Having thoroughly enjoyed "Anatomy of a Scandal" I was very much looking forward to reading Vaughan's latest book, and it certainly did not disappoint. For me this was even better and so much more than your average thriller - what it is is a beautifully written, many-layered, complex story that had me gripped from beginning to end, and stayed with me well after I had finished reading it.

Centred around 4 women who met at antenatal classes, their relationship becomes complex when one of them, Jess, takes her youngest child, Betsey, to A&E. One of the other women, Liz, is a paediatrician on duty on there and when she is called to examine her and has doubts about the true cause of the child's injuries, it sets in motion a course of events that have implications for all of them. Jess has always been perceived as the "perfect mother" but the reality proves to be much more complex.

Told from multiple points of view, what I loved most is the fact that the book is an authentic portrait of the complexities of parenthood, of the ups and downs, and of the struggles of faced by us all in a society which loves to portray perfection, as well as a reminder of how much we are shaped by our own childhoods. An emotional roller coaster, with plenty of twists and an ending I didn't see coming, I loved everything about this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ and her new book is yet again another great read. This psychological thriller is a very emotional and thought provoking story. Would recommend. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A gripping book tellling the story in a suburban setting about a few ante natal friends, one is a doctor and put in an impossible situation by one of her friends.....a lovely story about friendships and motherhood that kept me flicking the pages ! An excellent read

I totally enjoyed this book by Sarah Vaughan. I like the plot and her writing style. Will definitely be checking out other books written by her in the future.

I really enjoyed Anatomy of a Scandal so I was looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. . It was a very different read from her first novel as I found it more of a domestic drama than a thriller as such. It focuses on the struggles of motherhood, balancing work with family life and post natal depression. Although not a mother myself I still found it gripping and not easy to read in parts. Sarah Vaughan writes brilliantly and I recommend this to anyone who is after a good drama.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC

A really exceptional drama with so many layers for the reader to work through and think over. The main theme explored is motherhood - how we perceive ourselves and others as mothers as well as our relationships with our own mothers - but it touches on so many other things such as guilt, responsibility, loyalty and trust. It is an absolute MUST for book groups and I will be recommending it widely.

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan is an emotionally charged book that captivated me from the beginning and had me so gripped that I was compelled to read it in a single sitting. I really felt for all of the characters, and could completely empathise with the scenarios they found themselves in.
Liz is a paediatric registrar in the last few months of her training before becoming a consultant. Its a tough job that takes its toll on her physically and emotionally and also takes a toll on her family life. The last thing she expected was to see her friend Jess in the emergency room with a sick baby and a story that doesn't quite add up. When tests show that baby Betsey has a skull fracture, Liz has no option but to involve social services despite doubting that the woman she has known for years could possibly have harmed her child.
Jess has been struggling since the birth of Betsey, a third child that has upset the balance of her previously ordered family life. Plagued by doubts , insecurity and anxiety could she possibly have hurt her baby, even her husband is starting to wonder if he has missed the danger signs.
This is a story all about motherhood, and one that more often focuses on the struggles than the joys- the struggles of balancing work and family life, the struggle of coping with a baby when you feel alone and overwhelmed and even the struggle of trying to have a baby when it seems so easy for other people. All that being said, it is not a book that one needs to be a mother to enjoy, the author does a wonderful job of painting those struggles for the reader, making it easy to see why her characters do what they do , and making the reader feel for them in their difficulties. It is a domestic drama rather than a thriller but it is none the less a gripping and engaging read, and at times heartbreaking as the true events of what happened that tragic day are revealed. I will say that I think the author took the story just one twist too far, for me it would have had a stronger ending and more impact without the final revelation which felt a little forced.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Hi and welcome to my review of Little Disasters!

Little Disasters is my first novel by Sarah Vaughan, but I had heard so many good things about her previous novel Anatomy of a Scandal that I couldn’t resist hitting that NetGalley request button. That and the mention of secrets and lies in the blurb, of course.

