The Perfect Mother By Claire Allan

Another Derry author that I’ve enjoyed reading is Claire Allan, a well established crime and romantic author from the city and ‘The Perfect Mother’ is her latest book.

All I wanted was to help women become mothers. When I met Alice Monroe, we instantly connected. She was as passionate about motherhood as I was, and I couldn’t wait to support her through this life-changing experience. But the day that should have been Alice’s happiest, turned into a nightmare. And after Alice’s dreams were shattered, she blamed me. Even though there was nothing I could have done, she wanted to ruin me. I lost my business, my reputation. My world fell apart. Then, I discovered I was pregnant. That’s why we moved hundreds of miles away to the remote Derry countryside. Now, with this beautiful baby, we can have a fresh start. But then Alice sends me a message. She knows where we are. And I realise, it doesn’t matter how far we’ve moved, I am not safe from her. My baby is not safe.

Once a happy and established doula, Mel now spends her time reading blogs and social media mentally defending herself from a horrible situation when one of her clients lost their child and blamed Mel for the fatality. Alice had become Mel’s friend and when her baby died in birth, the finger of blame was pointed at Mel. Suddenly Mel found herself starting over life in a mobile home in Derry whilst her new home was being built. Cramped, pregnant, with her husband and little girl, Mel’s trying to move on with her life, but her past is constantly there reminding her of what went wrong and when strange things start to happen, particularly the reappearance of Alice, Mel and those around are judging her sanity.

I really enjoyed this story, the pace and the suspense throughout and the flashbacks to the past when Mel was a doula and her friendship with Alice, how close the pair were and tight their bond was, this really set the tone of the story. As it could be justified and understandable that Alice is out to make Mel’s life hell after losing her baby. The trolling on social media, the unexpected parcels and cards and constant reminders. I found myself feeling sympathetic towards Alice as losing a child is every parents nightmare. I liked Mel, I found myself relating to her as she counted down her pregnancy in a cramped space with a strange over familiar neighbour called Sheila constantly calling in under the guise of good intentions, but I found her irritating and nosy.

The story is tension filled with characters that are relatable, likeable and suspicious and for this, I found the book really kept me on my toes, and I found myself racing towards the final pages to see if I had successfully guessed Mel’s tormenters.

Compulsive and packed with Claire’s trademark colloquialisms and vivid descriptions of Northern Ireland, that made the book feel like home, ‘The Perfect Mother’ is another thrilling book from Claire Allan that was hard to put down.

You can buy ‘The Perfect Mother’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.