Cathy Hayward has written a book that is an engaging, important and compelling read. Three generations of women, their secrets, their betrayals, their mistakes and their misunderstandings are exposed and tied together to forge a family saga spanning many decades.

When Emma, who has been estranged from her mother Margaret , gets a phone call that Margaret has died, she has to live with the fact that there will no
longer be hope for a reconciliation. As the only living child, Emma expects to be heir to her mom’s possessions but finds that the will says otherwise. Her mom’s apartment goes to Emma’s daughter. And the painting of a girl in a maze which Emma adored, is going to a non family member.

As Emma sifts through Margaret’s belongings as well as her life, she starts to unearth a mountain of secrets that shed new light on the mother she never really knew. As she delves deeper she finds that her mother’s life was not at all as it appeared. Do we ever really know the people we think we know?

Written beautifully with passion and purpose , The Girl in the Midnight Maze, kept me turning pages late into the night. My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union publishers for an ARC in exchange for my review. Five bright stars for a book which was published in November and ready for you to read now.

For decades Emma Bowen has hoped she and her mother, Margaret, might find a way back into each other’s lives. Even as a child, her strongest connection to her mother was a painting Margaret created before Emma was born, of a little girl lost in a maze. So when Margaret dies, gifting the painting to a total stranger, Emma is consumed by grief—for her mother, the little girl, and the relationship they never had.

Clearing out her mother’s seaside flat, Emma is faced with a mountain of possessions and paperwork from a life she knows so little about. When she discovers something that throws doubt over everything she’s ever been told about Margaret’s past, Emma must decide whether to pull at the thread of secrets and lies. Will the truth help her through her grief—or reveal a loss that runs deeper than she ever imagined?

I read this after my mother died and I related so much to Emma. I loved this story.

A heartbreaking book, it's difficult subject matter made it hard to read in parts. I enjoyed the dual aspect style of the book.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book, the characters were well developed and it made me want to read on and know more about the three women. However, it was too sad for me. I got about 40% in and found myself conflicted because I think it´s an important story that should be told, and women´s tragic stories and life experiences and traumas and complicated relationships do belong on the page - but I honestly wasn't up for reading more about women being treated horribly by their husbands, doctors, their friends, family and other women. I might pick it back up another time, but wasn´t in the mindset for it currently.

This book was very slow and drawn out to me. I always enjoy books with dual points of view so I did like that part, The book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my copy of The Girl in the Midnight Maze by Cathy Hayward.
Emma’s mother has died and she doesn’t know how to feel, they’ve been estranged for many years with a fractious relationship before that.
But going to clear her mothers flat she finds things that don’t make sense.
Can solving the puzzle help her understand why things were strained with her mother.
Told from Emma’s point if view with chapters also from her mother Margaret and grandmother Betty.
A thoughtful read about the complexity of families.

Let me just say wow. This was an amazing read. It was so real and raw and being told from 3 povs made it even more interesting. Betty, Margaret and Emma are grandmother, mother and daughter. With the story from their povs, it was interesting to see how a simple decision even as far back as 1937 would affect someone in 2019. The book touches on some uncomfortable and unfortunate but real topics, which were sad to read but interesting to see how the character made it through that adversity. There’s an aspect of found family which I loved, I think that was well written into the plot. This wasn’t a 5 star read for because it took me so long to finish. I felt like the poorly was taking forever to build up but once the author did that, the story went faster.

Thank you to netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was beautifully written, spanning across 3 generations and 3 different time lines, the 1930s, the 1959s and present day it touches on aspects of family secrets, dynamics and the strained relationships of these women. It's is a very good insight into generational trauma, historical woman issues and the hidden reasons behind someone's behaviours.

The Girl in the Midnight Maze is a poignant story of motherhood, mother-daughter relationships, family secrets and intergenerational trauma. Told through multiple POVs, we follow the story through the late 1930’s, 1950s and 2019.

In the present time period, Emma learns that her mother has passed away. Her feelings about her mother’s death are complicated, as they didn’t have a close relationship and hadn’t spent time together in recent years. As she navigates her mum’s estate, belongings and final wishes, she unearths a number of family secrets and doesn’t entirely understand all the choices her mum made in her will.

