Rebecca's Reviews > The Push

“Before we were conceived, we existed in part, as an egg in our mother’s ovary. All the eggs a woman will ever carry form in her ovaries while she is a four-month-old fetus in the womb of her mother. This means our cellular life as an egg begins in the womb of our grandmother. Each of us spent five months in our grandmother’s womb and she in turn formed within the womb of her grandmother. We vibrate to the rhythms of our mother’s blood before she herself is born.”

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter - she doesn't behave like most children do. Her husband, says she's imagining things. The more he dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity. Then their son Sam is born and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she'd always imagined with her child. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

Ok, first off, major We Need to Talk About Kevin vibes with this one. A complex psychological thriller about a struggling relationship between a mother and her child. A mother who doesn't get on with her child, who thinks something is wrong with them and a husband, who doesn't believe his wife.

The Push is told in first person, narrated by Blythe in the form of a letter she is writing to her husband. The story explores trauma, motherhood, societal expectations towards women, marriage, loss and much much more. I was incredibly uncomfortable at times reading this book. I felt immense affection for Blythe and outrage at how she was being treated. This was a very unsettling read that looks at how society gaslights women to the point that they don't know what's real.

I'm not usually a fan of domestic thrillers, I tend to stay away from them. However, I read this for my book club. I’m glad I did. This story was executed brilliantly and I highly recommend!