The Other Mother

When Daphne Marist and her infant daughter, Chloe, pull up the gravel drive to the home of Daphne’s new employer, it feels like they’ve 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 she’s on the run from a controlling husband who has threatened to take her daughter away.

Daphne’s 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 she’s plagued by dark moods and intrusive thoughts that convince her she’s capable of harming her own daughter. When Daphne is diagnosed with Post Partum Mood Disorder, her downward spiral feels unstoppable—until she meets Laurel Hobbes.

Laurel, who also has a daughter named Chloe, is everything Daphne isn’t: charismatic, sophisticated, fearless. They immediately form an intense friendship, revealing secrets to one another they thought they’d 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 price—one that will ultimately lead her to that towering mansion in the Catskills where terrifying, long-hidden truths will finally be revealed.


My Review


I was into this book. I started it at night, which was not a good idea. This is because I was already half way through the book before I had to make myself put it down to get some sleep. Yet, I was right back picking up the book as soon as I could.

When it came to Daphne; she was fine. If she had not been dealing with the mental health issue then, she would have been an average person. I am not saying that the mental health issue made her more interesting but it was the story as a whole that made Daphne intriguing.

As far as psychological thrillers go, I really liked how it was subtle in the plot. It allowed me to be drawn in a little bit more and more as the story went on. I thought, I had it all figured out but then the author put a twist in the storyline that I didn't really see coming. The Other Mother is a psychological thriller that will have you losing sleep in a good way while keeping you on the edge of your seat!