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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A chilling exploration of a mother's unspeakable betrayal from the author of Little Face
Sally Thorning is watching the news with her husband when she hears an unexpected name-Mark Bretherick. It's a name she shouldn't know, but last year Sally treated herself to a secret vacation-away from her hectic family life-and met a man. After their brief affair, the two planned to never meet again. But now, Mark's wife and daughter are dead-and the safety of Sally's own family is in doubt. Sophie Hannah established herself as a new master of psychological suspense with her previous novel, Little Face. Now with accomplished prose and a plot guaranteed to keep readers guessing, The Wrong Mother is Hannah's most captivating work yet.
Sally Thorning is watching the news with her husband when she hears an unexpected name-Mark Bretherick. It's a name she shouldn't know, but last year Sally treated herself to a secret vacation-away from her hectic family life-and met a man. After their brief affair, the two planned to never meet again. But now, Mark's wife and daughter are dead-and the safety of Sally's own family is in doubt. Sophie Hannah established herself as a new master of psychological suspense with her previous novel, Little Face. Now with accomplished prose and a plot guaranteed to keep readers guessing, The Wrong Mother is Hannah's most captivating work yet.
About the Author
Sophie Hannah is an award-winning poet and crime fiction writer whose novels are international bestsellers.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sadly, I understood this was a new release by Sophie Hannah - so ordered it. I soon realised after the first couple of pages that I had already read it under the title of The Point of Rescue!!
I contacted publishers & they told me that the new title was released in USA by another publisher - how confusing & annoying!!
I contacted publishers & they told me that the new title was released in USA by another publisher - how confusing & annoying!!
Format:Paperback
I'm a little groggy this morning but I had to come write a five star review for this book because I enjoyed it immensely - it was well worth staying up until 04:20 to finish!
I picked up the paperback version of this up for 10p (10p!) at a village book sale because I liked the cover (the red roll top bath version) and the plot summary sounded intriguing. I was hooked from page 1, putting everything to one side to read it in giant chunks until last night when I curled up on the sofa with the dogs, made numerous pots of tea and read through to the final, satisfying pages.
Teeny nit-picking criticism - there are too many police officers involved, especially Sellers and the other one (see, can't remember his name). In real life the investigation could/would have been handled by Sam and Simon plus Charlie, all reporting to Proust. I think it would have greatly improved the earlier chapters of the book but it hasn't stopped me enjoying the book and coming on to Amazon to order all of Sophie Hannah's other books.
The other criticism is of the publisher's who released this novel both as "Point of Rescue" and "The Wrong Mother" (a better title I believe). Why on earth do they do this?
Summary: A first rate thriller by a very accomplished author.
I picked up the paperback version of this up for 10p (10p!) at a village book sale because I liked the cover (the red roll top bath version) and the plot summary sounded intriguing. I was hooked from page 1, putting everything to one side to read it in giant chunks until last night when I curled up on the sofa with the dogs, made numerous pots of tea and read through to the final, satisfying pages.
Teeny nit-picking criticism - there are too many police officers involved, especially Sellers and the other one (see, can't remember his name). In real life the investigation could/would have been handled by Sam and Simon plus Charlie, all reporting to Proust. I think it would have greatly improved the earlier chapters of the book but it hasn't stopped me enjoying the book and coming on to Amazon to order all of Sophie Hannah's other books.
The other criticism is of the publisher's who released this novel both as "Point of Rescue" and "The Wrong Mother" (a better title I believe). Why on earth do they do this?
Summary: A first rate thriller by a very accomplished author.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
74 reviews
65 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Unlikeable People in Unbelievable Plot
13 Nov 2009
Format:Paperback
I almost gave this novel three stars because it did a good job holding my attention and featured an intriguing plot, but in the end I couldn't get over its basic problems: many of the characters are irritating and behave stupidly, and -- worse -- the ultimate solution rests upon information known only to the characters. To be fair, though, the plot gets so silly and motivations so confused that I'm not sure better plotting would have been enough to save it. As for characters, there are simply too many of them. There are detectives crawling all over this novel, and half of their names start with "s". In an effort to distinguish them we waste a lot of time on the backgrounds of totally unimportant characters. It would have been a much more interesting read if there had been three or so detectives and a boss in the background. I don't regret reading this book, but there are much better choices out there.
79 of 91 people found the following review helpful
Bridget's Review
29 Sep 2009
Format:Paperback
Sally had an affair. She was exhausted and in desperate need of a break. When her business trip was unexpectedly cancelled, she decided to get away anyway. She met Mark and their tryst began. They talked about lives they lead, about their work and about their families. When the vacation came to an end, the two parted ways thinking they would never see each other again.
One night while Sally and her husband are watching TV and to Sally's surprise, Mark's name comes up on the news. To her surprise, his wife and child have both been killed. When they show Mark's picture, Sally realizes that the man she was with was not really Mark, her short term lover was using the identity of someone else. Now she is in panic mode and scared for her family. Will she be able to protect her family from this madman that she once shared a bed with?
I'm addicted. Now I have to go out and buy all of her other books. Seriously. This was a phenomenal read that blew my mind. I actually received an ARC of this at the beginning of the summer, so I had actually read it a while ago. I am still in a daze over how wonderfully thrilling this book was. If you aren't going to buy it, at least enter my giveaway because I really think you all could get hooked on Sophie's writing. If you do, maybe we could start a club. LOL.
