Thank you for the opportunity to preview The New Mother. If you liked “Push” or “mothered” this book is for you.
Written in 2 voices for the most part - a new mother and her neighbor. Both stay at home parents that meet and share a bond. Soon Natalie the new mom meets her charming neighbor, Paul and they become friends.
Natalie is struggling with motherhood and she is having a hard time. No one understands. Not her husband, her friends or work. But Paul does. He has been there and he listens and understands her loneliness.
Natalie’s husband has no idea of the friendship and Paul’s wife works all day and supports the family. Paul’s wife is not a very understanding woman and wants Paul to work but he is dedicated to raising his 10 year old daughter.
Soon things change and it appears Paul may have his own agenda. And that agenda is frightening and will soon change everything Natalie believes or thinks. Because she is being looked at as a Murderer. And the victim is Paul’s wife.
Wow. This was really good and I read till I finished.
Recommend 5 stars

A new house, a coveted neighborhood, a new baby… what more could you ask for?

Natalie wished she could handle motherhood. Her son would not sleep or stop screaming.

She became more and more sleep deprived and forgetful and decided to take a sabbatical from her job.

She became even more forgetful as time wore on and found her neighbor who was a stay-at-home dad a comfort because he gave her confidence.

This neighbor had plans other than being helpful.

He was a grooming Natalie to unknowingly be involved in his plan.

What was his plan?

Find out what happens in this slow burn that grows in intensity.

You will be biting your nails as the ending pages unfold.

Ms. Murphy also includes the importance of getting help if you have postpartum depression.

Enjoy THE NEW MOTHER when you read it. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

As someone who dealt with PPD, I resonated deeply with the main character. This made it easier for me to get through the first 1/2 of the book. If I wasn’t able to relate so much, I assume this section would feel lengthy and unnecessary. It took about 160 pages for the action to really begin and then it felt a bit rushed in the end. Overall, I enjoyed the story! A solid 3.5 stars with an enjoyable ending.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The New Mother by Nora Murphy, published by St. Martin's Press Minotaur Books
I enjoyed this novel, it was a quick read. I enjoyed the storyline, but felt the main character Natalie was a little exaggerated, she lacked a bit of depth
The story focused on Natalie, a new mother, dealing with the struggles of a newborns demands, her husband doesn't give much support, but she doesn't allow him to either. She finds her neighbor Paul to be the best support for her and her newborn Oliver. Until Paul's wife ends up dead and all eyes turn to Natalie.
This story's underlying theme is about post partum depression, not to be taken lightly
I have read The Favor by Nora and really enjoyed that novel. I'd recommend both of those books

I suffered through the first 3/4 of the book. Only kept reading to find out how it ends.

Natalie is a new mother. Not being a mother, she kind of annoyed me. However after I understood her at the end, I did truly emphasize with her. If you don't understand what she is going through, you may find her annoying.

Paul was the charming nice guy until out under pressure. He was likeable to a point and I just gave up on him.

It was just long and dragged out. You knew who the killer was but didn't know how the detectives would solve the crime. I felt underwhelmed throughout most of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Nora Murphy for granting me an ARC of The New Mother. This book isn’t your casual mystery thriller - but so relatable in a mothers life, I mean not *all* of it, but a majority (hope there are no Paul’s on your street!) This was so well written - it grips you from the beginning and you want to find out what’s going on on Ashby street. Highly recommend and can’t wait to read more Nora Murphy books!

This was quite a scary story. It highlighted how new moms can suffer from postpartum depression even though no one else appeared to spot it. Natalie is a lawyer but had to take a sabbatical because she had trouble coping. Her husband was not supportive because he truly did not understand what was wrong. A neighbor, Paul, a stay at home dad seemed to understand. But he seemed to have his own motive.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of Nora Murphy’s novel The New Mother. That being said, the book has a lot of punctuation and spacing errors. The first page was riddled with excessive commas and run-on sentences. It was quite frustrating to read, but after that there was a lot of improvement. Now, regarding this author’s writing, it was superb. The storyline flowed, characters were well-defined, interesting and believable. Definitely a suspenseful, gripping, and entertaining read. If you like psychological fiction, I highly recommend for your reading enjoyment.

Loved, loved this book!! A must read for 2023! The New Mother is a very engrossing novel that anyone who has had a baby can empathize with. There was not a single dull moment in this book and was a quick read. Great storyline about motherhood but also a thriller with the storyline with Natalie’s neighbor Paul. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Nora Murphy for the opportunity to read this ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The first half of this novel, which is billed as a mystery/thriller except there is no mystery or thrills, is about a new mother who, in her sleeplessness, is sort of losing her mind. She wants to be the perfect mother, which is of course is impossible, and feels resentment toward the infant who has rendered her unable to sleep and therefore to successfully return to her job as a lawyer, and then she feels guilty about the resentment because that means she’s not the perfect mother.

