The Push

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn't behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born – and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she'd always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed. (From Viking)

Ashley Audrain is the former publicity director of Penguin Canada. The Push is her first novel.

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Interviews with Ashley Audrain

The Sunday Magazine20:53What makes a 'good mother'? Writer Ashley Audrain explores the dark side of motherhood

It's one of the buzziest books of the year. Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks to Ashley Audrain about her debut novel, The Push — a searing look at motherhood told as a psychological thriller. The conversation explores the expectations put on moms, including the ones they put on themselves; what goes wrong when motherhood and womanhood get too entangled; and goes beyond "bad mom" tropes to delve into the things mothers wish they could say — and why we all need to listen when they do say them.