The Other Mother: A Novel

by Carol Goodman Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella

Overview

From the author of the internationally bestselling The Lake of Dead Languages comes a gripping novel about madness, motherhood, love, and trust.

When Daphne Marist and her infant daughter, Chloe, pull up the gravel drive to the home of Daphne's new employer, it feels like they've entered a whole new world. Tucked in the Catskills, the stone mansion looks like something out of a fairy tale, its lush landscaping hiding the view of the mental asylum just beyond its border. Daphne secured the live-in position using an assumed name and fake credentials, telling no one that she's on the run from a controlling husband who has threatened to take her daughter away.

Daphne's new life is a far cry from the one she had in Westchester where, just months before, she and her husband welcomed little Chloe. From the start, Daphne tries to be a good mother, but she's plagued by dark moods and intrusive thoughts that convince her she's capable of harming her own daughter. When Daphne is diagnosed with Post Partum Mood Disorder, her downward spiral feels unstoppable-until she meets Laurel Hobbes.

Laurel, who also has a daughter named Chloe, is everything Daphne isn't: charismatic, sophisticated, fearless. They immediately form an intense friendship, revealing secrets to one another they thought they'd never share. Soon, they start to look alike, dress alike, and talk alike, their lives mirroring one another in strange and disturbing ways. But Daphne realizes only too late that being friends with Laurel will come at a very shocking price-one that will ultimately lead her to that towering mansion in the Catskills where terrifying, long-hidden truths will finally be revealed....

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

01/08/2018
Daphne Marist, the unreliable narrator of this chilling tale from Goodman (The Widow’s House), takes her baby and flees her domineering husband for a job as live-in archivist for elusive author Schuyler Bennett, whose Catskills mansion borders the grounds of a psychiatric institution. Daphne has a secret, though. The name and background she’s provided to Schuyler belong to her friend Laurel Hobbes, whom she met at a Westchester support group for new mothers. Excerpts from both women’s journals describe an obsessive friendship in which their identities blurred together until Daphne’s climactic decision to leave. Either Daphne’s postpartum depression has led to a complete break with reality, or else she’s the target of a sinister plot—and only an elderly woman, confined to the institution for 45 years after abandoning her own baby, can help her discover the truth. Despite sometimes troubling depictions of mental illness and an implausible coincidence at the center of the plot, this engrossing novel will keep readers eagerly turning the pages. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

An atmospheric and harrowing tale, richly literary in complexity but ripe with all the crazed undertones, confusions, and forebodings inherent in the gothic genre. Recommend this riveting, du Maurier–like novel to fans of Jennifer McMahon.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Chilling...Goodman’s affinity for the dark psychological plot excells in THE OTHER MOTHER.” — South Florida Sun Sentinel

“This engrossing novel will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.” — Publishers Weekly

“An engaging read that will appeal to readers of Shari Lapena or Michelle Richmond.” — Library Journal

“In the spirit of Du Maurier’s Rebecca…A gothic thriller deliciously riddled with dark motives and shadowy paths.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Carol Goodman is, simply put, a stellar writer.” — Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of The Red Hunter

Booklist (starred review)

An atmospheric and harrowing tale, richly literary in complexity but ripe with all the crazed undertones, confusions, and forebodings inherent in the gothic genre. Recommend this riveting, du Maurier–like novel to fans of Jennifer McMahon.

Lisa Unger

Carol Goodman is, simply put, a stellar writer.

South Florida Sun Sentinel

Chilling...Goodman’s affinity for the dark psychological plot excells in THE OTHER MOTHER.

Kirkus Review

2017-12-24
Assuming her best friend's identity, Daphne Marist flees her home and husband, infant daughter in tow, for the sanctuary of a remote mansion, secretly taking a job as a live-in archivist for her favorite author.The book's first-person narrative opens right into Daphne's fractured memories, so it isn't immediately clear to the reader why she needs refuge—but Goodman (The Widow's House, 2017, etc.) lays intriguing clues, including a soaked baby blanket and inexplicable light signals. Once ensconced in Schuyler Bennett's mansion, tucked away in the Catskills and next door to a mental asylum, Daphne sorts the puzzle pieces. She met Laurel Hobbes in a support group for new mothers battling postpartum depression. They bonded quickly—after all, they had a lot in common, including infant daughters named Chloe and difficult relationships with their older husbands. Soon Daphne and Laurel have similar clothes, haircuts, and gym habits. Meanwhile, Daphne's husband, Peter, questions whether Daphne is mentally stable. Has she fully recovered from her attempt to overdose shortly after Chloe's birth? Remembering little more than his hands on her shoulders, shaking her awake in the bathtub, Daphne can only rely on Peter's version of the story. Meanwhile, Laurel's hold on reality begins disintegrating, and her husband, Stan, confides in Daphne that Laurel, too, has battled mental illness. In Schuyler's archives, Daphne discovers records for Edith Sharp, an inmate at the asylum who, 40 years ago, also suffered from postpartum depression and was treated by Schuyler's father. Edith's life seems to have inspired Schuyler's short story "The Changeling." Curious, Daphne visits the asylum, where she finds herself caught up in a nefarious plot that may cost her her very sanity. In the spirit of Du Maurier's Rebecca, Goodman has concocted a labyrinthine tale of tangled identities, and every twist of the plot exposes more ghosts from the past preying on the present.A Gothic thriller deliciously riddled with dark motives and shadowy paths.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173433596
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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