There were periods of time when Etta managed to act the way others expected her to be. When Cecilia is in the sixth grade, Etta decides to make Cecilia a dress for the school dance. For days she works on it and finally presents it to Cecilia. It’s beautiful, but the dress doesn’t fit and Cecilia can’t get it on. Etta insists that Cecilia wear the dress anyway. She keeps screaming at Cecilia until Henry comes in. Cecilia runs off and by that night Etta has awkwardly sewn panels into the side. Cecilia wears the dress at the next dance and then never again. Violet seems to get on with Fox a lot more than with Blythe, and Blythe starts to think something is wrong with Violet as she starts to grow up. Fox blindly dismisses her concerns and wonders if Blythe could be making things up. Things seem to be better after Blythe has a second child, a son named Sam. Then, something happens that will have devastating consequences. But what if we see things from the mom’s first person POV, and she’s (gasp) not evil? She just feels that something is off with her daughter from birth and struggles to form a connection with her. Is she correct in feeling that way, or is her own ambivalence towards the child creating a young person who lashes out negatively for attention? In addition to being a book about being a mother, Audrain’s novel also looks at the ways behaviors and the effects of those various behaviors get passed down through the generations. Our daughter is staring out the window looking at me, her hands on your son's shoulders. She bends down and kisses him on the cheek. And then again. And then again. The boy likes the affection. He is used to it. He is pointing to the falling snow but she won't look away from me. She rubs the top of his arms as though she's warming him up. Like a mother would do.

There were a couple of times that I got too flustered and put the book down mid-sentence because I needed space from it. This psychological family drama will be your next one-sit read . . . you won't want to miss it Silversurfers

Book Excerpt

I proudly announce another grandiose WINNER! This is freaking earth shattering, oh my goodness what the hell I just read I cannot gather my wits, I feel like hit by car kind of reading!!!!

Blythe neglects to tell Fox the full truth about her distant relationship with her father. Fox, meanwhile, comes from a loving and stable family. After college, they move in together, and Fox is the breadwinner while Blythe pursues her fledgling writing career. He is supportive and thoughtful. At 25, he proposes, and they are married. Their wedding bands previously belonged to Fox’s great-grandmother, Violet.The Push is Canadian author Ashley Audrain's first book, but the domestic thriller is already expected to be one of the biggest books of 2021. Motherhood is just not what Blythe thought it would be, and it seems everyone is doubting her, including herself. After the weekend with Violet, Blythe gets a call from Gemma, who is upset. Gemma says that Jet ended up with a blade that must’ve come from her house. Blythe realizes that Violet must’ve gotten the blade (one of Fox’s model-building tools) that was hidden in her dresser. Moreover, Violet claimed that Blythe just left these things lying open in the house. Blythe denies it, but Gemma clearly doesn’t believe her.

Starkly original and compulsively readable, Ashley Audrain's The Push is a deep dive into the darkest nooks and crannies of motherhood. Raw, visceral, and often disturbing, this is an intense psychological drama that will be embraced by serious book clubs and fans of Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin Kristin HannahThe Push is a startling debut novel and a provocative book that really made an impact on me. I have been thinking about it for years now. It’s a psychological thriller that makes social commentary and really makes you think about motherhood, including its darkest sides. Blythe struggles to connect with her newborn daughter and worries that her own traumatic childhood has damaged her ability to properly bond and nurture as a parent. She battles these thoughts on a daily basis and pushes herself through the endless stress-filled days of parenting a young child. Things seem to be easier once her son is born. This multi-layered family drama is downright chilling, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat until you uncover the most disturbing truths. Blythe recalls her earliest memory from childhood (of herself in a stroller), and she wonders what her son Sam would remember. She imagines it would be the tiles from the changing room at the public pool. Thus, it appears Violet really may be a psychopath and Blythe is vindicated. What’s so haunting about this ending is the chilling truth that Violet is the culmination of generations of parental trauma.

After the run-in, Blythe doesn’t hear from Gemma at first, and Blythe doesn’t attend anymore meetups. Blythe realizes that she misses the friendship. One day, she asks Violet about Gemma, but Violet just says “she’s fine”. Finally, Gemma asks to meet up. Blythe readily agrees. The next day, Blythe starts apologizing profusely (about acting like a psycho), but Gemma simply expresses her condolences about Blythe losing Sam. Then, Gemma asks about what happened with Sam, saying that Fox doesn’t like to talk about it. Blythe explains her version of the story. Then, she asks Gemma whether she’s ever wondered if her son was safe with Violet? Without another word, Gemma rushes off. The Push is written on the edge of a knife. It's a howl in the face of what we think we know - or want to believe - about motherhood. Relentlessly compelling, distressing and beautiful, Ashley Audrain's debut is the next Gone Girl, with shades of We Need to Talk About Kevin. I devoured it whole Marissa Stapley, bestselling author of The Last ResortShe did her best to connect with her daughter Violet but there was something really wrong with her daughter! And nobody believes in Blythe! Her own husband thinks she is incapable to raise their daughter appropriately. There’s something wrong with Blythe! Actually her mother in law also agrees with her son! The Push, which is a debut novel is a psychological thriller that tells the story of three generations of women who have been abused and are passing on their traumas through these generations. The difficult circumstance that Blythe finds herself in is her inability to know what a good mother is or how to become a good mother. She doesn’t have the confidence to trust her own instincts. So, when she finally had her daughter, Violet, nothing seems to be the way it should but how can she truly know. This book makes you think about how fragile mother daughter relationships are and where does the poor treatment between them originate. Blythe is trying to change the sequences of abuse, but her husband is dismissive and provides no support. Thankfully she has a clue what it means to be a real mother by her relationship with a neighbor growing up who gave her real love. All I can say is that it has been a long time since the very last paragraph changed the entire book for me. I read this book in one sitting. Prior to turning her hand to writing, Audrain was publicity director for Penguin Canada, which is now an imprint of the Canadian division of Penguin Random House. [1] [2] In 2015 a health crisis with her youngest child caused her to retire. [ citation needed] She found writing was an occupation she could undertake at home. [ citation needed]