* Thank you NetGalley & Little, Brown and Company for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

"The world is not made for mothers.
Yet mothers made the world…"

I don't even know how to explain this book. It is a sh*t show in absolutely the best way.

Madwoman is a story about Clove, who has been running from her childhood trauma (her abusive father and her murderous mom) for as long as she can remember. It is a bit meandering at first, but it really adds to the discombobulated narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I do highly recommend this book, but consider the trigger warnings before you dive in.

This is a story about abuse and lies, but ultimately about courage. I found the story very interesting, but I will say it dragged for me. The ending was really good and felt like the right way to begin to heal Clove’s lifetime of pain.

Reading Madwoman made me feel alive. Books find you at the right time. It's about what we inherit from our parents, childhood wounds, and how that spills over and haunts our adult lives. This story is a very dark and violent form of that, but I found myself nodding along to so many things, like how the main character Clove processes; how she keeps secrets, feels shame, and how she holds so much in but also really can't hold it in because why should she? For you? I know the defensiveness. She's obsessive and disappears into wellness to not end up like her parents, and because of that, there's a desire to implode. There's a toll to be paid for keeping up the mask of a curated life. The book is a mystery full of internal thoughts that become puzzle pieces, layered characters in both past and present, and letters received that provoke danger and fear. I was on edge the whole time, but what a fulfilling ending!

To note, it's okay not to be doing well. We need to stop calling women mad or crazy in both a personal and medical sense. We need to treat each other better in times of anguish. We're all human, and we're all figuring it out. Some people have complexities that can be beyond understanding if you haven't experienced it, but that doesn't mean we get to say no thanks, move on. No one else decides your life or how you should feel about your experiences. And for those who struggle, we are responsible for treating ourselves lovingly and healthily. We have to tell the truth or it will quite literally eat us alive. We can't hide from the monsters under our beds. We have to face them, and most importantly, ask for/accept the help of carrying even when our mind plays tricks on us. Opening up can feel just as terrible as the monsters themselves, but it's far better than choking on other people's comfort. Be messy and be loved for it. The rest is confetti.

I love Chelsea Bieker and I love this book. Thank you for sharing such a vulnerable, strong woman like Clove. I've never read a character that needs love and protection more than she does. C-love is a woman who I won't soon forget. She deserves recollection.

All the stars. Madwoman is out on Sept. 3rd! Thx @netgalley!

Clove is many things humans, but especially women are.
She is a creative, who is a loving mom, and a human whose heart is in the right place.
Slowly, we learn of her past, her traumas and anxieties.
Plot 3.5
Characterisation 4.5 (Jane is interesting)
Mood and prose 3
Themes 5

An expertly written story about intertwining lives, motherhood, grief, rage, and what it means to heal.

✶⋆.˚ 4 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓼 ✶⋆.˚

Let me start by saying - I skimmed over the synopsis prior to starting this book but... I'm not sure what I expected because it wasn't this. I was pleasantly surprised by this story and often found myself unable to even articulate my thoughts and feelings as I was reading...

✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂 ༊*·˚

Clove has a past that's connected to domestic violence, her father physically, mentally and emotionally abused her mother for years while she was growing up. One evening, during a physical altercation, her father is pushed from their 33rd floor balcony to his death.

After her father's death, Clove takes off on her own, to start her own life. A family friend is able to provide her with an alternate name along with documents, social security card etc because her daughter is sick and on the verge of passing away.

The story is told between the present - Clove is now a mother of two, married to a good man who has never so much as raised his voice to her. Her children are extremely well cared for and loved.

She's kept them safe. Her husband doesn't have the full story though, he believes both of Clove's parents were killed in a car wreck when she was younger.

The other part of the story is told in flash backs of the past - when she was growing up with both of her parents back in Hawaii and all of the struggles they endured.

One day, Clove receives a letter in the mail from her mother who's currently serving a life sentence for murdering her husband/Clove's father... But was it self-defense? Will Clove's carefully constructed life completely fall apart now that her mother has made a reappearance?

✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 ༊*·˚

When I first started this book, I'll be honest... I was expecting something a little more fast paced with several twists and turns. A standard thriller you could say. But what I got instead was a slower paced story with almost the most mundane of day-to-day tasks/errands.

When I say mundane, I don't mean that the story itself was boring because I couldn't seem to put it down although all of the health-nut idiosyncrasies did get a bit redundant at some point.

₊˚.જ⁀➴ There was constantly an ominous, shadowy feeling as the story unfolded. I knew something was not quite right but couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was. Was it Clove, her mother, her current husband- I couldn't figure out where I wanted to point my finger and say 'you're the sketchy one.'

Clearly, her father is the bad guy of the story but there's so many layers here. Layers on top of layers - this is a character driven story done right. The development and construction of these characters was second to none. I was completely blown away.

₊˚.જ⁀➴ Clove, is totally relatable in every aspect of her life through this story - the range of emotions I felt reading this was all over the place. The anger, the skepticism, the humor, the neurotic behavior. It's not a typical edge of your seat mystery but I was on the edge of my seat.

When I say that Clove was unhinged - I mean, I never knew what to expect from her and for me, as the story progressed and her life seemed to unravel more and more. The sheer boldness that she started to display was unnerving, I just didn't know what she was going to do.

While some things were a little predictable for me, others were not. The fact that even though the pacing was slow and I found myself questioning where on earth is this story even going several times, yet couldn't put the book down speaks volumes as to how powerful the characters truly are.

₊˚.જ⁀➴ I was captivated for the entirety of the story and highly recommend. Please check trigger warnings as there are heavy themes of domestic abuse, murder and guilt.


➽──────────────❥


✨ A huge thanks to Little, Brown and Company for reaching out and tempting me with this last minute advanced digital copy via NetGalley; All thoughts are my own. ✨

This was a new to me author and she delivered!! Love a book about motherhood mixed with suspense and twists. Highly recommend for thriller lovers!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This book was up and down for me. I thought the author drew an incredibly real and heartbreaking picture of domestic violence, so I appreciated those flashback scenes. However, I found Clove incredibly annoying, so the more real time scenes were harder to get through. I also saw the twists coming a mile away. I don’t think I’ll be recommending this one, but I am sure there are plenty of people who will enjoy it more.

Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker

Clove has so much yet she's at her wits end. Try as she might to NOT be her mother, try as she might to do everything correctly, she's overwhelmed and sees no way out of her crushing guilt. She has big secrets that never leave her mind and has a strong sense of being an imposter, a sense that her entire house of cards will fall down and she'll lose everything.

I adored Clove's two kids, a three year old boy who is destruction on two feet and a seven year old daughter who is way too smart for her young age. I don't always grab books about mothers and motherhood since I sometimes can't relate to the trials, tribulations, and bodily fluid output of little ones, but as overwrought as Clove feels, her management (or not) troubles had me laughing at times. The story is written in a way that I see a love for being a mother despite the icky parts.

Clove did good on the husband front. She never wanted a man like her father and what she has is a man who loves her and is a fantastic father. Yet there is something between them and it's Clove's fault. Her secrets will always mean there is a wedge between her and her husband and she hopes he doesn't know it's there.

This story covers so much. I was attracted to the fact that it's a mystery, which is a genre I love. We learn of the past very slowly and it's horrifying. What I learned made me angry at two people, not one. So many things didn't have to continue happening but so often what happens in this story happens in real life. Even though I might not make most of the choices Clove made, I could understand why she made them.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book blew me away! It's easily one of the top ten must-reads of the year! Stop reading about the It Ends With Us cast drama and pick up this book if you want to truly experience the terrifying, ugly face of domestic violence and its aftermath—crime, psychological damage, trauma, and survival mechanisms. This book dives deep into all of that, with so many flawed, psychologically damaged, survivor characters! I haven't read something this impactful in ages—it shook me to my core, made me cry out loud, gave me goosebumps, and left me barely breathing through some chapters. So many WTF moments hit hard, and the twists are totally unpredictable! But what I really fell in love with is the empowering, eccentric conclusion, full of women’s strength and resilience.

