at her

And then their son Oliver is born.

From the beginning, Natalie can’t seem to settle him down. He cries all the time with the exception of when he’s in her arms. She spends hours breastfeeding him and holding him and is unable to sleep. She’s sometimes resentful of her husband Tyler who sleeps through the night and then leaves to go to work in the morning. She is exhausted, stressed and alone.

Enter Paul, the sympathetic neighbor from next door who is a stay-at-home dad who is a writer whose wife works outside the home. He not only has the magic touch with Oliver but understands Natalie’s fears and problems as he too went through the same issues when his daughter was born. He becomes Natalie’s cheerleader, and she starts to rely on him more and more.

But Paul is not who he pretends to be. He is in a bad marriage and has not been happy for a long time. He begins to form a plan as he starts to see a way out of his miserable situation. Unfortunately, Paul’s plan would not help Natalie at all and even put her in jail but, those are the breaks when you need a life change.

The longer Natalie needs Paul’s help, the better off his plan has of working, and when there is a party at his house for the neighbors, he sets his ultimate plan into motion. Natalie doesn’t understand what is happening and now to add to her exhaustion she is confused as to what is going on.

But Natalie begins to see Paul for what he is and realizes she is his patsy. Can she somehow through her exhaustion, forgetfulness, loss of time and now with her husband disbelieving her save herself and her family as she becomes the main suspect in a horrible crime?

The New Mother is a true cat and mouse psychological thriller which also touches on the effects of post-partum not just on the new mother, but how it can affect all those around her and how there can be a light at the end of the tunnel if you can find someone who just says to you something’s wrong.

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #TheNewMother #NoraMurphy for the advanced copy.