One night while Sally and her husband are watching TV and to Sally's surprise, Mark's name comes up on the news. To her surprise, his wife and child have both been killed. When they show Mark's picture, Sally realizes that the man she was with was not really Mark, her short term lover was using the identity of someone else. Now she is in panic mode and scared for her family. Will she be able to protect her family from this madman that she once shared a bed with?
I'm addicted. Now I have to go out and buy all of her other books. Seriously. This was a phenomenal read that blew my mind. I actually received an ARC of this at the beginning of the summer, so I had actually read it a while ago. I am still in a daze over how wonderfully thrilling this book was. If you aren't going to buy it, at least enter my giveaway because I really think you all could get hooked on Sophie's writing. If you do, maybe we could start a club. LOL.
26 of 31 people found the following review helpful
"Something weird's going on."
14 Oct 2009
Format:Paperback
In Sophie Hannah's "The Wrong Mother," thirty-eight year old Sally Thorning loves her husband and two children, but she has difficulty juggling her professional and personal responsibilities. There are times when she yearns to leave her family behind and take a breather. Little does Sally know that she is about to enter a nightmare that will make her everyday problems seem trivial. She discovers, to her horror, that a woman named Geraldine Bretherick, who allegedly killed herself and her six-year old daughter, looks very much like her. Furthermore, Sally remembers having met and befriended someone who pretended to be Geraldine's husband, but whom she now realizes was an impostor. Sally is terrified of going to the police, since she has secrets that she does not wish to reveal.
Although the detectives suspect murder/suicide, there are anomalies that cast doubt on this theory. Geraldine left a diary on her computer in which she unleashes a vitriolic attack on her young daughter and on the institution of motherhood. People who knew Geraldine well insist that she would never have expressed such rage. The police are in a quandary and in desperation, they start looking at the victim's bereaved husband, Mark, as a possible suspect.
Hannah has a feel for character and dialogue, and she effectively explores a number of controversial themes. We live in an age of the supermom, who gamely tries to take care of her husband and children while holding down a full-time job. Few mothers would admit that they are in over their heads, and even those women who dote on their kids may occasionally feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Although there are some fathers who willingly do their fair share, there are others who expect their wives to shoulder most of the burden. What impact can such continous stress have on a mentally unstable individual? Hannah plays with this theme and then carries it to an extreme.
Sally is a compassionate individual who would like to come clean to the authorities, but her sense of self-preservation interferes with her good intentions. Mark Bretherick appears to be shattered by the loss of his wife and child, but is it possible that he has not revealed everything that he knows? One of the detectives, Simon Waterhouse, is convinced that he and his colleagues are making some erroneous assumptions, and he senses that there is a great deal more to this case than meets the eye. In addition, Simon has romantic feelings for his former colleague, Charlie. However, she is still upset about a humiliating event that wrecked her self-esteem and she angrily refuses to consider a future with him. When the author finally brings her complicated plot to a head, we are tempted to mutter, "Come again?" Hannah expects us to buy some pretty bizarre scenarios, and some readers may find it difficult to suspend their disbelief. "The Wrong Mother" is suspenseful and involving enough, even if reading it is akin to watching a train wreck. Sophie Hannah shatters the myth that everyone can effortlessly balance parental duties and a challenging career. Sometimes, the pressure of trying to hold everything together day after day can push an erratic person over the edge and deep into the abyss.
Although the detectives suspect murder/suicide, there are anomalies that cast doubt on this theory. Geraldine left a diary on her computer in which she unleashes a vitriolic attack on her young daughter and on the institution of motherhood. People who knew Geraldine well insist that she would never have expressed such rage. The police are in a quandary and in desperation, they start looking at the victim's bereaved husband, Mark, as a possible suspect.
Hannah has a feel for character and dialogue, and she effectively explores a number of controversial themes. We live in an age of the supermom, who gamely tries to take care of her husband and children while holding down a full-time job. Few mothers would admit that they are in over their heads, and even those women who dote on their kids may occasionally feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Although there are some fathers who willingly do their fair share, there are others who expect their wives to shoulder most of the burden. What impact can such continous stress have on a mentally unstable individual? Hannah plays with this theme and then carries it to an extreme.
Sally is a compassionate individual who would like to come clean to the authorities, but her sense of self-preservation interferes with her good intentions. Mark Bretherick appears to be shattered by the loss of his wife and child, but is it possible that he has not revealed everything that he knows? One of the detectives, Simon Waterhouse, is convinced that he and his colleagues are making some erroneous assumptions, and he senses that there is a great deal more to this case than meets the eye. In addition, Simon has romantic feelings for his former colleague, Charlie. However, she is still upset about a humiliating event that wrecked her self-esteem and she angrily refuses to consider a future with him. When the author finally brings her complicated plot to a head, we are tempted to mutter, "Come again?" Hannah expects us to buy some pretty bizarre scenarios, and some readers may find it difficult to suspend their disbelief. "The Wrong Mother" is suspenseful and involving enough, even if reading it is akin to watching a train wreck. Sophie Hannah shatters the myth that everyone can effortlessly balance parental duties and a challenging career. Sometimes, the pressure of trying to hold everything together day after day can push an erratic person over the edge and deep into the abyss.
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