Little Disasters is part drama part psychological thriller, alternating between the POV of Jess and the POV of Liz, who met in birthing class years ago and have remained friends ever since. Jess is a stay at home mum, Liz is a paediatrician.

One dark and stormy night (no actually, I haven’t a clue what the weather was like, but that phrase is just the right amount of ominous), Jess shows up in the ER room with her baby Betsey, who has been sick. Both mother and daughter seem in a right state, and alarms bells go off in Liz’s head, after all she’s a professional, trained to notice things that are not quite right. Carefully examining Betsey, Liz spots an injury at the back of the baby’s head, but Jess’s explanation of what happened seems flimsy at best. Torn between staying objective and focussing solely on the child’s best interests on the one hand, and having faith in her friend on the other hand, Liz decides to withdraw from the equation, and opens a can of worms in doing so. What happened to Betsey on this fateful day, and what is Jess hiding?

Little Disasters is a psychological thriller in that it searches for the truth of what happened to Betsey, taking the reader on a somewhat unexpectedly twisty ride. However, a much more important aspect of Little Disasters is motherhood and its ups and downs. It makes for a poignant read, even to me, a reader without children. It deals with postnatal depression and anxiety and the shame that comes with it. I suspect this is something that happens more than people realise, and patients should not be ashamed at all, I’m sure most of us – if not all of us – feel like we can’t cope, feel overwhelmed or anxious at one point, why should parenthood be any different? I was sucked into the story and I had no trouble whatsoever putting myself in Jess’s shoes. However, I do think that if you have children and read this, it will resonate with you much more and could hit home in a way it can’t for me.

Little Disasters is an important book but so bleak at times that I had to put it down to catch my breath. This is no doubt proof of Sarah Vaughan’s excellent writing, the characters’ pain portrayed so perfectly that it bled from the pages to such an extent that it made my own heart ache.

Poignant, harrowing, suspenseful, Little Disasters is a perfect blend of drama and thriller that I would happily recommend.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a great read that tackles a few difficult subjects, including post natal depression.
Liz is shocked when her friend Jess turns up at the emergency room with her baby and is suspicious of how she explains that her daughter was injured.
Liz is put in an impossible position. As the baby's doctor, Liz has a duty of care to report what looks like a suspicious injury but as Jess's friend, Liz knows that reporting the injury will open up a can of worms for her friend.
We follow what happens next through alternating chapters and eventually find out what really happened.
This is a bit different from anatomy of a scandal and I was expecting more of a thriller but nevertheless, this is a great read.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan is an emotional and traumatic look at motherhood. It is not always the easiest story to read with some parts coming rather close to home. Once you pick it up you will want to keep reading so be warned. The author looks at mental health and anxiety in mothers from all angles and treats the subject respectfully. This book made me cry, imagining how these poor women were feeling and what they went through.

The women in this book have been friends since their first antenatal class with their first children. 10 years later and Jess has her third child Betsy who is 10 months old. One night she brings her into the emergency department where her friend Liz is a pediactric doctor. Betsy has been sick and is very unsettled. When Liz find some that the child has a head injury and Jess’ story doesn’t add up she’s has no choice but to report it to social services. What follows is a heart breaking story of what happened to poor Betsy and why. Lies are told and emotions are high.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

4,5 Stars

„Little Disasters“ is a heart wrenching story about parenthood. Four women met when they expected their first child. Over the years they kept in touch although their life developed in different ways. Our main characters are Liz and Jess. Liz has two sons and is working as a pediatric doctor in the local hospital. One night on her shift one of her friends, Jess, comes into the hospital with her little girl. Jess is the one in this group to which parenting seems to come easily. Everything about her family seems perfect. She is also the only one with three children. Her little daughter, only a few months old, obviously fell over in some way. But something about Jess’ story seems not right. The fall had to be more severe than she is telling because the girl has a serious head injury which Jess has not noticed for hours. Liz is torn between her instinct and responsibility as a doctor and locality to her friend.

