Keeping secrets from her husband is not usually something Catherine would do but when she begins writing to Michael, a convicted killer, she knows her family would not approve. In another part of the country, Kate is trying to bring up two children with an out of work husband and a severe lack of money. When she meets someone who begins to recognize her talents, she knows she is playing with fire. Lastly we have Alison, a university student who has managed to gain a place on her dream course. University life is not what she hoped for, however, and she finds herself lonely and unhappy. That is until one of her professors takes an interest in her. All of these women have secrets which threaten to come to the surface once Michael is released from prison…

First of all, I would like to say how much I loved this book! Told from the perspective of three women, it took a few chapters before I fully engaged with the characters but once I’d got a handle on who was who, I couldn’t wait to find out how each of their stories progressed. Often in books written in this style, I find myself wanting to read about one of the characters more than the others, but The Good Mother had me hooked on all three story lines.

One of the underlying themes running throughout the book is the impact keeping a secret has, whether it be Catherine’s reluctance to tell her husband about her prison pen-pal, Kate’s growing friendship with her tutor or, more seriously, the toxic relationship Alison has with her professor. Although I could see why Catherine and Kate kept their secrets, I was willing Alison to speak out about what was happening to her and had a sense of foreboding throughout the chapters dedicated to her story. It was Alison who had the most impact on me whilst I was reading and I was desperate for her to have a happy ending.

Throughout the book, it is obvious that the women’s lives were going to collide at some point and, although I was right about some of the connections, there was one part of the story that I did not see coming at all. It is great when you read a book and you get that ‘Eureka’ moment when all of the pieces slot into place. The Good Mother certainly had one of these moments and provided the story with a satisfying, if heartbreaking, conclusion.

It is hard to say too much without giving away the plot, so my advice is to grab a copy of this well-written, emotive book and read it yourself!

Three women, three different view points, three different sides to the story. How far would YOU go to protect your children? As parents, do we really need to give an answer to the question? Is it blatantly obvious or would some of us not know until the situation ever arose? Catherine is an extremely organised person. Her home is run to perfection with every day knowing exactly what she is doing and when. But, Catherine is hiding a secret from her husband...need I say more? The second woman in the story is Kate. A young mum with two young children and a husband who is wouldn't know how to be selfless if it came up and bit him on the toosh. Finding herself stuck in a rut, Kate vows to make slight adjustments to her life...whilst also keeping her husband in the dark. Once again, need I say more? Lastly is Alison, a university goer who has their whole future ahead of them. Independence. Exciting new prospects. A professor who isn't sticking to the curriculum.....
I have to say, I struggled with this book at the beginning because I found myself getting confused due to the lack of information surrounding each viewpoint. The time span wasn't always clear which meant I had slight difficulty in keeping up with the storyline as it wasn't clearly set out. Now, all three woman bring something completely different to the story. Not only are they at different points in their lives, their characters and personalities stand out in their own individual ways. Did I find myself warming to any of the three main characters in particular? Not really, but that's not to say that I didn't like them. Granted I didn't like some of their choices, but who does like everything someone else does? I had absolutely no idea where the storyline was heading, at all. The further into the book I read, the more comfortable I became with each viewpoint, yet I still couldn't full guess what would become of 'The Good Mother'.

As a parent myself, I related to the lioness elements with the constant worrying about making sure your child/ren are okay. My daughter is four yet she acts like a fourteen year old and already I worry about her. We wouldn't be parents if we didn't worry! 

Without giving too much away, 'The Good Mother' contains some rather uncomfortable themes, eye-opening situations, as well as various antics which are most likely to make your skin crawl, whilst also becoming incredibly angry. Trust me, I became angry whilst reading certain parts. I felt sick to my stomach as well, I'm not going to lie, yet I just could not stop reading. Who on Earth was this monster?

The pace of this book overall was quite slow. There seemed to be a lot of background work and scene setting, before the nitty-gritty parts took over. At first I didn't really appreciate that about the story, yet when 'The Good Mother' reached its conclusion, I appreciated the pace a whole lot better. Well, I did once I put my jaw back after it reaching the floor. Oh my god, seriously, what an ending! No I didn't see it coming at all, but by golly was it worth the wait! Hats off to the author for such a nail-biting final part to the book. Brilliant craftsmanship.

