Review: The Mother's Promise

The Mother’s Promise

by Sally Hepworth

Why I chose this book? the similarity to Five Days Left

When I read this book? January 2016

Who should read this book? readers who enjoyed Five Days Left and Still Alice

Source: Reading Group Gold

Here is a synopsis of The Mother’s Promise from Goodreads

My Rating:  ★★★★½              4½ Stars

With every book, Sally Hepworth becomes more and more known for her searing emotional portraits of families—and the things that test their bonds. In The Mother’s Promise, she delivers her most powerful novel yet: the story of a single mother who is dying, the troubled teenaged daughter who is battling her own demons, and the two women who come into their lives at the most critical moment.

Alice and her daughter Zoe have been a family of two all their lives. Zoe has always struggled with crippling social anxiety and her mother has been her constant and fierce protector. With no family to speak of, and the identity of Zoe’s father shrouded in mystery, their team of two works—until it doesn’t. Until Alice gets sick and is given a grim prognosis.

Desperate to find stability for Zoe, Alice reaches out to two women who are practically strangers, but who are her only hope: Kate, her oncology nurse, and Sonja, a social worker. As the four of them come together, a chain of events is set into motion and all four of them must confront their sharpest fears and secrets—secrets about abandonment, abuse, estrangement, and the deepest longing for family. Imbued with heart and humor in even the darkest moments, The Mother’s Promise is an unforgettable novel about the power of love and forgiveness.

My Review

First things first….will you LOOK at that COVER?! Beautiful, isn’t it? That was the first thing  noticed about this book. Then I saw that the author is Sally Hepworth. I’d read and loved her last book, The Things We Keep, ( you can read my review of that one here) so when I saw that Reading Group Gold was offering Early Reading copies of the book, I jumped at the chance. I’m so glad I did!

In the story, we learn immediately that Alice has been diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer, a grim diagnosis with only a 20% survival rate at three years. However, Alice’s biggest worry is her teenage daughter Zoe, who suffers from severe social anxiety. Alice is a single mother with no family to speak of, except for her alcoholic brother. She doesn’t speak of Zoe’s father at the beginning of the story; we only learn he is ‘not father material’ and depending on him is not an option. A social worker, Sonja, is called in, and Kate, the oncology nurse steps up to fill some of the needs. To say much more would be giving a lot away, so I won’t. Just know that all the women have problems and bond over them, forming  a close relationship.  

I could not find a reading guide, but this is a new release and I’m sure one will turn up soon, because this will make a FANTASTIC book club selection! Some of the topics touched on in the book are infertility, domestic abuse, rape, facing death, and others. You probably will be able to come up with plenty of discussion questions for this without any help.

There is only one issue I have with the book; it left me hanging. I would like to know what happens next (particularly with Sonya and her husband). I can’t go into more detail, but if I had a group in front of me who’d read the book, I’d have a lot to discuss! Pick this one up!

I received an Advanced Reader’s Edition of this book from Reading Group Gold.

Review: The Things We Keep

The Things We Keep

by Sally Hepworth

Why I chose this book? the similarity to Five Days Left

When I read this book? January 2016

Who should read this book? readers who enjoyed Five Days Left and Still Alice

Source: Reading Group Gold

Here is a synopsis of The Things We Keep from Goodreads

Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease at only thirty-eight years old, knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. She also knows there's just one other resident her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life at Rosalind House. As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke.

When Eve Bennett is suddenly thrust into the role of single mother she finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind house. When she meets Anna and Luke she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them.

My Review

When I saw that Reading Group Gold was offering ARCs of this book I grabbed it. The synopsis reminded me a bit of Five Days Left and Still Alice. While I didn’t like it quite as much as I did those, it was a fantastic read! In this story two young people are suffering from different forms of dementia: Anna has early onset Alzheimer’s which results in progressive memory loss for her, and Luke has frontotemporal dementia which results in his slowly losing his ability to speak coherently. There is also a secondary story of Eve Bennett who suddenly finds herself with financial difficulties and a young child to care for. Though she is a trained chef, she takes a job as a cook at the assisted living facility where Anna and Luke live in order to keep her daughter at the school she loves.

I thought the author presented a very realistic picture of what it must be like for people coping with dementia, both as patient and as caregiver. While at times Anna was completely lucid and able to reason, at other times, she was disoriented and unable to function. This of course go worse as time progressed. It was interesting to see Anna was able to recognize that she was no longer thinking clearly and to understand why this was happening. This was very frustrating, not only for Anna, who knew she was not always making sense, but also for her family, who while they knew why this was happening, still couldn’t quite grasp how much she had deteriorates. I also enjoyed many of the characters we met, especially the older married couple, Laurie and Clara, who shared a suite at the assisted living center, and Bert, the ‘grumpy old man’ with a soft heart!

The secondary story of Eve was one I didn’t enjoy so much. While I appreciated Eve’s ability to see through the disease and appreciate Anna and all the residents as people, I thought some of her actions were unrealistic, and the resolution came about a little too easily. At the same time, I felt that her story was left up in the air, and we don’t really know what happened down the road with her romantic interest.

Despite this minor short-coming, I enjoyed the book very much!  This was a story of hope and redemption that showed us that even when very bad things happen, good things can come out of it. This will be another great pick for book clubs to discuss, with topics ranging from ‘what would you do’ as one of the characters, to what makes a person’s life worth living, priorities, and more! I found a discussion guide online at Book Browse, but I think a group could have a great discussion centered around this book even with no guide!

My Rating:  ★★★★½              4½ Stars

I received an Advanced Reader’s Edition of this book from Reading Group Gold.