Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Mothers and Other Liars - Book Review


I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of Mothers and Other Liars. The title alone had me curious. Mothers and other liars? Really? I dove right into it not sure what I should expect. What I got was a beautifully written novel about a mother (Ruby) and her love for her daughter (Lark). And the choices that she was forced to make because of that love.

Choices are a funny thing. Because when you are deciding to do something for the sake of a loved one – it hardly feels like a difficult choice at all. It’s just what you do. For example, when I found out that my first husband was still married to his first wife when he married me (follow that?) I was six weeks pregnant. A few people asked me if I would continue with the pregnancy. They pointed out how difficult it would be to be a single mother and wouldn’t it just be easier to start fresh with a clean slate?

I suppose if I had allowed logic to dictate than I would have gone along with that type of thinking. After all, I was only twenty-five and I had my whole life in front of me. Why in the world would I want to be divorced and saddled with a kid?

But you see, I was already in love with that kid. The minute I found out I was pregnant I was hooked. I was more than willing to dump the lying sack of sh*t that I had foolishly married, but there was no way in the world I wasn’t going to have this child. No siree. There was no choice to be made – I was going to be a mother.

Choices. As mothers – as women we are faced with making tough choices all the time but somehow, for better or for worse, we make them.

In the story, a secret that Ruby has been keeping for nine years comes back to haunt her: Lark is not her biological daughter. No one that is close to her can believe that she has been lying to them for so long, not her boyfriend Chaz and especially not Lark. Ruby was afraid that if she told the truth the daughter that she has been raising will be taken away from her. Unfortunately, the thing that she feared most has come to pass.

The story is fast-paced and very moving. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. The chapters are very short and the author does a great job of putting the reader in Lark’s shoes.

The book will be released in August and I would highly recommend it.

6 comments:

TJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TJ said...

I thought the title was very intriguing, too. Can't wait to get my hands on a copy. It is something how having children can make complicated things very simple.

Icey said...

I will add this book to my Amazon queue for sure! Thanks for the review!!

cbean said...

I will add this to my list of books to read as well. Thanks for the heads up.

Luv said...

i was reading this like..i hope this is not a book spoiler.. but i am going to read it when it comes out..

you are right we make hard choices without hesitation.. i know when i found out about the twins i was already seeing my future with them..it didn't matter how they were conceived..they were my babies and i was going to have them...

Unknown said...

I love books. Summer is such a great time to gather some good ones about : )