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A review by bookdrgn
Stone Mothers by Erin Kelly
4.0
This took a bit of getting into, but the mystery was sound. I kept thinking it was one thing and it turned down a different corner.
Marianne has returned home to help care for her dying mother. Her husband purchased, as a surprise, a home in the last place Marianne wants to be. A site of death, shame and secrets.
Very quickly her past comes back to haunt her and the last thing she wants to have happen is her mentally unwell daughter discover her mother is not without faults.
Just as we reach a precipice in the story, we are whipped back to Marianne’s teen years and her version of events.
It was good to see Marianne’s relationship with her former boyfriend and co-conspirator. Jesse is an angry young man who doesn’t let anything stop him. Marianne is pulled along, trying to talk him down multiple times. We see what the event is that’s created the circumstance Marianne finds herself in now.
Just as quickly we are whisked back further to the story of the woman in the middle of all that’s happening. The story of Helen is one I relate to as a modern woman, knowing the horrid history women have had, especially when it comes to not wanting to become a mother or wife in the 50s.
I empathise with Helen before and after the event.
I empathise with Marianne and Jesse to a degree, a lot more if I didn’t know Helen’s story.
The book culminates in almost simultaneous incidents and we end with the story being told from Marianne’s daughters point of view.
Honour brings her mother and Jesse’s lives full circle when she meets Clay, the son of Jesse’s brother, raised by Jesse and the boys mother.
This was a good book. A great insight into the world of mental health in the past, with a great reading list the author used as references for the characters.
Marianne has returned home to help care for her dying mother. Her husband purchased, as a surprise, a home in the last place Marianne wants to be. A site of death, shame and secrets.
Very quickly her past comes back to haunt her and the last thing she wants to have happen is her mentally unwell daughter discover her mother is not without faults.
Just as we reach a precipice in the story, we are whipped back to Marianne’s teen years and her version of events.
It was good to see Marianne’s relationship with her former boyfriend and co-conspirator. Jesse is an angry young man who doesn’t let anything stop him. Marianne is pulled along, trying to talk him down multiple times. We see what the event is that’s created the circumstance Marianne finds herself in now.
Just as quickly we are whisked back further to the story of the woman in the middle of all that’s happening. The story of Helen is one I relate to as a modern woman, knowing the horrid history women have had, especially when it comes to not wanting to become a mother or wife in the 50s.
I empathise with Helen before and after the event.
I empathise with Marianne and Jesse to a degree, a lot more if I didn’t know Helen’s story.
The book culminates in almost simultaneous incidents and we end with the story being told from Marianne’s daughters point of view.
Honour brings her mother and Jesse’s lives full circle when she meets Clay, the son of Jesse’s brother, raised by Jesse and the boys mother.
This was a good book. A great insight into the world of mental health in the past, with a great reading list the author used as references for the characters.