There is a lot of child trauma and neglect in this book. Liz and Jess had both a difficult upbringing. I found all this concentrated neglect hard to read. There is a lot going on in each family and especially Jess’ story is heartbreaking. I found it hard to read about her struggle and inability to reach out for help. There is a twist at the end which seems to me a bit over the top. The story is sad enough without this last development. Although the story is so heartbreaking the book is an easy read and I just flew through the pages. This intense family drama is well written and all characters have their distinctive voice. This is my second book from Sarah Vaughan and I am sure not my last.

Wow what a powerful gripping novel! I loved this. It asks really strong powerful questions. How far do you trust your friends? How well do we know anybody? When Jess brings her daughter to hospital having suffered head traumas, her friend Liz - a nurse at the hospital- is concerned by Jess’ lack of concern. Here starts a spiral- is Jess dangerous? Is she a good mother? I flew through this book desperate for answers. A great read.

Little Disasters is a drama/mystery that was fairly fast paced and was heart wrenching at times.
Jess is a picture perfect mum of three, she’s everything we’d all love to be like with the perfect home, kids and husband that is until she does something that she will never forget as the consequences will haunt her forever. When Jess has to take her ten month old daughter to hospital after sustaining a head injury the doctor on call is Liz, they have been friends for ten years and what happens in hospital leads to friendships being stretched as Liz is put in a compromising position.
This was a book I flew through, characters were well developed and I got to feel I knew the women particularly well and this helped. The incident has many twists to it and my heart went out to Jess’s son who gets innocently caught up in a web of lies and conceit with probably some lasting damage.
This was an eye opener into how these kind of things happen and am glad it’s not happened to me.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon And Schuster for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Little Disasters is a novel exploring the darker side of motherhood, namely postnatal depression and maternal OCD. The complexities of motherhood and relationships with our offspring provide ample material for fiction authors to sink their teeth into and I found this to be a beautifully sensitive novel which is heartbreaking to read. Whilst postnatal depression is a widely discussed topic there are still many women who struggle to articulate their feelings since we are conditioned to believe that we will instantly bond with our babies, navigate the early years with aplomb and manage to look fresh as a daisy at the same time.
Jess is one of those women, mother of three children, the youngest Betsey, and she is valiantly trying to keep so many plates spinning that one little wobble will see the whole lot come crashing down. This fragile woman is outwardly presenting that all is fine whilst battling her unwanted harmful feelings towards a fractious Betsey.Coping with two other children, one of whom I suspected to have ADHD, sleep deprivation and a constantly crying baby is Jess’s unravelling. One evening she turns up to A&E with Betsey, the hospital being where her friend Liz Trenchard works as a paediatric doctor and what begins as a routine investigation turns into one of possible child neglect/abuse.
As a reader you can read in between the lines but you can’t be sure exactly who is at fault here. A mother trying to do her best with three children, a mostly absent father or the failure of friends busily wrapped up in their own lives???
Often painful to read but written with immense compassion and understanding, Jess as a character is so entirely believable and her story will resonate with many women and parents. She could indeed be any one of us and I felt such sadness at what she was going through, unable to talk to her friends from antenatal group, of which Liz is part of. To suffer alone like Jess does broke my heart.I think this novel speaks volumes about the guilt surrounding motherhood on so many levels, whether it’s the working mum missing a school play or the stay at home mum feeling lonely and isolated, a sense of inadequacy at not being wholly child-centric, a phrase used by the author.
This is such an emotional but thought provoking read that also questions the inability of Jess’ s friendship group to notice how she is feeling, and Liz in particular shoulders a lot of the blame. Her professional and personal lives collide when initially treating Betsey and then she is forced to take a back seat, not wanting to believe there is the slightest possibility this baby could have been deliberately harmed. We only see what we want to see is definitely a message that comes across in the narrative and I felt for Liz finding herself stuck in an impossible situation.
Liz’s own complicated relationship with her mother is integral to the storyline and a way to further explore all the nuances of motherhood and the dynamics between a mother and her child/children. In my opinion Liz carries as much guilt around with her as her friend Jess but in ways you’ll discover by picking up this very worthwhile book. The author tackles some very serious issues in an accessible easy to read style whilst the fictional drama itself is well plotted and compelling.
Little Disasters would make an ideal book for any book club debate and my thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read. Easily a five star read for me.

