This will be the caption on my Instagram post for “Such a Good Mother” by Helen Monks Takhar. The primary image for this post will be of the book itself. It will be published no sooner than one month before release unless otherwise suggested.

Every mother only wants what is best for their children. For Rosie, this means ensuring her son attends the best school in the district, that she does nothing to endanger his social acceptance and does all that she can to belong and support him. When she is selected to join “The Circle”, the clique of Instagram perfect mothers who run the school, she feels her talents are finally being seen, but sometimes the past has an unexpected way of catching up with us.

This book reads like “The Sopranos” but with mums, unexpectedly dark and twisted the author has perfectly captured the way that “Mummy shame” is weaponised by society at large, but particularly by other women. The characters, including Rosie herself, are all deeply toxic and it is fascinating to watch as Rosie morphs throughout the book, leaving us with a final scene that in its own way is deeply chilling.

The story itself is written with depth and precision, capturing perfectly the current culture which many women have to navigate motherhood through. The characters all clearly have their own histories and the story blends them together well. Peter’s sister, Jacq, provides the perfect contrast to the women of the school gate. The plot is cleverly done however I will admit I did find certain elements OTT, for example, the story line with Peter. This did take from the story for me a touch, as I felt that the plot would have held without it.

Overall though a highly enjoyable read.

My thanks to @netgalley and @HQSTORIES for this E-ARC. I very much enjoyed it.
This section will appear as a slide on my Instagram post. (First image will be of the book, 2nd slide image will be what is contained below).
“Such a Good Mother”
Helen Monks Takhar.

Read it if you like:
• The sound of fiction that is “The Sopranos” but with toxic mothers.
• Books that appreciate the nuances of “mummy” culture and how elements of that can be weaponised against people as a means of control.
• Characters that are beautifully written, with a decent amount of depth and high-level of dysfunction.
• Books that capture how much emotional labour we do, with our partners, with our children and the frustration that can build when communication breaks down.
• Books that twist in a way that you don’t necessarily see coming.

This was a fun and entertaining book. To begin with. It takes a dark and twisty spin towards the middle and it is fantastic. There are some awful characters in this book it works. It is highly recommended.

Wow! This was a novel that resonated with me in part - and probably will do a lot of mums. Haven't we all stood at the school gates watching the little cliques and feeling 'unworthy'?

This is Rosie. The elite Woolf Academy where she sends her son is a school that promises excellence for its pupils but expects/demands much more from its parents. Rosie works in a bank and in her polyester bank uniform feels very much an outsider amongst the mums in their designer labels, their gold jewellery. It brings back memories of her schooldays when she was 'Rotten Rosie', and plagued by memories of her background. Even though she is married to Pete who sounds so nice and mum to Charlie who is adorable, she feels that they could do so much better.

The Circle, a group of select mums, rule the school and are responsible for fundraising, keeping the profile/image high all led by Amala Kaur who is everything Rosie longs to be and when after the death of one of the members of The Circle Rosie is invited to join, to take her place she is thrilled. She finds that being part of the the Circle has benefits, Charlie gets special privileges and business opportunities open up for Pete and she becomes the envy of the other mums. for the first time she feels accepted and revels in the adulation she receives. But everything comes with a price and the more involved Rosie gets the more she realises what a dangerous and horrifying environment she has entered.

I loved this, at times feeling so sorry for Rosie and at other times wanting to scream at her. The characterisations were strong and the even on the page, Amala Kaur is an intimidating woman and the other women are delightfully awful. Pete just wants the simple things in life and becomes almost a pawn, but his sister Jacq. How I wish that I had been blessed with a sister like her - as much as I love my brother. And as for the twist - even though the thought did cross my mind, I never saw it coming.

I loved this and would recommend that you read the afterword by the author as well, which is really enlightening.

well written with a gripping storyline and well developed characters. It was twisty and unpredictable and the ending was a shock. An enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this book but feel it had so much more to offer and so much more could have been done with it if you know what I mean but all in all a good read ..

I wasn’t keen on this book, I struggled to get into it and gave up halfway through. I didn’t really find the plot or characters very believable I’m afraid.

I loved Precious You and was excited to read this one. Ummmm WHAT?! Wow, you guys… this book totally blew away any expectations I had, and I absolutely loved it! This ends up being such a wild story, and I think I spent the last 40 minutes of the book with my mouth hanging open!

Such a good mother is a really well written book. The pace in this book is really good, I enjoyed meeting all of the characters and going on the journey with them throughout this book.