As someone who has lost both of their parents, I found the topic of navigating grief and discovering family secrets to be quite compelling. I found myself more interested in the present day chapters the pacing of the book was a bit inconsistent. The painting of the Girl in the Midnight Maze holds significance throughout the book, and it was interesting to reflect on the meaning behind her expression as more is revealed throughout the story.

About halfway through I realized the direction of the plot and what we were going to learn about Margaret - I’d advise that folks read the trigger warnings for this book before proceeding as some of the themes could be quite distressing. I had a lot of compassion for all of the women in the story, and wish we had dug a bit deeper into some of the relationships (specifically with Clare and Emma with her daughter)

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy of The Girl In The Midnight Maze.

Emma has a good life, she is married to Nick and they have two children James and Libby. Then one night at dinner she receives a call that her mother Margaret has passed away. She has mixed feelings because they never had the best relationship. While she is settling her mother’s affairs she finds out things she never knew about her mother and starts to understand why she was the way she was. But she starts to wish she never dug into her life because what she finds out is shocking.

This book was difficult because it talked about very tough topics. I would check reviews and trigger warnings before reading this book. There were parts I enjoyed and there were other parts that were heartbreaking to read.

The Girl In The Midnight Maze by Kathy Hayward, when Emma is sitting down to dinner with her family her phone rings and she learned her mom has passed away. Although this is devastating to Emma it wasn’t because her and mom Margaret were close but because due to her mom‘s death they now never will be. Her death leaves Emma many surprises such as leaving her flat to Emma’sdaughter Libby who her and husband Nick always thought the mom disliked and not to their son Jason who she doted on. When all is said and done giving the house to 15-year-old Libby will be small potatoes. The book is told through Emma and her grandmother‘s POV Betty through betties POV it soon turns to Margaret’s POV when she gets older. Emma will uncover secrets and so much more in this Uber interesting story about family and how things were and how things are today. I noticed there’s another book by the author with the similarly named book The Girl In The Maze with the same characters and I would be interested to read it to see if it is the same book or not they don’t mention the paining in the other summery and I totally forgot to mention there was a paining that Emma loved that was given to her mom‘s friend Claire who helps her dig up family secrets. I love Claire by the way there were many times that I found Emma rude, but ultimately did like her I think sometimes an author can create a character that is so true to real life that you would like them through the good and the bad and I found that to be the case with this book. There is a part in the book with Margaret as a teenager that I found totally unbelievable but as it will give plot points away I am not going to put it in my review just know if you like a thrilling thriller about family secrets then you will definitely like this book. Most great mysteries has the MC getting an inheritance that comes with shocking surprises but Emma gets nothing and still gets devastating secrets from her mom‘s past and sees her mom in a whole new light.#NetGalley, #KathyHayward, #TheGirlInTheMidnightMaze,

This was a historical fiction story that dug into some very tough subjects. When Emma goes to clean out her estranged mother’s flat, she finds adoption paperwork for a sister she never knew about. The search for answers leads her down a dark path into family secrets. This was a well written story, but not a particularly enjoyable one due to the subject matter.

A haunting painting on the wall….an estranged mother and daughter.…a story that's been buried for decades—this is how Hayward’s atmospheric novel begins. The storyline echoes back and forth between the two, and finally, the three, primary characters, whose lives have been so different and yet so eerily and unknowingly intertwined.

When Emma’s mother dies, she goes to her house to sort out what to do with everything. There is a painting called “The Girl In the Midnight Maze” that seems to Emma to be watching her. It constantly seems different. But her mother Betty has not left her the painting. Instead of leaving it to her daughter (remember, they're estranged), Betty left it to a woman named Clare whom Emma has never met.

While there, Emma finds a birth certificate and picture that indicate that Betty had another child, when she was much younger. Emma wants to find the unknown sister, but the solicitor won't help her. Clare, who is actually, her mother’s best (and maybe only) friend just might.

About half way through the book, I realized where it was going, and decided at that point not to finish it. I wish there had been some kind of trigger warning before I said I would read the book. As a survivor, the story became immediately painful for me. I would have like to know what was finally learned about the painting called “The Girl in the Midnight Maze” but it just worth the price. I am sorry.

