One of Those Mothers
Megan Nicol Reed
The residents of Point Heed keep nice houses and sign up as parent help at the local school. Occasionally they cheat on their taxes. Sometimes they fantasise about having sex with someone other than their partner. And every now and then they do drugs. But that doesn't make them bad people, does it?
When a local father is convicted of the possession and distribution of child pornography, the tight-knit, middle-class community is quick to unravel. He is granted permanent name suppression, and soon friend turns on friend, neighbour delivers up neighbour, and hysteria rapidly engulfs them all. Who among them was capable of such moral trespass?
Bridget, Roz and Lucy have been friends forever. Their lives revolve around their children, their community, each other. With their husbands and kids, they holiday together every year. Every year, until last summer, when everything went so terribly wrong.
They tell you things are never as bad as you fear, but what if they're worse? Worse than you could have ever imagined.
Were they all complicit? Certainly, they were guilty of looking in all the wrong places.
'Domestic noir up there with the best of them. Beautiful settings, believable characters, and a moral quandary to keep you reading through the night - One of Those Mothers is a page turner in all the best ways. JACQUELINE BUBLITZ, Before You Knew My Name
'With stiletto-sharp observation, vibrantly drawn characters and a deeply disturbing secret at its heart, One of Those Mothers had me in its grasp from the first chapter. A terrific debut.' CHARITY NORMAN, Remember Me
'Wildly compelling, refreshingly raw exploration of motherhood, friendship and the haunting anxieties of parenthood.' CLAIRE MABEY, Books Editor, The Spinoff, former festival director, Verb Wellington
'A gloriously claustrophobic and page-turning tale of friendships, relationships and ultimate loyalties. Megan Nicol Reed pins middle-class motherhood to the specimen board and watches it squirm. Compulsory (and cautionary) reading ahead of your next group holiday.' KIM KNIGHT, New Zealand Herald
'A contemporary tale of complex relationships where loyalties and values are tested. Written by a natural storyteller, it will keep you thinking.' STACEY MORRISON, television and radio host
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