Overall, 'The Good Mother' kept me intrigued and wanting more, whilst also igniting multiple emotions deep within, all at the same time. The storyline did keep me interested, but I did often find the pace to be a bit too slow burning. However, whilst each of the women had a lot of drama coming to light in their viewpoints (some more grittier than others), I did appreciate why the slow burning pace had to be like that.

Intense, suspenseful, and heart-breaking; 'The Good Mother' is a read that is guaranteed to keep you guessing until the very last moment, whilst also being unable to forget the storyline for a while upon completion. With the best conclusion I have read in a very long time, 'The Good Mother' may have a slow pace but it is certainly worth the wait when you come to that ending. A suspenseful showstopper in the ending alone. Definitely a well crafted part of the novel.

Thanks Aria.

I couldn't rate this any less than 5 stars as it held my attention all the way through and was well written. I also can't believe that this is Karen Osmans debut thriller!!
The story is split into chapters told from one characters point of view, there are three main characters and when you start to read this I think like me you will question how these three women link together but they do and at the end when I was pages from the big reveal I still had no clue.
The three main characters are:
Catherine.... She is mum to Helen who is looking for a job after qualifying to be a teacher. Married to Richard who works hard while she keeps herself busy by cleaning, cooking and helping out wherever she can in the School or village, until she decides to write to a prisoner who is up for parole soon, this is to get the prisoner used to conversing with people on the outside. Although for some reason Catherine decides not to tell hr husband she is an inmates pen pal.
Alison is at university studying law and finding keeping up with coursework and the speed of the lectures hard and as she has always been top of the class is finding it hard to cope until one of her professors offers to help her at lunch, one thing leads to another and she finds herself in love with a man twenty years older than her and having to keep it a secret due to university rules on teacher pupil relations.
Kate is mum to two beautiful girls who feels she landed pregnant and got married far too young. She has had to cope with raising two young children, a husband who was unemployed for months and then gets a job miles away leading to tension in their marriage from tiredness and lack of money and feels she does everything for everyone else but has no time for herself. This changes when she signs up for an evening class in writing and she starts to taste a little bit of freedom.
The only thing in common with these women as far as I could see was that they all had a secret. There were I suppose a few clues along the way but I didn't latch on immediately to them and I rather enjoyed the big reveal at the end.
I would like to thank netgalley and Aria for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent book. I adored the storyline and the characters. A real page turner. I would this recommend this book.

A really superbly written book. Three women, three stories over different generations. A convicted murderer as a penpal in the mix too. Will hold your attention right until the end figuring out the connection. A good story for each woman and a very clever ending.

I don't even know where to begin with this book. Wow!! Just Wow!! This book had me fully engaged from the beginning. I loved all the characters and the twists and turns. I love the thriller genre and have read lots and this one is definitely at the top of my favorites list.

Catherine, Allison and Kate are such relate-able characters. Your heart will go out to them and your mind will crave to know more!

I finished reading this novel in bed last night and, despite the fact my OH was fast asleep beside me, I gasped 'Wow' out loud. The twist in this thriller shocked and surprised me .. I didn't see it coming and, well, without giving any spoilers the only thing I can say is wow, Wow, WOW!!!

Karen Osman's 'The Good Mother' is, on the surface, the tale of the lives of three women at different stages of their life - Catherine, the mature woman with a comfortable home who give her time to volunteering in her community; Kate, the young mother who is dedicating herself to her young family until she realises she is losing herself, bit by bit, day by day; and Alison, the young woman leaving her nearby home to settle into student accommodation to get the full uni experience. I was more than half way through and completely absorbed in the story before I wondered what the connection was between the three and then I realised that it was the location of the City of Durham.
This is one terrific read. It draws you in and makes you comfortable, gets you really involved in these women's lives - their hopes, dreams, worries, aspirations, solutions, achievements and the tale moves on at a blistering yet strangely relaxed pace. I've always loved novels with three or four characters where you go back and forward following each one and I thoroughly enjoyed each story in it's own right.
I particularly loved the fact that the twist in the tale didn't come until I was 99% into the read. I wasn't looking for it, certainly wasn't expecting it and, frankly, I'm still a bit shocked!
This is an extremely readable, very well written novel and one which I shall be enthusiastically recommending. I can honestly state that I've never read anything like it. Karen Osman is an author now firmly on my radar! I am so happy that Aria Fiction approved my request to read it, and I thank them.
I received an arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, original and unbiased review.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher. What a brilliant book and the ending really got to me as was not expecting it. READ IT

