‘The babies demonstrate no signs of pain, and no will to stay in the world.’

Six months ago, in a post pandemic UK, a healthy newborn baby is stillborn. The first of many: close to 1 in 3 pregnancies is ending in stillbirth. Why? Expectant mothers are being closely monitored to see if a cause can be identified.

This is another challenge for the UK, still recovering from the effects of the pandemic and grappling with floods and rising sea levels because of climate change. The government’s response to these issues is to restrict individual freedoms. Citizens are required to wear smart watches, initially to monitor their health and wellbeing during the pandemic, but now the watches monitor an individual’s location, track their spending, and can record their conversations. All of this is supported by new laws passed by the government. And now young pregnant women are going missing. What is happening?

Emma is a midwife, trying to do her best in these difficult circumstances. She’s a single parent: her daughter Lainey is 17. And when Lainey finds herself pregnant, both women are in danger. Emma’s estranged mother Geraldine may be able to help but contacting her has its own risks.

Conspiracy theories abound and social unrest increases. The parents of the missing women are unable, unwilling, or afraid to speak out. And the stillbirths continue.

This is a fast-paced dystopian thriller in which a few heroic women work together to try to uncover the truth. Aspects of this novel are uncomfortably plausible in our current pandemic world, and Ms Foster brings her story to life through well-developed very human characters.

An uncomfortable, engrossing and thought-provoking read.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Thank you very much to Netgalley for providing a digital copy of this terrific book.

It's a story set in the future following the events of Covid 19. The concern on everyone's mind is whether a new pandemic is likely to emerge or whether a new terrorist strike has occurred. Despite having the best medical facilities, a growing number of stillbirths are being documented, and no one knows why.

This is one of the most gripping and captivating books I've ever read. All of the primary characters in this book are female, and each of them is brilliantly written. I don't have a favorite character because I enjoy all of them: Emma, Lainey, Geraldine, Meena, and Serena. Though it was brief, the relationship between Emma and Lainey, as well as Emma and Geraldine, was pure and poignant. Characters that are smart and fearless, with no bullshit or self-pity.

Despite being hardworking in their occupations, all of the female characters were tough, rebellious, resilient, calculative, and brilliant. Every character in this novel served a purpose and complemented one another. This novel kept me on edge the entire time I was reading it. The only thing I wish was that the conclusion had been more detailed; I was curious as to what would happen next.

This is a fast-paced book that I couldn't put down till the finish. It's without a doubt one of my favorite books.
I'd like to read more books by this author

Engrossingly disturbiing. The Hush is the type of fiction which is so closely aligned with this could really happen that it was a relief to be able to finally put it down with a feeling of satisfaction and 'perhaps the good guys will win.' Well done Sara Foster. The characters are believable and they have real-life feelings and emotions which sometimes aren't as clear in a thriller setting. I loved Geraldine ... she had me thinking of parallels to another Australian feminist. The idea of the rise of patriarchal control in an induced state of emergency is something I think we all fear and would stand up like Emma and Lainey to not only be counted but force them to count us. Recommended.

Set in a near future, post-covid Britain, still recovering from the social and economic effects of the virus, but also dealing with rising sea levels and floods caused by climate change. Post pandemic, the government has gradually mandated several new laws in the interests of community health and safety and now everyone is required to wear a smart watch. Initially the watches were to monitor peoples’ health and well-being, but now they are capable of monitoring their location, track their spending and even record their conversations.

The country is also grappling with a new emergency as a sharp increase in stillbirths is being reported. Babies are being born at term, after a healthy pregnancy but never take a breath. Scientists are racing to find out what is wrong with these babies and expectant mothers are being closely monitored to see if a cause can be found. When pregnant teenage girls start disappearing, there are rumblings on social media of a government conspiracy.

