Author: Sally Hepworth
ISBN: 9781760552183
RRP: $29.99
Publication Date: 29 January 2019
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
I have been a fan of Sally Hepworth ever since reading her debut and I always look out for her latest release.
The Mother-In-Law is a story that dragged me in from the very beginning and did not want to let go. Of late my reading has been sorely neglected, even books I enjoy have taken me two weeks to read. I got through the Mother-In-Law in about 4 days. If not for work and fitting in some last minute family time before the holidays ended it would have been much less.
I truly believe that this is going to be a story that stays with me, a story that makes me think beyond the surface and remember that you can never truly know another person’s mind.
The relationship between mother and daughter-in-law is often one that comes under scrutiny and is stereotypically fraught with tension. That is not always the case of course but there are always exceptions to the stereotypes.
I loved this book and I think it tells an important story, but I also think it is going to be one of those books that each reader is going to take their own experiences into and that is definitely going to colour their reading experience. Already I have read a couple of reviews that are so different from what I thought that I almost had to wonder if we read the same book.
Hepworth has written very strong characters, very set in their ways and single-minded about their purpose. I can see how they would be perceived differently depending on where you’re coming from but I quite enjoyed the way it played out.
The narrative flips between the present and the past and is told by Lucy and Diana, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. These two characters are polar opposites on the surface. Lucy lost her mother as a teenager and though she has done perfectly well with just her dad it hasn’t stopped her missing that maternal influence so she has always dreamed of the day she would marry and gain not only a husband but also a mother-in-law with whom she can bond over baking. I’m sure this is something many young wives can relate to, not necessarily because they lost their mother young. There are many reasons we may look for that maternal connection with a mother-in-law.
Diana is a character who is going to divide readers of this one. She is a hard nut who doesn’t like attention and doesn’t share a lot about herself, she’s uncomfortable with attention and that makes it difficult to get to know her.
The Mother-In-Law opens with the news that Diana has been found dead in her home; it looks like suicide but the police need to investigate to be sure.
It is soon apparent that though it looks like suicide there is also evidence of suffocation, and everyone in the family is hiding something.
The narrative unfolds through past and present and by a third of the way in I felt truly sad for Diana. Yes, she comes across as hard and cold but through the first person narratives Hepworth allows us into her head so we see a little more of who she really is. We begin to understand the thinking behind her actions.
Hepworth has woven a gripping suspense that is character driven, and by the most fascinating characters. I found Diana to be the most fascinating by far. Yes, she has her faults but everything she did was from a good place; even if no-one else could see that.
The Mother-In-Law was a compelling and complex story of family, love, desire and devotion. I loved it and I could talk about it all night but there are too many twists and too many side story arcs that it would be easy to throw in a massive spoiler that might affect someone else’s enjoyment.
I found it an insightful and thought-provoking read that made me think about all the different ways there are to interpret anything, and how easy it is to misunderstand what was intended. How easy it is for us to interpret with our own insecurities and therefore totally miss the meaning of the words/gesture. We don’t always know and understand the background of the family we marry into so we can’t understand some of the gestures. To be completely honest we can’t know anyone else’s mind completely so we can never completely understand what motivates them.
Diana’s was a complex backstory and I loved getting to know her a little better. I think she was a strong and loving character, devoted to her family and doing what she thought was best even if it didn’t always hit the mark. I think it’s sad how much understanding dawned after it was way too late.
The Mother-In-Law is book #2 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2019.
You can follow Sally Hepworth on Facebook, her Website and Twitter.
The Mother-In-Law is published by Pan Macmillan and is available now through Angus & Robertson, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to Pan Macmillan we have 3 copies of The Mother-In-Law to giveaway to readers. So for your chance to win please tell us in the comments below about your most memorable mother-in-law moment.
Competition closes 28/02/19 midnight AEST. You must be subscribed to the Beauty and Lace newsletter OR a Facebook fan to enter. Make sure you use a valid email address so we can contact you if you are a lucky winner
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I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
My mother in law is sadly not with us anymore but when I first met her she said to me “ thanks for marrying my son “ she was a lovely lady
The second meeting with the mother-in-law we were talking about babies and children, who knows why. She mentioned that her son was premature except for down there, the nurses commented on his “two jellybeans” for a small baby. At that point she turned to me saying, “I guess you’d know if they are still substantial”. I nearly died
Mother-in-law, sister-in-law and I had been out for dinner, walking back to the car, Mother-in-law walked right into a grass covered hole. She went in right up to her boobs, sister-in-law and I couldn’t stop laughing at Mums misfortune. It was a ‘bonding’ moment that years later is still referred back to with mirth.
Staying with my then boyfriend at his mothers house I did a load of ‘intimates’ washing and my boyfriends mum offered to hang it out for me. Not thinking I just said yes. I heard her screech oh my god not my little boy. I went running out to the clothesline only to discover she was holding up my thong. Once she got her composure back she said I just don’t see the value in a scrap of material. Needless to say I did my own washing and hung it out myself after that episode.
Memorable of meeting my mother in law for the first time at her place for Christmas lunch which I had no idea I was actually going till 1 hour before I arrived. I honestly thought I had arrived at the house of those old movies Ma & Pa Kettle. She was a bigger build, wearing a shift dress and her hair was pinned back with a thousand bobby pins and she wreaked of Charlie perfume and wore the most ghastly red lipstick and bright red rouge on her lips and to top it off, a very high pitched voice. I should have run then but I did end up marrying her son. Nope it didn’t last though.
I don’t have a mother-in-law as I’ve never had someone love me enough to want to marry me.!
Instead I have filled my life with travel, cats, books and tattoos which all have millions of stories of their own!!
Sadly, my mother in law died before I ever met my husband. However, his sister is 15 years older than he is, and in my view is just as maddening as any mother in law could ever be. She is completely unable to grasp the fact that my eldest is deaf. When he was little, he wouldn’t sleep, and she spent an hour giving me useless instruction after useless instruction.
“Leave an audio book playing.” He can’t hear it.
“Leave some music playing.” He can’t hear it.
“Don’t make eye contact, just use a stern tone of voice and send him back to bed.” He CAN’T HEAR ME and needs the eye contact to communicate.
And so on..
I accidentally put my hand on my Mother-in-law’s breast and was pretty embarrassed by it and couldn’t apologise enough. She tried to make me feel better and make a joke about it so she grabbed my breast back and it was absolutely hilarious.
my mother in law once got kidnapped, the kidnappers asked for her ransom of $100,000,000. . i said ill pay you to keep her.
an old joke
We had travelled to Adelaide to visit my mother in-law and for one of our day trips we went to the Harbour Town near the Adelaide Airport. During the visit my 10 year old son had a red slushy. That night after we all went to bed my son got up during the night saying he was feeling sick. As the toilet was down the other end of the house, he did not make it in time and vomited all over my mother-in-law’s hall runner and wooden floorboards. We were trying to clean up the vomit, so it would not stain the rug, when my mother in-law came out, saw what happened and got upset, whilst walking forward my mother-in-law walked in the vomit and slipped over and landed on her fanny. The three of us, excluding my son, were on all fours in the middle of the night trying to clean the vomit of the rug so it would not stain. It was very funny and when I think about it I have a laugh inside myself, not something I shared with my husband and mother in-law as they would not find it funny.