- The Push by Ashley Audrain -

Published : 7th January 2021

Publisher : Michael Joseph

Format : Kindle, Audio, Hardback, Paperback

Genre : Thriller

Review #10/2021

{ 𝐚𝐝: 𝐩𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 / 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐜 }

* All words highlighted in Grey are affiliate links to either purchase from a range of sellers or links to the authors sites. Where ever possible I will try and provide different versions of the book on all purchase sites.

Synopsis

The arrival of baby Violet was meant to be the happiest day of my life. But as soon as I held her in my arms I knew something wasn't right.

I had always known that the women in my family aren't meant to be mothers.

My husband Fox says I'm imagining it. He tells me I'm nothing like my own mother, and that Violet is the sweetest child.

But she's different with me. Something feels very wrong.

Is it her?

Or is it me?

Is she the monster? Or am I?

My Review

This story centres around Blyth. Happily married the pair begin their future with a baby.

Assuming everything comes naturally and that bonds will form but Blythe did not have the best upbringing, her mother Cecelia was absent, void of emotion and left by the time Blythe was a teenager. Ceceilias own mother Etta was the same, didnt want to be a mother, despised her own daughter and even locked her in the tiny basement under the stairs and left her to die until her father came home and took her out. Etta was evil, Cecila was very similar. The family line has evil genes but thankfully they seem to have missed Blythe despite having a mother who didnt really want her.

When Violet is born Blythe struggles to bond with her baby, she desperately tries but struggles and it seems like she is suffering post natal depression. The older Violet gets the more Blythe seems to think that her daughter is cunning and vindictive, she seems to hate her yet adores her father, when Blythe raises her concerns to Fox is adamant that Violet is perfectly normal and that it is she who is unstable and unwel.

Affecting the marriage Blythe wants another baby, to try again, to prove to herself its not her with the problem but Violet.

When Sam is born Blythe is smitten, she adores her little blue bundle and the pair are inseperable, even Violet is happy and seemingly content for a while, that is until she decides she doesnt like Sam anymore and this has devastating effects for the entire family.

I loved how every other chapter this story takes you back to Ceceilas childhood with Etta as her mother and also Blythes childhood with Ceceila as her mother, building a picture of the family bloodline and the genes that are flowing through the family.

Its so tragic and sad to read the way that they were brought up and the love that wasn't there, which in turn makes you realise just how bad Violet is and that she was clearly born that way.

Why I Loved It

This was such a gripping read.

I was horrified yet totally intrigued at the same time.

The story shows you that regardless of your environment, your upbringing or your situation, if you have bad genes in the family then there is the chance that these genes will be reborn and rear there head within any new life.

I felt so sorry for Blythe. She was a good one, her mother and her mother before her were both bad eggs, they occasionally wanted to be good mothers but just couldn't give their daughters what they needed emotionally. Couldnt feel that bond or love that a mother should naturally feel.

Blythe could, regardless of her awful upbringing by her distant mother but her daughter couldnt. She was just like her grand mother and her grandmother before her. Cold, calculating and totally void of emotion and empathy unless it benefit her.

This is most definitely one to add to the TBR.

Rating

★★★★★

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Meet the author

Ashley Audrain is a Canadian writer. During a July 2019 interview with the Toronto Star Audrain described her debut novel, The Push, as a "psychological drama told through the lens of motherhood."

Prior to turning her hand to writing, Audrain was publicity director for the publisher Penguin Canada.