Why would you walk away from the one person you can’t live without?
As a child, Vicky Hall never had the sort of family she wanted. The least important person in her new step-family, ignored by her mother in favour of her two younger half-siblings, Vicky was always an afterthought. Sitting alone at her graduation ceremony at the age of twenty-one, she vows to create her own family and her own life, one which is full of the love and attention she has always craved.
When Vicky meets William and falls pregnant in Greece that summer, it isn’t planned. But the two of them believe they can make it work, showering their child with the love which they believe should be enough.
But when her son Theo is two, Vicky leaves him in the care of her mother-in-law, walks out of her front door and drives to a hotel where she takes a room for the night. She doesn’t return.
It’s unthinkable.
What kind of mother does that?
The kind who is hiding a story you can never imagine.
The Mother I Could Have Been is a heartbreaking story of impossible decisions and second chances, from the bestselling author of The Silent Wife and The Woman I Was Before. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.
What did I think?
I love Kerry Fisher books so I couldn't wait to dive into her latest novel, The Mother I Could Have Been. I experienced a wealth of emotions whilst reading this book; predominantly anger at the way Vicky is treated by her partner's mother, in fact I was absolutely raging and don't blame Vicky one bit for walking out. Of course I can say that as I am not a mother, but I'm sure many people wouldn't be able to understand her walking out on her two year old son, Theo.
Oh Vicky, what can I say? Vicky felt very pushed out when her mother had two children with her new partner; we'll never know how much was in her imagination but it affected Vicky so badly that she went to Corfu after her graduation and never saw her mother again. Vicky meets William in Corfu and I really felt that she was just searching for the love that she was missing from her mother. Be careful what you wish for, Vicky, as when she discovers she is pregnant she ends up moving in with William's family and his mother, Barbara, doesn't half like to take over.
I really wanted Vicky to stand up to Barbara, although William doesn't seem to manage it. I knew this was going to end badly when they let Barbara talk them out of the name they had chosen for their son. It gets even worse than that though, ending up with Vicky feeling like her son doesn't even like her, let alone love her. So many things happen that you wonder how Vicky managed to stay in Barbara's house for so long and I could even understand her thinking that she was doing the best thing for everyone by walking out and never going back.
For a change of pace we are introduced to Caro and her family and I wondered how she would fit into the story. Caro not only gives Vicky a job in the family business but she welcomes her into the family. Despite having a tumultuous relationship with her own daughter, who I wanted to shake some sense into, Caro gives Vicky the unconditional love she has been craving and finally helps her to see what she has been missing.
This kind of story would make an amazing TV drama; it has all the drama of Dynasty with Barbara in an Alexis Colby style role contrasting with Caro as the motherly Annie Sugden from Emmerdale Farm. Kerry Fisher has written an extremely emotive and highly explosive family drama that had me reading at the speed of light to find out how it would all play out. Heartbreaking and moving one minute and heartwarming and uplifting the next, The Mother I Could Have Been is very highly recommended.
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating:
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About the author:
Kerry Fisher is the bestselling author of five novels, including The Silent Wife and The Secret Child. She was born in Peterborough, studied French and Italian at the University of Bath and spent several years living in Spain, Italy and Corsica. After returning to England to work as a journalist, she eventually abandoned real life stories for the secrets of fictional families. She now lives in Surrey with her husband, two teenage children and a naughty Lab/Schnauzer called Poppy.
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