Emma is a midwife in a London maternity hospital, at the front line of the new epidemic of stillborn babies sweeping the country. When her teenage daughter, Lainey becomes pregnant Emma knows she will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

This is a scary dystopian world with shades of 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale, where politicians have gradually gained coercive control post-pandemic over the population in the name of community health and are now seeking to take control of women’s pregnancies and childbirth. The novel is populated with strong female characters who are not prepared to sit back and let this happen. Lainey herself is courageous and resilient and is fortunate to be surrounded by strong women in her mother and their friends as well as her fiercly feminist grandmother, who are all prepared to fight for her and to discover why pregnant teens are being taken and uncover the mystery surrounding the stillbirths. It makes for a gripping plot in a thoughtful and thought-provoking novel.

The Hush is the first Sara Foster book I have read and if this is an indication of her writing then I will definitely be looking up her backlist.

The story is set in London 7 years post COVID. Emma is a single mum with daughter Lainey. Emma is a midwife at the local hospital where disturbing things are happening. Quite randomly some babies are appearing stillborn, and no one knows why. At the same time young pregnant girls are disappearing with their families. This is now an era where everyone has to wear tracking watches and there are rules and regulations from the Government as to where you can and can't go. It seems most people can live within these rules but then the unthinkable happens, Lainey becomes pregnant!

What a fast paced thriller this was from start to finish, and I was totally invested in the story and the characters. Does make you wonder what our lives post-COVID may be, and I applaud the author for setting this book in the 7 years after COVID with such imagination that I hope will not come true! 5 stars from me.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Net Galley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a book!

This is a thriller set after Covid times, which makes it even more believable that things that happen in the story could actually happen in real life.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I could not put this book down as I needed to know more. Sarah Foster is an author to watch. She is now one of my favourites.

This book has rocketed to the top of my "favourite 2021 books" list! I honestly could not stop reading it. Emma and Lainey are normal people living in abnormal times. The suspense is delicious and the supporting characters so engaging. The light dystopian premise is laid out so convincingly I was ready to join the rebellion. The writing is excellent and the plot very intelligent. I will be recommending this book to everyone!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Wow! What a ride!
Yes I know it's in the thriller category but this book had me on the edge of my seat the whole way.

It took me 3 days to read it and if I didn't have to work it would have been less.
The characters are so realistic you feel you would recognise them in the street. It's certainly a tale for our times as set a few years post Covid.
Some characters are instantly likeable with others, not so much.

I will be seeking out more books by this author and hoping they are all up to this standard.
If you love a good thriller, this one's for you.

I am unable to review this book as it did not come in a kindle format so I can read it. It's too faint in the NetGalley app

Interesting read. I didn’t think it was great though.

This is a dystopian thriller set in future England. Covid is now in the past but society is still marred by its adverse effects. Climate change is causing many problems and the number of stillbirths has soared. Approximately 1 in 3 babies die at birth.

The population is controlled by the Government in a draconian way. People are required to wear smart watches that monitor them always. Young pregnant women have been disappearing. A chilling rumour abounds that they are being taken into custody by the Government.

Emma is a midwife. Her teenage daughter Lainey is pregnant. A smug politician’s son fancies Lainey but she is pregnant by another student who is a bit of an odd character. Emma is worried about Lainey and possible government intervention given her pregnancy. Lainey tries to escape without people finding out that she is pregnant. It’s difficult to know who she can trust.

This is a fast moving thriller focusing on both Lainey possibly escaping and avoiding government custody, and the mystery of why babies are dying and pregnant girls going missing.

I found the plot to be a bit unrealistic. There were too many coincidences relating to how people knew each other from the past.

I enjoyed Sara Foster’s other books much more.

Many thanks to Netgalley for a digital ARC of this book.

This is a book you will still be thinking about days after you turn the last page.

I found it a tad slow to start (but that also may be as I was reading on the Netgalley app. My first experience using the app, which I found a slightly frustrating... I lost my place a few times when I moved to the next page, and it turned several pages instead, or even when I bumped it accidently.) Once I got into the story I couldn't put it down.

The two main characters, mother and daughter Emma and Lainey, are both believable. Sadly, so is the plot line, with watches tracking their every move, and the government putting restrictions in place that isn't always for their benefit.

Is it dystopian? Sci-Fi? or even the near distant future? The Hush has The Handmaids Tale vibes, with a slight YA feel. I highly recommend.

