I've read books about new motherhood and postpartum depression before, but none have so gone so deep into the description as The New Mother by Nora Murphy. While handled expertly, I'm afraid it was done a little too well for my enjoyment of the book. It was difficult for me to read. I had no idea it would hit me so hard. It brought back tough memories of dealing with postpartum depression after having my two children. The good thing about The New Mother, there are resources listed for help if you or anyone you know is dealing with postpartum depression or psychosis. I appreciated that.

The New Mother is a slow burn domestic thriller revolving around Natalie, a new mother dealing with postpartum depression and a colicky baby, and her neighbor Paul, who sees an opportunity to take advantage of Natalie's fragile state of mind. There wasn't much suspense related to the interaction with the neighbor. You could pretty much see where the story was headed. I wish there was an interesting plot twist or two thrown in.

All said, it was a good book. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it. Just be careful about the postpartum depression. I didn't realize how hard that would hit me 25 to 30 years after dealing with it. I'm giving The New Mother 3 stars. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The New Mother by Nora Murphy

A different take on entrapment when a new neighbor, who is also a new mother, gets tangled up with a stay-at-home dad. Her off the charts anxiety and new mother self-doubt add to her vulnerability.

Newborn Oliver will not sleep. Mother Natalie breast feeds him day and night and gets no rest herself. Next door neighbor Paul ingratiates himself into her daily routine and becomes Mr. Wonderful, while husband Tyler gets pushed to the back burner.

As things get more complicated, Natalie needs Paul more and more. Step in Erin, Paul’s wife with a threat to Natalie. Paul has his plan all worked out and Natalie cannot see his deception.

A little long on the Oliver will not sleep passages, but overall a good four star story with some suspense. My thanks to #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for the ARC.

Natalie has a brand new baby. She doesn’t sleep because her baby rarely sleeps. She chooses to give up her job to care for the baby because it is all too much. Until one day, she meets her new neighbor. He is a stay at home dad and offers lots of help to get Nat through the early days. It’s a new friendship that she looks forward to even as her own marriage appears to be fracturing. Until her neighbor’s wife turns up dead, and suddenly Natalie feels like Alice in Wonderland and everything isn’t as it appears. Many great things about this story, but the big drawback for me is that this is a really slow burn. It takes forever to get to the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advance copy.

This was an incredibly predictable book with zero surprises or mystery. I requested this as an advanced copy and was excited to be selected but once I finished and reread the synopsis I wondered what drew me to this book. The book was written well but the plot as I said was predictable.

WOW! My sons are grown now, and I've all but forgotten what those sleepless nights were like! My oldest son liked being awake at night and would sleep more during the day which was extremely difficult.

This book brought it all back! The author did a spectacular job of describing the new mom's feelings and her thoughts; it was like being in her body and experiencing what she did.

Overall, this is a masterful work of fiction and one that might do some good for mothers experiencing postpartum depression or even worse.

Owww. this is a good one. Brings back the lonely, tired, exhausted feelings of being a new Mother. Who is trying to help and who is up to no good? Just overwhelming for this new mother.

If you are looking for a very painfully accurate depiction if postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis, this is your book. If you’re looking for a spine tingling thriller, not so much.
But really though, I could tell that the author had struggled through PPD because it was so clearly written in a LOT of detail.
I really wish that this book was a little more mysterious, not so predictable, and had an ending that wasn’t so abrupt. The writing was definitely good, but I thought the story was a little too focused on the new mother aspect and not enough on developing the mystery.

I was intrigued by the premise but a bit disappointed in the story. A bit slow and didn’t hold my interest especially after I figured out the twist very early on. I do appreciate the opportunity to read and I thank the publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

The New Mother, author Nora Murphy's sophomore novel, explores the bewildering world of new motherhood - the joy, wonder and overwhelming love . . . along with the long, sleepless nights and hormonal mood swings that threaten the sanity of overwrought mothers with fussy, colicky babies who refuse to be consoled. While most mothers can sympathize, it's the questionable decisions the protagonist makes going forward that sets the dire tone for this domestic thriller.