A fabulous read by an author that is new to me. I will certainly read more of her books. I’ve recommended this book to family & friends. It’s not easy as an author to keep the reader engaged, but this author has successfully achieved this goal. Thank you, Netgalley , for a digital copy of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I figured out the big "revelation" at the end about 25% into the book, but still found it enjoyable. Catherine (50s), Allison (18) and Kate (30s) all dealt with some life changes and choices according to this age and each of those revolved around a man in their lives.

A cleverly written debut novel that is told by three completely different voices and has the reader asking "how is this ever going to tie together"? Osman does an excellent job of ultimately weaving the story together with a very nicely done twist at the end. Looking forward to much more from this talented author!

This is the a story told for the majority in three separate threads. We hear alternatively from Catherine, Kate and Alison. Catherine is a happily married mother and keeps a good house. Not working and with time on her hands, she volunteers. Her new foray into volunteering has her writing to a convicted murderer. With parole a good possibility, the rehabilitation service encourages prisoners to connect with people on the outside. But, as Catherine makes a connection to her prisoner, Michael, we see her starting to think more and more about his crime and whether she could ever forgive.
Then there's Kate, with a husband working away a lot, she is left to bring up her two young children practically single handed in a high rise flat and, as such, has pretty much lost her own identity. This all changes when she sees a free creative writing class advertised. She joins and soon discovers that her identity is not the only things she discovers. There's the enigmatic teacher who has more than just writing to create with her.
Finally, we follow Alison as she starts her life at university studying law. As with a lot of students, she has gone from being a big fish in a little pond to a little fish in a big, scary one and initially struggles with her studies. Then she starts to get help from one of her professors. But, is it the kind of help she really needs?
So, these three threads weave their way completely isolated throughout the majority of the book. I say they are isolated but, as a reader, you just know there is more to things than is on the surface so, early on, I started to guess connections. Some, to me, obvious due to the nature of the writing, others pure guesswork. OK, so although I was right about some of the things I formulated but, once I got to the end of the book and saw the whole picture, there were definitely gaps in my reasoning and some things that, when uncovered, kinda slapped me in the face. What I am trying to say is that, even though there were some things that were obvious and not really well hidden, the true nature of these things were not completely evident which did lead to a few shocks at the end. So, even if you think you've guessed it all early, it is worth carrying on to get to the finer points.
The characters were, on the whole, interesting. I especially loved reading the correspondence between Catherine and Michael and how naive she was at the start, coupled with his guardedness and how the relationship progressed throughout the book as she matured and he opened up. I also felt for Kate as she was trying to improve her sorry situation only to be taken advantage of. I could also easily relate to Alison and her struggles to fit in at uni. It's true that it's hard when you come from the premier league in your school and then hit uni where you find that everyone else did likewise and that you are now relegated to the second division.
All in all, a pretty impressive debut book and I will be very interested in seeing what this author has in store next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This novel was a wonderful read. Charming Mr. Barnes/The Proffesor, was captured so accurately as one who is abusive to women. Domestic violence is a serious subject and the author captures it perfectly. The female characters were fully believable. And this made for excellent reading. Full of intrigue and suspense I did not put the clever ending together almost until the last few chapters. Bravo!

I have no option but to give this the 5 stars I personally feel it deserves as it kept me from thinking of anything else, anyone else and focused completely on what was happening within these pages. I needed nothing else but to finish this and boy oh boy what a finish.
My jaw literally dropped to the floor, it was an unexpected ending that brought me out in a cold sweat, I really wasn't expecting that at all.

To think this all starts with a completely innocent 'pen letter' to a prisoner. The letter writing is controlled its all part of a project to help those in prison, and when Catherine agreed to volunteer for the programme it was something she hesitated to go full into the first time she wrote the prisoner she choose.
Michael, that is who she chooses to write to, a man who has been in prison for a decade.