This is a pacy and confronting dystopian thriller set in a near future England, one which has moved on from Covid but is still scarred by its effects. It is "still tormented by years of lockdowns and losses...the time it had taken to get back to some semblance of normality beyond the Covid pandemics and food shortages". On top of that, climate change is wreaking havoc and there has been a steep increase in the number of stillbirths with as many as 1 in 3 babies dying at birth.

The population is tightly controlled by the Government. Everyone is required to wear smart watches that monitor them at all times. In addition, young pregnant women have started to disappear with rumours that they are being taken into custody by the Government for safekeeping.

Against all of this we have Emma, who is a midwife, and her teenage daughter Lainey who is pregnant. Emma is determined to keep her daughter safe but doing so means that she will need to evade Government oversight.

I really liked the thought that had gone into the way this world might operate and the second half in particular is very fast paced. There’s the mystery of why babies are dying and the thriller aspect is about how Lainey might manage to escape being taken into custody.

However I didn’t love this: the plot is improbable and relies on coincidences (it feels like almost every character had gone to school with another character). It also reads more like a YA novel, both in good ways (it’s fast paced and vividly captures teenage life) but also not so good (people divide neatly into “good” and “bad”). If you enjoyed this, I also recommend The Mother Fault or The Road to Winter.

“Every day she hears a new theory, but nothing fits. This one feels primal, beyond human control.”
“The Hush” is a dystopian thriller, set some years after the impact of COVID-19, a few years into the future. It is an interesting plot, with plausible twists and turns that could emanate from our current predicaments. In particular, young pregnant women are disappearing in a time where all citizens are being monitored, and babies are being born, refusing to breathe and dying.
We meet Lainey, a teenager who discovers she is pregnant, her mum Emma, dog Fergus and three little birds she rescues and feeds like ‘mama bird’. There is a lot of maternal energy through the book – including a strained relationship with Emma’s mother Geraldine, and Emma’s occupation as a midwife. So many connections to having children, caring for children and the resilience that flows from generation to generation. Even the strengths in the relationships between Lainey and Serena (her best friend) and to the other women that come to the rescue and work to infiltrate the horrors that are emerging through the oppressive government systems. The value of human connection is strong, and the strength among women is even stronger.
The world that Lainey is living in as a teenager is not for the faint hearted – everyone was a monitoring watch. In a way, one could relate it to the power many wield in their fit bits and apple watches – you are always connected to “the system” but you don’t realise it – this book brings that connection to the forefront, almost too late to do anything about it.
A little confronting to read in lockdown, but one that opens your eyes to a future that could be possible.

Wow i loved this. I love dystopian books and Handmaids Tale is on of my favourites so this was right up my alley.
I found this story very thought provoking and with a group of characters that you will care for this one is well worth a read.

I can already tell that The Hush by Sara Foster is going to be an instant bestseller. It is a brilliantly told depiction of motherhood, rebellion and sisterhood. I flew through reading it because I could not put it down and was completely absorbed by the story.

The Hush is set in the not-too-distant future in a world teetering on a knife’s edge between normality and the descent into dystopia. Medical professionals grapple with finding a cure for whatever is causing countless babies to be stillborn. The government has ramped up its hold on the British people, monitoring everything that the population does. Teenage mothers are going missing. And 17-year-old Lainey had just discovered that she is pregnant.

The world that Sara Foster has created is deeply unsettling. This is one of those books where you can see that our own world has every potential to end up like the dystopian future in the book. The technology that she described, while terrifying, is not so different to what we’ve already allowed into our lives (I’m looking at you, Google Home and Apple Watch).

What made this book a 5-star read for me were the characters. They read as authentic and full of spirit - brave Lainey, feisty Sereena and nurturing Emma were my favourites.

If I have one criticism, it would be the constant references to “since Covid”. I would have preferred the author to reference an unnamed pandemic and let the reader infer that it’s Covid-19, rather than repeatedly drawing the reader’s attention to the exact timing of the novel’s setting in our future. It was just a little grating for my taste.

That aside, I would still highly recommend this book. If you liked The Push by Ashley Audrain or Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam, this will be up your street.

5 ⭐️