The Mother’s Promise
Author: Sally Hepworth
Published: February 21, 2017
Paperback Release: January 30, 2018
368 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: January 17-24, 2018
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description from Amazon:
All their lives, Alice Stanhope and her daughter, Zoe, have been a family of two, living quietly in Northern California. Zoe has always struggled with crippling social anxiety and her mother has been her constant and fierce protector. With no family to speak of, and the identity of Zoe’s father shrouded in mystery, their team of two works―until it doesn’t. Until Alice gets sick and needs to fight for her life.
Desperate to find stability for Zoe, Alice reaches out to two women who are practically strangers but who are her only hope: Kate, a nurse, and Sonja, a social worker. As the four of them come together, a chain of events is set into motion and all four of them must confront their sharpest fears and secrets―secrets about abandonment, abuse, estrangement, and the deepest longing for family. Imbued with heart and humor in even the most dismal moments, The Mother’s Promise is an unforgettable novel about the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters and the new ways in which families are forged.
Jessica’s Review:
This is quite a novel. Alice and her teenage daughter Zoe have been on their own for Zoe’s entire life: They have no one else. Alice then gets sick and they need help. Kate and Sonja come into their lives and no one will be the same again.
You get to know all four ladies through the novel. You feel the social anxiety that cripples Zoe; you want her to overcome and succeed. You experience everything Alice does with her journey as well as her thoughts and fears; you want her to defy the odds and survive. You feel the heartache that Kate has gone through multiple times. You want Sonja to get out of the situation she is in. And when you find out how all of their lives are connected you can’t help but be shocked.
The chapters are short, which make it a quick read and one you don’t want to put down. It goes in an unexpected direction and has a satisfying ending. Without giving spoilers, I felt the author could have gone in a different direction, but that would have extended the novel exponentially. This direction would have been perfect for the suspense reader in me. I would have loved that route, but the author took the best route for her as this is an emotional roller coaster of women’s fiction. There is an satisfying ending, but I wanted more.
We see several ways that someone can be alone, whether they are physically alone or not. Each woman’s story shows the varying ways that one can be alone. It is a touching novel that will have you emotional and possibly in tears. You see the bond mothers and daughters have.
The Mother’s Promise is Recommended.
Special thanks to St Martin’s Press for sending me a copy in anticipation of the paperback release, which comes out tomorrow. It was a pleasure to read!