If you loved Anatomy of A Scandal, Sarah Vaughan does not disappoint with Little Disasters.
The story unravels chapter by chapter and you are drawn deeper in to lives of Jess, Liz, their friends, families and their own childhoods. Sarah delves into the darker side of motherhood and parenting and you feel what everyone is going through.

At its heart this is also a story about female friendship and the bonds we form throughout our lives, how easy it is to lose them and how sweet it is when you regain them.

Little Disasters twists and turns, leaving you surprised by the ending.

I was given a copy of Little Disasters by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

After reading the blurb I thought I knew what to expect, I was so wrong and in a good way. This author is never light reading, always thought provoking. This read deals with how some women after giving birth suffer from post partum psychosis. A very emotive read, hard hitting in places and distressing in others. I loved the dynamite ending. Almost five stars and highly recommended.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and Netgalley for the ARC.

As a childless man I found this to be a devastating insight into motherhood!

I was a little sceptical initially but I was bowled over by Ms Vaughan's forensic insight into the thought process of a troubled mother.

I'm still a little shaken thinking back to some of the events involving one child in particular and I am in awe of the author who managed to totally blindside me when "all was revealed".

Wholeheartedly to be recommended and my thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

I spent much of this book unsure if I actually liked it or not, and yet it still made for gripping read I could not step away from.

Liz is a paediatrics doctor, when her friend Jess brings in baby Bestey with a fractured skull, Liz realises there is more to this accident than meets the eye. Dark and twisted, I certainly wasn't sure what to expect as the book went on but there is something about it that I was unsure about.

It's a difficult read, with topics of OCD, depression, child abuse, and anxiety running throughout. Of course any book covering such heavy topics will be an emotive read, however I felt something was missing. I didn't connect with any of the characters, finding them generally to be rather one dimensional.

In spite of my reservations, I was still unable to put this down until the end.

Liz Trenchard is a registrar paediatrician and is on duty on a Friday night when she’s called down to A & E for a baby. The baby happens to be the daughter of her friend, Jess Curtis. They have known each other since their first children were born within months of each other, having met at antenatal classes.

Liz must follow hospital procedures when a scan shows that the baby has a fractured skull. Police and social services immediately need to discover how the injury occurred. Their main concern is whether the mother is the potential culprit. Liz finds herself in a very awkward position with the other mothers who had also been part of those antenatal classes some ten years before this incident.

This book raises so many questions, and I wish I could discuss my thoughts at length in this review but unfortunately, by revealing what the real subject of the book is, will I be giving away a spoiler?

Sarah Vaughan has done a truly brilliant job of telling the story of two women – one a stay-at-home mum and the other the guilt of being a working mother.

I’ve deducted one-star as I found the following text “If text finishes on or above this guide, remove folio.” It consistently appears throughout the copy I received from NetGalley and almost stopped me from completing the novel.

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review. (From NetGalley).

Sarah Vaughan is an exceptionally talented writer. She has an incredible in depth knowledge of mental health specifically anxiety & I commend that. The more knowledge we have about mental health the better everyone's understanding of it. The author also has a very heartfelt and believable tone to her writing.

Having sad that....this is a difficult book. From characters that had no empathy to too much empathy & a side story with one characters mother that I hated & felt added very little value to the plot (& also depends how redeemed the reader feels a person can be?)...the characters on a whole were unsympathetic.
How much responsibility can a friend who doesn't see you that often take? More than your husband? More than your sister?

The descriptions of mental health were jarring, hard & very real. Anyone with anxiety may struggle to read this book...but anyone who manages it may find it reassuring that others feel the same. There is no doubt that Sarah Vaughan deals with anxiety, depression & post natal depression very sympathetically & very well but that all adds up to a book that I found difficult to navigate because it all just felt too overwhelming...then not liking the characters very much & a very unnecessary twist at the end didn't help.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book & will be looking out for more Sarah Vaughan books but it is not one I would ever want to read again.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the brilliant opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review