Through the letter writing you can see that Michael doesn't seem to have an regrets, he even puts himself aloft of the other inmates.
Its quite clear he doesn't hold himself into any conflict over what he 'did'.
So does he deserve a secound chance?
Does he deserve forgiveness?


Catherine seems to give him an insight to the world outside, but is this an altogether good thing I questioned myself.
There are two ways of looking at this:

1. Does he DESERVE to know and have any insight into the outside world, afterall, he is in prison for a reason....right?

2. Or would Catherine sharing this make him think about what he is missing on the inside?

Catherine has a family, her husband she decides he doesn't need to know about her letter writing project to a man in prison. So when letters come through for her, she is on the watch, good or bad?

Then there is her daughter Alison is off to university, where she learns to be an adult, but this doesn't have altogether good aspects surrounding this at all.

I found this story full on, made me think as well, yes its fiction, but it brought up some thinking matter and I so enjoyed the story telling of this.

The writing is strong, concise, easy to follow, the characters are strong and oh so well to easily understand and read between the lines, but that ending, oh boy, that ending.

My huge thanks to Aria for my copy of this wonderful read.

Loved the cover of the book. The book lived up to what i imagined also. great thriller with lots of thrills and kept me on the edge of my seat. Love a good thriller

Wow.. what an ending that book had.. I did not see that coming!! the story of 3 women and their interactions with one man. thank you to Aria via Netgalley for a copy of this book to read and review in return for an honest review

A gripping psychological thriller, written from the viewpoint of 3 women, Kate, Allison and Catherine.
The story is a brilliant, well told thriller that had me addicted until the very end and wow, what an ending! My mind was completely blown! Thoroughly recommend this book, a well deserved 5 stars!! Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy in return for an honest review.

My thank you goes out to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of the publication date, which is October 1. Three days after I finished this novel, my head is still spinning from the ending. I did not see that coming. I loved the unique plot and the way the author drew you in to the story. Three women tell their stories of how they connected with men they shouldn’t have.

Catherine is happily married, but lured into a volunteer job where she starts writing to a prisoner. Kate, who is married and has two daughters, never has any time for herself, so she begs her husband to let her take a writing class. And Allison is having a tough time in law school and turns to a relationship with one of her professors.

Each chapter takes you deeper into each woman’s story and how the “other” man becomes an obsession.

Loved this author’s fresh voice and plotting genius. Glad to read she has a three book contract. Osman is definitely an author to watch.

Catherine fills her hours with volunteer work so when the opportunity to take part in a pen pal program with prison inmates she finds herself signing up. Catherine’s chosen inmate has been in prison for just over a decade for murder so she’s a bit hesitant on what to say to him but feels it’s her duty to try to help him reform. She decides this little project is not one to discuss with her husband and keeps the letters to herself as they come.

Kate is a young mother with two beautiful little girls that simply married and started her family too young and now feels she does for everyone but herself. She and her husband have had their share of disagreements over finances, the children and lack of time with one another just like other young couples so when Kate sees an opportunity to get out and take a writing class she jumps on the chance to just have a bit of free time for herself.

Alison is off to university and learning how to live on her own and balance her studies and college life. She’s struggling a bit keeping up with the demands and finding it completely different than what she imagined university life would be. When Alison finds one of her professors taking a special interest in her she finds herself jumping at the chance to spend time with him no matter how wrong it may be and that they need to hide seeing one another.

The Good Mother by Karen Osman is a book that is told by switching the point of view between the three characters, Catherine, Kate and Alison with each chapter. Each story being told is completely different from one another and beginning the book it’s hard to see what any of them will ever have in common other than all three seem to have some sort of secret in their lives.

I have to say while I enjoyed the author’s writing and thought the ending was great with how everything ends up tied together this was one that was such a slow build that sometimes it was in danger of losing my attention. There are very small clues that lead to the explosive ending that one could pick up but other than that it lacked any huge twists or turns and just brought the reader to the explanation at the end. So while this one had good writing and a good ending I myself would have preferred something a bit more in the middle to really grab me and keep me on the edge of my seat leaving me to rate this one at 3.5 stars.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.