Natalie Fanning is a new mother hanging on by a thread at the end of her rope and desperately seeking answers to her baby Oliver's never ending vocal demands. Her growing resentment of her husband Tyler's ability to continue his career and life as normal increases as her despondency escalates. Natalie's forced to give up a satisfying career as a lawyer for a life of isolation enduring endless days and nights of breastfeeding and dirty diapers with a wailing baby. Determined to meet high family and societal expectations, Natalie refuses offers of help choosing instead to become a martyr of sorts. In her loneliness and despair, she turns to the stay-at-home dad Paul Riley, who lives down the street, for help and companionship which he's more than happy to render. Paul's own resentment of his wife Erin, the family breadwinner, is growing as she is pushing Paul to return to the work force after ten years as a stay-at-home dad to their ten year old daughter. What begins as a harmless friendship between Natalie and Paul quickly morphs into something uglier and darker - something Natalie fails to recognize in her sleep deprived, zombie-like state. It seems Paul has become her lifeline . . . but at what cost?

The New Mother is a chilling domestic thriller that shines a spotlight on the many challenges of being not only a first time mother, but one suffering from undiagnosed postpartum depression or psychosis which is obvious only to readers. Murphy excels at characterizations and building empathy for characters like Natalie. The strong support cast is also well defined contributors to the validity of this story. While the pace is rather slow, I believe it's the author's intention to afford readers time to buy into the utter misery and hopelessness felt by Natalie. As the story unfolds, her downward spiral and increasing dependency upon Paul creates a malicious undertone that prevails throughout fueled even more as Paul's intentions become clearer to readers. While little is left to the readers's imagination when it comes to the true villain's intent and motive in The New Mother, knowing doesn't prevent readers from experiencing the trepidation of a perilous journey as they watch a train wreck waiting to happen.

Nora Murphy's The New Mother is an unique, eye-opening domestic thriller that's sure to touch a chord with mothers and caregivers everywhere. The author does a fantastic job highlighting the many challenges mothers face adjusting to the demands of motherhood. Fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy this well-developed story.

The New Mother is a novel that has left me conflicted. I think that in an outline, this story has a lot of promise. In its execution however, I really needed more.

Similar to other reviewers I share a lot of the same complaints. First of all, every single character in this book drove me insane. I totally understand that the theme of the novel is centered around the challenges that come with experiencing new motherhood along with postpartum depression and psychosis. It shows Natalie transforming into someone who’s irritable and irrational due to this condition. So reading her perspective in this book is really hard for the reader when you’re continuously watching her fail to communicate her feelings and refuse help time and time again. Really I think the true blame for my annoyance with this is that for the first 60% of the novel we don’t get to see much else.

The pacing needed to be different for sure. Since this book is listed as a thriller, it’s very disappointing to find that there’s only about 40 ish percent of this type of plot. It’s really a shame because I really enjoyed the final quartile “The Cat and the Mouse” and if this plot line was interwoven better throughout the whole book, my engagement wouldn’t have suffered for a single beat. Throwing all of the investigation in only 10 or so chapters felt very underdeveloped. Thus, the end felt very rushed and made me want to know more. It felt like I waited 5 hours in line for a 5 minute experience
.
Additionally, Paul wasn’t a very compelling character. He wasn’t very clever and really just irritated me. He was quite stupid and not very fleshed out. I wish he had something else. As was Erin, she really lacked in this book. I wanted to understand her motivations and thought processes more. Like other components of this novel… I Want MORE.

All in all I think this book is going to end up being a 2.5 for me. I enjoyed the last 10 chapters but other than that there was a lot left to desire from this book.

Thank you to Nora Murphy, St. Martin's Press-Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ebook copy of The New Mother for me to read and review. This was a very raw, challenging story of a new mothers experience which was interesting but I didn't find the writing to be very compelling. I have enjoyed Murphy's other books, so I was surprised to find this one didn't grab me and I found it a much slower read than I anticipated. I figured out the twist early on and felt that the story took a long time to get to the "good parts". The main character's actions to clear her name were interestingly written and that part did catch my attention. Overall, I felt this book was good but not great.

I struggled with this, and put it down multiple times to give it a few days before trying it again. Natalie, a brand new mother, is struggling with adjusting to her new life as stay at home mom to a colicky baby. I get that struggle, and I felt for her...but then it became ridiculous. She was awful and the novel became miserable to read. The premise is great - the neighbor who has a plan and uses Natalie's vulnerability to his advantage...but it just didn't work for me. I feel like it was really a warning and maybe a lecture about how bad postpartum depression can get. Motherhood is tough, I get it (I have 4 children!), but this was too preachy and it didn't work as a novel for me.

Many, many thanks to St. Martins Press, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!!

Thank you to @stmartinspress @minotaur_books for sending me a copy of THE NEW MOTHER by Nora Murphy to read. This one is out now!

