Mother Island

(Paperback)

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Description

This is the story of two women, Nula and Maggie, joined by old family history and love for the same little boy. Winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize 2015. This is the story of two women, Nula and Maggie, joined by old family history and love for the same little boy. Nula, struggling with her new baby and feeling alone in her marriage, employs her cousin Maggie as a nanny when she returns to work. But it's not long before Nula finds herself theatened by Maggie's close bond with her son, Samuel. Nula's outwardly perfect house crackles with unspoken jealousies and rivalry until Maggie's intense love for Samuel tips into obsession and she decides her only option is to abduct the child. As Maggie makes her desperate bid for safety, the women's shared past of trauma and loss comes to the fore once more. WINNER OF THE JERWOOD FICTION UNCOVERED PRIZE 2015.

Reviews

Roberts writes fantastically well about motherhood and the magical, other-worldly atmosphere of Anglesey * The Times *
More than just a piece of mummy lit, it's particularly good on the multiple tiny stories of hurt and resentments that can make up a family history. * Metro *
There's little more engrossing than a top-notch psychological thriller. Bethan Roberts's latest novel doesn't disappoint it's satisfyingly creepy and stimulates that delicious paradox: goose-pimples in summer. * The Independent *
A sharp examination of what it means to be a mother...What makes Mother Island stand out from the crowd, though, is the compassion the author shows for her central characters...A thoroughly cracking read * Big Issue *
Cleverly constructed Skilful unravelling of events Uncomfortable and gripping in equal measures -- Juanita Coulson * Lady *

Author Bio

Bethan Roberts has published five novels and writes stories and drama for BBC Radio 4. Her books include The Good Plain Cook (Serpent's Tail, 2008), which was a Radio 4 Book at Bedtime; My Policeman (Chatto & Windus, 2012), the story of a 1950s policeman, his wife, and his male lover (soon to be a major Amazon Original movie starring Harry Styles and Emma Corrin); and Mother Island (Chatto, 2014), which received a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered prize. Her latest novel, Graceland, tells the story of Elvis Presley and his mother, Gladys. She also writes short fiction, for which she has won the Society of Authors' Olive Cook Prize and the RA Pin Drop Award. Bethan has taught Creative Writing at Chichester University and Goldsmiths College, London. She lives in Brighton with her family.