4+

All that glitters definitely isn’t gold unless maybe you’re a wearer of the circle brooch denoting membership of the Inner Circle at Woolf Academy. The school demands much of its parents and children to achieve excellence in this gentrified and fiercely competitive area. There is a cost, is Rosie O’Donnell, most definitely out of the financial league of most, prepared to pay the price of admission for her beloved son Charlie? Will Rosie, scarred by her background, who carries the heavy baggage of shame and guilt, the school bullying taunts of ‘Rotten Rosie’ still ringing in her ears, be able to stand up to the powerhouse that is Amala Kaur who rules the roost at Woolf?

Well, your hackles are up from the get go as some exercise the power to make others feel small with their patronising (or worse) putdowns. The dynamics of the mothers of prestigious school with the in/who’s out political infighting, the school gate Mafiosa, the bitchery, the witchery, the fakery and makery, the jealousy, the elbow sharpening and poisonous uber competitiveness, is done extremely well. They may be clothed in designer numbers and shod in Laboutins but these women are about as friendly as white sharks. If you think this is just another school gate yarn yawn think again. This one goes much deeper. This is a be careful what you wish for story, it’s a cursed and rotten game that becomes intense, dark and dangerous with a corrupt web of horrifying deception and shocks.

The characterisation is excellent most are absolutely vile with the exceptions of little Charlie who is adorable and you’d rather have him than a Tarquin, Xanthe or Idabelle and Jackie Rose‘s sister-in-law who is a breath of fresh air in a stinking cesspool. At the centre of the circle is glamorous Amala who stands like a colossus overall. Let’s just say that many of the revengeful destructive issues are Daddy’s.

It’s a win you lose scenario. There are so many twists and counter twists you need to keep up! I love the use made of “The Red Shoes “ by Hans Christian Andersen and like that, this ain’t no fairytale.

My only negative is the repetition of Rotten Rosie.
Got it!

Overall, a compelling and entertaining read and it’s well worth reading the authors after word.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HQ for their much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I requested this book because I absolutely loved Precious You by this author. Unfortunately this one wasn’t quite as compelling as the former. I liked the characterisation of the protagonist and liked what the author was trying to having a working class mother’s voice. Sadly the plot didn’t grip me as much. I found the climax a letdown and confusing. Amala was such a strange character. Aspects of it were good, the way the protagonist is groomed into the group and I get how vulnerable people can be conned. The execution just didn’t work for me. I found the whole “arrangement” with Peter weird and some of Amala’s business transaction didn’t work. I also didn’t get how hot and cold she was or Rosie was so taken in by the group with the way the mothers were rude. Ah, there was so much potential!

What a crazy ride of a book! I loved the setting of a cut throat world of an elite school with some very bitchy mothers that are willing to go much too far in they strive for success.

Very different to my usual read, I was interested in the premise of this book.

A new author to me, I will be looking to read more by her.

I often find that a woman writer follows up a promising thriller with a schoolyard drama where the protagonist sends their child to an updated version of their own school, despite having a horrible time there. There were some odd moments, like the heroine Rose getting 250 likes on a social post (on an account she'd literally just set up) saying something really mis-spelled and platitudinous. I liked the villain, Amala Kaur, but the double-crossing between the two women at the end got repetitive. The book ends with the idea that the current circumstances faced by a working mother is some sort of 'confidence trick,' of the sort Rose's father used to pull, rather than the consequence of systematic de-funding of childcare and education, and the gentrification and destruction of communities that the novel describes, but doesn't fully interrogate. This is one of the rare books where the afterword and acknowledgements make more sense of what the book is about than the novel itself.

This wasn't for me, sorry. I found the school gate politics incredibly dull (maybe because I don't have or plan to have children) but the whole story bored me to tears. I managed to drag myself through about 60% of the book and then skipped to the last chapter to see how it all ends.

#SuchAGoodMother #NetGalley
Mind blowing.
Rose O’Connell, enrolling her seven-year-old son Charlie into the prestigious school across the road marks a bright new future for her family. One where she can finally forget the dark stains of her childhood. The school is ruled by The Circle, an elite group of influential mothers with beauty and wealth. Every other mum would kill to join it – but to Rose’s shock, it’s her they invite. Rose is so close to having the life she’s dreamed of. But there’s something peculiar about The Circle. What is each woman hiding beneath her perfect exterior? Why did one of their previous members take their own life? And why have they groomed plain, ordinary Rose, to take her place?
I loved Precious You and was waiting for this one. It's a mind blowing novel. Go for it.
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for giving me an advance copy.