I adored Nora Murphy’s previous book, THE FAVOR, but this one didn’t work as well for me. This was the slowest of burns and the sloggiest of slogs. The bulk of this one is full of descriptions of a new mother and two unhappy marriages. It just didn’t feel much like a mystery or thriller for the little bit of that payoff at the end. Can’t win em all, right? I do highly recommend THE FAVOR still and am definitely excited to give Murphy another try on her next one.

I really enjoyed this story. The only complaint I have about it is that it could’ve been a lot shorter than it was. It got quite repetitive at times. This book really focuses on postpartum depression. I thought it was a decent thriller, but nothing that really wowed me. 3.75-4 stars!

What an unexpected read this was! I received a widget for the ARC, became intrigued by the blurbs, and then promptly forgot about the premise. When I started reading, I could commiserate with new mom Natalie - the all-night feedings, lack of sleep, baby crying jags, feelings of failure - I could go on and on. The author definitely brought back those overwhelming feelings I had years ago when my children were newborns. Then, as the book went on, and I realized what was going on and where it was going, I was 100% in.

I highly recommend going into this novel not knowing or "forgetting" what it's about, so that you can go on the ride that author Nora Murphy takes you on.

Thanks to #StMartinsPress #MinotaurBooks and #Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Just thinking of the premise of this book gives me the chills. We have a new mother that is struggling with a Colli Ky baby and in comes the oh so friendly MALE neighbor to offer a helping hand. Natalie’s character was the most relatable character I’ve read in a long time. That may be because I’m a mom, but her story really was powerful. This is a dual POV novel with the reader being able to hear from her neighbor Paul as well. There’s no big secret because it’s obvious something is off about him but this book was still layered with suspense.

I really didn't like the characters in this book. I also thought the story really start way to late. Thank you, NetGalley.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur, and Nora Murphy for an ARC of this book!**

“Motherhood is tough. If you just want a wonderful little creature to love, you can get a puppy.” – Barbara Walters

Natalie Fanning is about to learn the meaning of the word 'tough'...in ways she NEVER could have anticipated. Nobody said motherhood was easy, but nobody could have prepared her for postpartum life either. On top of a difficult and arduous labor, Natalie's bundle of joy, Oliver, is anything but. He won't sleep (unless he's contact napping) and breastfeeding has sapped all of her remaining energy. Being up at all hours and having the life force draining out of her, Natalie feels trapped, isolated, and like she's slowly losing her mind...but at the same time, can't fathom life without the tiny person she brought into the world.

Husband Tyler wants to help, but he can't quite figure out how to stand in for Natalie, and she won't even usually let him try....but somebody else is waiting in the wings who seems to know ALL the tricks. Paul, a neighbor from down the street, makes Natalie's acquaintance and as a daughter of a 10 year old himself, knows just how to calm little Oliver. He seems to have the magic touch, and it gives Natalie hope for the first time. Nat is FINALLY able to focus on herself for a few hours: even just having time to shower and take a catnap feels like a gift.

But Paul has had his eye on this new mom for a while...and she isn't the first neighbor to live in that house that he has befriended. Paul's cold, stringent, and well-to-do wife Erin has him at his wits' end and in his mind, divorce isn't an option, for fear of losing custody of his daughter AND his cushy lifestyle. Could the answer to his problems be right in front of his eyes...in the form of one sleep deprived, desperate new mom...too forgetful to notice the small details, and too intrigued and charmed by Paul to question his motives...no matter how DEADLY the consequences?

Murphy is a student of law, and her first book The Favor was in line with a trend popping up in domestic suspense and women's fiction of late: women with an axe to grind getting well-deserved revenge on the deplorable men in their lives. The plot was intricate and handled the subject matter of domestic violence and intimate partner violence in a visceral, real, and sensitive way, while still providing some twists and turns to remind you it was indeed a fictitious tale. Though aspects were predictable, it had range and depth of emotion and was grounded in reality.

The New Mother had the same potential: the difference being that while Murphy nailed some of the emotions and thoughts that are part and parcel with the early days of new motherhood...this book had little success in any other arena. In fact, there was SO much heavy focus on all of the negative aspects of becoming a mom, that in some ways it became too much to read, even though I found it remarkably accurate. My son just turned two not too long ago, and though I am not too far removed from this time period, this book certainly gave me a violent shove back into the mindset and torturous sleep deprived feelings that in many ways I've forgotten. While the depictions were spot on, I could see it being arduous and even annoying to read to those who have no interest in child rearing or also for those who have struggled to conceive, so be forewarned.

