I’ve read a lot of books in the last 2 months but been really naughty about reviewing them. A Good Enough Mother was something I picked up in April, and it was a good read. I’ve been sitting on my thoughts about this book a while now, time to release!

Short take: This book is a yay! A well-written psychological thriller/mystery with a female heroine and a good ending. I would recommend this to fans of Liz Nugent. There is a pessimist darkness in this book which made me remind Nugent’s work. This wasn’t an “make-you sit-on-the-edge-unputdownable” book, however, I felt that I tasted the flavour of the story better the more I read, so if you like psychological thrillers, this is your thing.  

I think overall this novel had a wonderful portrayal of a mother and a woman, as a psychotherapist and a human being. I thought immense research and thought seem to have poured in for the creation of Ruth, but then I discovered Thomas herself has worked as a clinical psychologist in the NHS for a long time. That makes it even better & more realistic! The dialogue and the scenes between her and the patients were so good. The best thing I liked about this novel was those psychotherapy scenes.

The protagonist, Ruth Hartland is a psychotherapist that works with people that had traumatic experiences.  One day she welcomes a new patient, which resembles her to her missing son. Ruth has two twin children and a failed marriage. Her “misfit” son Tom, disappeared a while ago with no trace. She naturally becomes interested in this young man, Dan.

Ruth and her struggle as a mother with two kids, unlike each other, was so heartbreakingly good. I can’t say I enjoyed Dan as a character, but I understand why he was added into the story the way he was.  Without him, Ruth probably wouldn’t be complete.

Did you read this one? Did you like it?

Mild spoiler below:

Trigger Warning notice: If  you’re sensitive, there’s a TW at the beginning of the novel, but it’s just there and the rest is TW free