This is the story of two mothers. One is a new mother with a 6 week old. She is struggling to adapt to love with a newborn, so if that is a trigger for you, this might be the book for you. The other other is the new headmasters wife who struggles to find her place at the new school. Both women had secrets and struggles they were trying to get through. I enjoyed the book and the two stories within one. If you like unique settings (an all boys boarding school in Maine), and relatable characters, you will want to check out this book.

This is a must read!!! Kate Hewlitt’s books really make you think. This is a compelling story about the dynamics of women. As a mother and a teacher I can relate to both Rachel and Laura. Although, I am closer in age to Rachel. I can see how both women made mistakes and how it spiraled out of control.
This book really gets to the heart of what women go through. Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

A story alternating between Rachel and Laura. I found this one to be very slow and not one of Kate Hewitt's best books.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review

The Mother's Secret by Kate Hewitt is a domestic drama set in a small community of a boarding school. Two mothers are struggling with their lives, though years apart with their new roles. They cross paths, and one confides in the other, but one betrays.

Laura, a mom of two teenagers, is struggling with a move that she has to do for her husband's new job. She is isolated, she is lonely, and being an empty nester is not easy to adapt to. Rachel, a new mom, is missing her life before having a baby. She misses teaching, and taking care of the baby alone is incredibly hard for her. She is isolated and lonely as well. Both of these women are connected through the boarding school. How, why, and what happens when these women's lives intersect is the book about.

This story is a slow build one. There's no explosive reveal, but a lot of things happen at the same time. You need to just keep an eye on the incidents. The parallel lives of these women and the underlying commonality make for an interesting read.

Thank you, Bookouture and Netgalley, for this book.

This one will make readers think. Two women, at different stage of motherhood, are forced to make difficult decisions. I had sympathy for both but probably a little more for Rachel. I thought Laura made a lot of mistakes with her situation, firstly she should have told someone immediately and then documented stuff.
Being a teacher myself I hope to never find myself in that predicament.
I also felt bad for Laura being forced to move to such a remote place and leave her 15 year old kid behind, not a good choice and her husband was quite selfish.
It’s a good novel about choices, repercussions, and moving forward.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This book is about two women Laura and Rachel, and how quickly their lives change.

Each chapter of the book is about the other lady, the story keeps you engrossed and gives different viewpoints of the incidents that occur.


I highly recommend this book.

A simple and slow read, about two women, Laura and Rachel, both are English teachers. One is adjusting to the role of new mother and other is adjusting to new place as headmasters wife. Both of them feel lonely and isolated. Both got problems of their own. Mostly told through feelings. The Synopsis told us a different story. It turned out to be completely different. An emotional read.

This review is based on an uncorrected e-galley of this novel.

I really couldn't get into this one. 25% of the way through and I'm still just hearing about the background of the school and the 2 main characters. I went into this expecting a thriller, so that may be part of why I'm disappointed, but at the same time, it's a really slow burn.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for an e-ARC of this novel.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Mother’s Secret’ written by Kate Hewitt in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Laura Haile is the new headteacher’s wife at Wilderness School and Rachel Marshall is their English teacher who’s on maternity leave. Their lives change as Laura is given a temporary position at the school and receives unwanted attention from one of her pupils, and Rachel who’s exhausted as she struggles to pacify her screaming baby and reports Laura for what she believes she may have seen.

‘The Mother’s Secret’ is another superb novel by Kate Hewitt as it tells the story of two lonely and isolated women who unwittingly become involved in unexpected events. Laura and Rachel reveal through alternate chapters how difficult motherhood can be whether the child is a baby or an adult, and how on reflection incidents could have been handled differently. I was so involved with the characters and their different lives that I couldn’t put this book down and after reading well into the night am now suffering from lack of sleep. Thank you, Kate, for writing this amazing novel and letting me into the lives of Laura and Rachel. I can’t wait to read your next one.

The Mother’s Secret, by Kate Hewitt.

Completely different to what I was expecting from the blurb!

Told from the POV of Laura and Rachel, two very different women who are both English teachers.

Rachel is a new mum and struggling to exist beyond feeding and caring for her baby boy.

Rachel is a new empty-nester and on top of that, has given up her much-loved teaching job to support her husband in their move to the north of Maine, so that he can take up a headteacher position.

Both women miss their lives and who they were “before” and whilst their lives are seemingly worlds apart, they are brought together by events out of their control.

The pace is slow, building the backstory of the two women who I found to be likeable and extremely relatable. It’s the relatability of these characters that really made the book for me; any new mum who says it’s all breezy is deceiving herself as well as everyone around her, and it is this honesty in Rachel that I really connected with. Similarly with Laura, at the other end of motherhood, struggling to find her identity outside of raising her children. But does a mother ever stop being needed by her children?

If you enjoy women’s fiction, you will embrace this story of motherhood.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Kate Hewitt and Bookouture for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Bookouture & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a struggle to get through. I continued reading thinking it would pick up, but sadly it didn’t. Chapters dragged on without anything happening. I went into this book expecting it to be a thriller, which it definitely was not.