Aside from this angle of the book, however, you'll quickly come to realize that these characters aren't particularly realistic in thought or action, and Paul in particular is unlikable from the jump. We aren't given enough information about Tyler to like or dislike him, and this might be because the only insight we receive on him is from Natalie's POV, and he isn't exactly her favorite person. Even Paul's estimation of Natalie is all over the place: one minute he assumes she will figure out certain things because she's an intelligent lawyer, and in the next breath he pats himself on the back for outwitting her.

Once the murder happens, things sort of fall apart completely in terms of the narrative, and there are plot holes aplenty (at least, IMO) including somewhat incompetent police/detectives, ONE piece of evidence and some tomfoolery with cell phones that somehow makes and breaks an investigation. I also had trouble with buy in with the motivation of one character (I won't name names to avoid spoilers) but again, this took the focus OFF of the very important message about postpartum depression and psychosis that Murphy was trying to shoehorn in here and left me somewhere in between frustrated and annoyed.

I know Murphy can plot better than this, for one simple reason: she has before. I would have much preferred a relationship/family drama that tackled this same subject matter, but kept the focus on the dynamics of a new family and how a baby changes and tests every relationship in the home. The murder may have been 'necessary' to create conflict, but the REAL 'death' a new mom experiences is the death of her old self and her old way of life: this alone would give her plenty to talk about for the length of this book, and possibly more. I often feel that authors end up obligated to write one 'style' of book, but sometimes have something very different to say, and I truly believe this was the case here.

Murphy also helpfully adds some resources at the end of the book for those who may be struggling with postpartum depression and psychosis, and given that the numbers are constantly on the rise (and so many cases go untreated AND aren't even diagnosed!) NOW is definitely the time to have this conversation: I'm just not sure if Natalie's world of mayhem, murder, and motherhood was the right PLACE to have it.

2.5 stars

The New Mother
Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy

Released June 30
Genre: Thriller/mystery

Summary: New Mom, Natalie, feels the effects of having a new born, collicky baby who doesn’t sleep. As a result of lack of sleep herself, her mental health suffers. Add the resentment she harbours toward her husband for making partner at his firm and still being able to be himself and work while she feels ‘stuck’, Natalie leans on a new neighbour, Paul, who is miraculously great with babies. But Paul has his own agenda and reasons for befriending the new Mom, and as the story progresses we see (unlike Natalie) just how sinister his reasons are.

My Thoughts: I really liked this one for many reasons. It was written through Natalie’s perspective in 1st person and through Paul’s perspective in 3rd person. This shift in POV and perspective added drama and flavour to the story and characters.
I was instantly brought back to early motherhood and the struggles I went through trying to juggle a house, mat leave, laundry, a new baby…it can be a lot for a new mom. I related to Natalie and wanted to help her get through it, like a friend. But, as the story progressed, I began to resent her treatment of her husband and also her insistence with wanting to spend time with Paul, but I also understood she was not herself, she was sick and her husband didn’t notice she was suffering from Postpartum psychosis…The heart of the problem.

The first half of the book is slow, and a tad repetitive, mainly focusing on the issues of having a new born but then once the 50% mark hit, it took off like a winding, fast rollercoaster, and I held on tight with white knuckles until the wild ride was over.

Well developed characters, and an ending that left me well satisfied! The only thing preventing me from giving it 5 stars was the slow, repetitive start.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#postpartumdepression
#bookaboutmotherhood
#thriller
#reviewer

OMG, this was a wild ride. I often get really infuriated reading books about first-time mothers who essentially get no support from their husbands, but I stuck it out and finished the book. Nora Murphy knows how to illustrate elements of Post-Partum Depression, a job well done. I am very thankful to Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books, Nora Murphy, and NetGalley for granting me Audiobook access and a physical copy of the book before it's projected to publish on May 30, 2023.

Natalie Fanning is a new mother to a miserable/colicky baby who can't seem to acclimate to being a newborn. Unable to get sleep, or have any sense of sanity, Natalie and her husband, Tyler aren't having a great go at parenthood. Tyler is gone at work all the time, and when he is home, he doesn't want to help with the baby, or can't seem to do anything right by baby Oliver.

One day Natalie stumbles upon a neighbor who's like the baby-whisperer, for he can calm Oliver down in mere seconds. Natalie and Paul strike up a friendship instantly, but Paul has secrets that he's keeping from everyone, including his not-so-distant homicidal plans. When Paul's wife goes missing, everyone always blames husband, but this husband is on the ball and already has a plan sorted out to frame a certain sleep-deprived mother, and cash out on that life insurance check...

Skeevy, but so well done.