Her husband, who she met in law school, is not being held back at all by becoming a new parent. He really tries everything he can think of to help, but she won’t accept any of it, and she then resents him for his career and inability to help. The only person who does come to her aid is her neighbor, a stay-at-home dad, who is, sadly, using her for his own duplicitous reasons. We know for most of the novel what he is planning, so the only mystery is whether the cops will figure it out. I did like the end, but I had to get through a lot of stuff that was simply painful to read first.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES MAY 30, 2023.

Whoa what a twist! This book was definitely slow moving at first but I’m glad I stuck with it because it had me turning the pages so fast!

Being The New Mother is anything but easy. Natalie Fanning finds herself isolated and lonely in a new house with her colicky baby. While she loves her son, being just a mother wasn't what she wanted in life. That's when Paul, the neighbor, enters the picture. He becomes her lifeline during desperate times, calming Oliver with his steady presence.

But Paul has an ulterior motive for befriending Nat. She's the perfect pawn for his plan, and he expects something in return. As Nat relies on him more and more, will she realize what he's up to before it's too late?

Brutally honest, realistic tale of motherhood that is impossible to put down. Natalie has a difficult newborn who insists on breast feeding constantly and never wants to be put down. On top of that Natalie is unable to sleep, even when her baby sleeps she can’t fall asleep. When she makes a friend who seems to be a godsend with her baby, and very understanding of the things she is going through as a new mom, she is thrilled. But her new friend is anything but a friend and is a threat to all Natalie holds dear. This novel is intense and very fast paced and will speak to anyone who has ever has struggled with a new baby. Excellent writing, highly recommend.

The author dives deep into the emotions and psychological drama of being and new first time mother. The writing is excellent providing a very candid view of thoughts from the mothers point of view. All this set in an ever evolving drama of betrayal. The author takes the reader on an emotional ride, sometimes hard to read, not because of the writing, but do to the raw emotion. A great book for understanding motherhood from the point of view of a new mother.

Attorney Natalie Fanning is a rising star in her firm until the day she goes into labor and delivers her son. After eight weeks of maternity leave, Natalie is an exhausted, sleepless mess and can't imagine how she'll return to work. Having a demanding infant who is only soothed by Natalie holding or breastfeeding him puts a strain on her relationship with her husband. Enter Paul, a neighbor stay-at-home dad who seems to have all the answers to Natalie's worries and fears about being a bad mother; even pitching in and helping during those days when Natalie just can't seem to function. But is Paul really as nice as he seems? Author Murphy drags her readers through the countless days and sleepless nights with a fussy infant until we too are looking for relief. We psychologically begin to feel the same disconnect to reality that Natalie is feeling -just waiting for something to happen--and it will. Being accused of murdering Paul's wife throws Natalie, her husband and readers into a nightmare tailspin--could she really have done it and just forgotten? The final resolution seems a bit too simply executed with Paul's conveniently empty house just as the investigation starts heating up. Overall an interesting dive into the serious condition suffered by postpartum women.

This is a great book! The first part seemed to move a little slow because the author did a lot of character development, but then the plot started picking up steam. I had no idea, even after having two children, that postpartum psychosis even exists. Thank you, Ms. Murphy, for shedding light on a little-known subject.

Thank you, NetGalley and Minotaur Books, for this opportunity to give my honest review of this Advanced Reader’s Copy.

The New Mother by Nora Murphy
Interesting read, storyline is good, characters are fleshed out and real to me. Twists that I did see coming and turns that I did not...all in all it was a pretty good book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this and leave my opinion.

I received a free copy of, The New Mother, by Nora Murphy, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Natalie is a new mother, to little Oliver. Lost and alone until she meets Paul, who she thinks is a lifeline, but is he really, and what does he want Natalie to do for him. A chilling read, I did not care for Paul at all.

this is a tough book to review. As a mom, i understand what Nat is going through, although never had true PPD. However I went into this looking for a fast paced thriller and I did not find it all that thrilling...may be in th eminority with this opinion.
Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC.

I found the novel The New Mother under the thriller category, which to me is a misnomer. I feel as though the majority of the book is realistic fiction and the family suspense part is maybe the last third of the book. For me, The New Mother was an uncomfortable read. The emotions and despondency that the main character went through were eerily similar to my own postnatal experiences. It’s difficult for one to look back at a time of deep depression, even if you have made it out the other side intact. So in that way, I did feel as though the author did an incredible job detailing the loneliness and desperation of a new mother with postpartum depression. I also would have instinctively trusted any person that would have been able to stop my child screaming her fool head off at the time, so I deeply related to Natalie. I thought that in general, the book was very adept at painting a realistic picture of life with a newborn. Where things were not so good for me was the ending. It felt too rushed and incomplete.