The Other Mother: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author

An atmospheric and harrowing tale, richly literary in complexity but ripe with all the crazed undertones, confusions, and forebodings inherent in the gothic genre. Recommend this riveting, du Maurierlike novel to fans of Jennifer McMahon. Booklist (starred review)

From the author of the internationally bestselling The Lake of Dead Languages comes a gripping novel about madness, motherhood, love, and trust.

When Daphne Marist and her infant daughter, Chloe, pull up the gravel drive to the home of Daphnes new employer, it feels like theyve entered a whole new world. Tucked in the Catskills, the stone mansion looks like something out of a fairy tale, its lush landscaping hiding the view of the mental asylum just beyond its border. Daphne secured the live-in position using an assumed name and fake credentials, telling no one that shes on the run from a controlling husband who has threatened to take her daughter away.

Daphnes new life is a far cry from the one she had in Westchester where, just months before, she and her husband welcomed little Chloe. From the start, Daphne tries to be a good mother, but shes plagued by dark moods and intrusive thoughts that convince her shes capable of harming her own daughter. When Daphne is diagnosed with Post Partum Mood Disorder, her downward spiral feels unstoppableuntil she meets Laurel Hobbes.

Laurel, who also has a daughter named Chloe, is everything Daphne isnt: charismatic, sophisticated, fearless. They immediately form an intense friendship, revealing secrets to one another they thought theyd never share. Soon, they start to look alike, dress alike, and talk alike, their lives mirroring one another in strange and disturbing ways. But Daphne realizes only too late that being friends with Laurel will come at a very shocking priceone that will ultimately lead her to that towering mansion in the Catskills where terrifying, long-hidden truths will finally be revealed....

Reviews

An atmospheric and harrowing tale, richly literary in complexity but ripe with all the crazed undertones, confusions, and forebodings inherent in the gothic genre. Recommend this riveting, du Maurierlike novel to fans of Jennifer McMahon. Booklist (starred review) Chilling...Goodmans affinity for the dark psychological plot excells in THE OTHER MOTHER. South Florida Sun Sentinel This engrossing novel will keep readers eagerly turning the pages. Publishers Weekly An engaging read that will appeal to readers of Shari Lapena or Michelle Richmond. Library Journal In the spirit of Du Mauriers RebeccaA gothic thriller deliciously riddled with dark motives and shadowy paths. Kirkus Reviews Carol Goodman is, simply put, a stellar writer. Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of The Red Hunter

Author Bio

Carol Goodman is the critically acclaimed author of fourteen novels, including The Lake of Dead Languages and The Seduction of Water, which won the 2003 Hammett Prize. Her books have been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family, and teaches creative writing at the New School and SUNY New Paltz.