Told in alternating points of view between two mothers; Laura and Rachel. Laura’s husband has just accepted the position of headmaster at the prestigious all boys boarding school ‘Wilderness’ in Northern Maine. Struggling with the move and to find a purpose she takes over a maternity leave for Rachel,teaching English. Rachel is spending her maternity leave trying to get a hold on motherhood with her 6 week old son, Nathan. The women strike up a friendship, but then weird things begin happening. Laura is having trouble with a student who is fixated on her, and Rachel is struggling to care for her son while her husband is away. We will see the fallout that occurs, because of the choices these two women have made.

After finishing this book I can’t help but wonder, what the exact story was even trying to tell us. I kept waiting for a twist or for something exciting to happen, but the entire story and ending was very mundane.

The Mother’s Secret by Kate Hewitt is a powerful contemporary novel that had me gripped from the start.
This is a story about two mothers, both with similar feelings but at two different stages of motherhood – the new mum and the mum of teenagers. Both are English teachers. Both feel like misfits. Both lay down their career hopes to do as their husbands wish. Both bond together, as the experienced mum helps the new one as she understands her.
We see just how hard motherhood can be. The adjustment to being a new mum is hard, with the lack of sleep, a baby who cries and a husband who works away. Kate Hewitt writes in such a way as to elicit sympathy from the reader.
Being a mum to teens is a whole different ball game. There are different problems. The isolation felt is huge, after a wife and mother is ripped from her home and a job she loves, in order to follow her husband’s dreams.
Both mums suffer at the hands of their husbands’ jobs. Both are caring and compassionate. And both are fighting demons. The novel is emotionally charged. The two lead characters are easy to identify with. We understand the guilt they feel as they try to balance motherhood with jobs and external problems are not of their making. Guilt and innocence exist side by side.
The story is written in two alternating points of view of the two mums. As such, both are easy to relate to. They have our sympathies. We also question – could they be guilty? Or are they innocent? Read the book and find out.
The Mother’s Secret was a powerful and emotional read. I enjoyed it.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

Kate Hewitt is one of my favorite authors and although I did enjoy the storyline, I found it slow at the beginning and found it hard to get into.
Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review.

I found this book quite slow in the beginning. I couldn't connect with Laura's character. However the story soon picked up, and I was quickly turning pages to see how everything is going to be revealed. Usually Kate Hewitt is my go-to author when I need a book with a great story.

These psychological books always grab my attention and this author is one of my favorites. The story lacked a little something for me. I was waiting for much of the book to get to the heart of the matter. Laura and Rachel were interesting characters but didn't pull me into the story.



Thanks so much to netgalley and Bookouture publishing for the arc. The opinions are my own.

Two mothers, two different horrible situations, yet so much in common. When Laura's husband is offered a headmaster position at a boys school in a remote part of Maine, she isn't thrilled. She is leaving behind her teenage daughter and a teaching job she loves.
Rachel is a new mother, her husband Kyle works as a logger and is not home often. She is realizing how difficult it is to parent a newborn alone and she misses being a teacher at the boys school. Both women end up dealing with extremely difficult situations and realizing they aren't that different is the main basis of the story.
I had high hopes for this book after seeing mostly positive reviews. I personally wasn't a fan. I appreciated the way in which both women connected, but I disliked every single character in this book, except maybe Nathan, but he was a newborn. Both husbands are completely useless and then all of a sudden do a 180 and are good, was a bit hard to believe. Rachel was probably the only one who I had a bit of sympathy for, especially in the beginning. I liked that she questions herself and her own motives and struggled with her feelings. It felt more genuine than Laura, she was just dumb, there were times where I wanted to reach into the book and smack her. I was also annoyed that everyone else at that school was useless and just never got what they deserved. I really wanted some redemption on that front. On that note, how do you just blindly take a job at a school and not ask at all about the financial situation, the ins and outs, etc??? This book is in no way a psychological thriller, it's more domestic drama, I think the synopsis possibly makes it seem like the former.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Another brilliant book by Kate Hewitt! "The Mother's Secret" is a book about 2 women and how easily and fast life can change. The book is written with each chapter being about the other woman, I love this style of writing because it really draws you in to the story and gives you different perspectives of what happens. It's an interesting page turner with a great ending that will leave you reading late into the night!

Another heartwarming read by Kate Hewitt. We have two mothers with secrets who are navigating the newness of their realties after immense change. Both stories intertwine and run parallel at the same time. Well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

This was a good story about two mother’s that have struggles. While their struggles were different in many ways, it exemplified that everyone has their problems.

As a teacher, Laura did not follow the correct procedures at any school, and she knew it. As a new mom, Rachel didn’t have the support she needed. Both of these women are struggling in different ways. This was a difficult read for me because I didn’t particularly like any of the characters.