This was my first time reading a book by author Cathy Hayward. The Girl In the Midnight Maze is a story about a families secrets and it’s one I enjoyed reading a lot! I did think it was a rather sad story as it dealt with mothers and daughters who didn’t always get along well and sometimes unfortunately they didn’t really understand or even know each other well. This story is told in 2 different time frames, and it centers around a grandmother, her daughter and then that daughter’s 2 daughters. At the beginning I found it a little confusing about which daughter they were referring to but as the story progressed it all became easier and made perfect sense. It’s a story that covers sexual abuse by a family member, teenage pregnancy and the repercussions that comes after all of this turmoil. I felt really sorry for Emma, the youngest daughter because she never got to bond with her mother or understand why until it was too late. I did think the story ended in the best possible way by having the truth exposed and by doing so I felt that the mother could rest in peace and the 2 sisters could forge a bond with each other and they could unite their families together to become one large extended, happy family. I’d like to thank NetGalley for the arc to read and review. This is a book I would recommend to others with the understanding that it does cover some difficult topics that might be sensitive to some people. Regardless, I really enjoyed reading it and am giving it a 5 star rating. I’m also happy to have found a new author to enjoy and I have already went ahead and pre-ordered her other book that is soon to release and I look forward to reading that when it comes.

Trigger Warning: Sexual assault

This is a story about three generations of woman from 1937, 1952 and 2019— dealing with issues like abuse, single motherhood and abandonment. Over all this book deals with generational trauma as well. Each chapter is from a different time and point of view. Overall I enjoyed the style of writing by the author but I did find many of the topics extremely triggering and anxiety inducing.

Fairly early on in the story I was able to predict the secrets and determine what happened to some of the character in their past the hints were a bit too blatant for me. I was hoping for more of a hunting or magical realism with the painting in the novel — so the concept there kind of fell flat for me unfortunately. The book as a whole had a good plot but sometimes too much information .
I was invested in Emma (2019) as a character and her journey which is what motivated me to finish the story.


Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC . This is my honest review.

The Girl in the Midnight Maze by Cathy Hayward is a poignant and gripping story about motherhood and mother-daughter relationships told in multiple timelines and perspectives. Characters are realistically portrayed and the though there is grief and pain there is also love and tenderness.

Emma has a loving husband and children and a great job. But her mother Margaret bequeathes her unique painting of a little girl to a stranger rather than her, causing her anguish. Emma has a daughter of her own whom she cherishes but she laments her nonexistent relationship with her own mother. She journeys into introspection during a time of healing and learning. As layers are peeled, she becomes wiser. The back stories are crushing and emotive.

The allegorical painting added to the mystique of the story and caused me to really think about the emotions displayed. Mother-daughter stories grip my heart as I am extremely close to my mom. My heart ached for the characters as they experienced loneliness and sorrow. Hayward's writing is gorgeous. However, I do feel some readers may benefit from trigger warnings as deeply sensitive topics are graphically detailed.

My sincere thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this captivating and different novel.

Betty, her mother, and Emma, her daughter, unravel the story of Margaret in this dual time line novel set in 1937 and the present. Emma's shocked by the fact that Margaret left the beloved painting Girl in the Maze to someone else and, while cleaning out her mother's things, finally understands not only that decision but a lot more. There wee some serious family secrets, largely due to attitudes of the time, that colored Margaret and her relationship with Emma. it's nicely layered tale with strong storytelling and good characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This book was VERY WELL WRITTEN and I did enjoy reading this book BUT trigger warnings were definitely needed. This hit very close to home and at times was difficult to read. I really felt the pain written, so I would recommend this to those who like books about difficult family relationships.

Such a fun read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

"The Girl in the Maze" is a moving novel that explores the intricacies of mother-daughter relationships across three generations. Through a series of uncovered secrets and a mysterious painting, the story unravels the traumatic pasts of Emma, her mother Margaret, and grandmother Betty, revealing how societal expectations and personal struggles shaped their lives and choices. The novel delves into difficult themes of loss, adoption, and societal judgment, particularly towards single mothers in the 1930s, with sensitivity and depth. While heartbreaking at times, "The Girl in the Maze" is ultimately a powerful story about family secrets, the enduring impact of the past, and the importance of understanding and forgiveness.