Lately, production companies are always on the lookout for books to adapt—well, they should absolutely start with this one! With its expertly written plot and meticulously developed characters, it’s a story that brings powerful awareness to domestic violence.

This book offers a raw and gut-punching glimpse into the traumatic experiences of women, teetering between madness and freedom. It’s real, it’s heartbreaking, and the emotional journey is one that you absorb slowly, bit by bit.

The story centers around Clove, a stay-at-home mom of two—Nova, her seven-year-old prodigy daughter, and Lark, her energetic three-year-old son. Clove is committed to an organic, health-obsessed lifestyle, obsessively checking the ingredients in everything she consumes, popping vitamins, using eccentric wellness products, practicing yoga, and grounding herself in a kind of Zen madness. She’s highly creative but instead of sharpening her writing skills—her chosen career path—she imagines endless catastrophic scenarios about her children’s safety, becoming hyper-protective and creating tension in her life.

Everything unravels when she receives a letter from her mother, who is in prison and has finally tracked her down. Clove begins to lose control of her carefully curated life. Then she meets Jane after a minor car accident, and quickly becomes obsessed with befriending her. Jane sparks wild thoughts in Clove, like considering her as a nanny for her kids after only knowing her for minutes. But Clove is terrified her secret will get out. What if her mother starts talking? What if people learn that her mother killed Clove’s abusive father in self-defense and Clove fled the scene, changed her identity, and started a new life? Even her husband doesn’t know—he thinks she’s an orphan.

Could Clove’s ex, Butcher, have connected with her mother? He’s the only one she ever confided in about her past. Now Clove must do whatever it takes to stop her mother from revealing the truth. She’s worked too hard to build the life she has now, and she won’t let it slip away. But Jane, her new best friend, keeps digging into Clove’s past, pushing her out of her comfort zone, and pressuring her to help Jane become a mother.

But how can Clove help someone else become a mother when she’s barely managing her own motherhood, and her real mother is crying out for help?

I have to give huge applause to Chelsea Bieker! This book is a masterpiece that belongs in every reader’s library. I loved it so much! If I could give it ten stars, I would.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for sharing this fantastic book’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Madwoman by @chelseabieker slow burn thriller that is uniquely written in the second person. The twists begin early and end late. The title is a double entendre— mad woman is angry woman and mad woman is insane woman.

Clove is living a blissful life, mom to two young children and a husband who adores her. While Clove has stuck to her story that her parents were dead in a car accident, instead her mother is in prison for murdering her violent abusive husband. No one knows the truth but Clove’s ex, that she escaped and has since she was a teen had been living under an assumed identity.

I really appreciated the 2nd person narrative, this was unique as it is written to her mother. It was slow during the middle but it was overall a good mystery, written without a lot of dialogue. Written more like literary fiction.

Thank you to @netgalley and @littlebrown for the ARC.

Honestly, I don't even know how to review this. Here's my attempt.

"I saw each detail of my life in two ways -- what it was, and then what you would think of it. It wasn't a choice."

This line gives the most brief synopsis of Madwoman. This book at it's core is a letter from Clove to her mother. Everything Clove experiences in her present is shaped by her childhood, and while physically absent, her parents are very much present in every moment.

This may be a good fit if you enjoy:
- complicated family dynamics that tug at every heartstring
- feeling compassion for how one's past affects their present
- books about how life is messy and tragic and beautiful

I am in awe of Chelsea Bieker. I'm not a mother. I am fortunate to have grown up in a safe, healthy household where I didn't experience any of what shaped Clove. But her writing transported me through Clove's past and present like I was a fly on the wall. As I'm writing this I am still so deeply moved by this story, the characters, and how the intricate web of events came together.

Ashley Audrain's blurb calling this "emotional suspense" feels right to me. It's not a thriller by any means, but it has palpable tension with multiple unknowns and reveals that could be attractive to many thriller lovers. I can't remember the last time I finished a book and proceeded to give a play-by-play to my husband. His eyebrows were raising as I explained how everything came together. I think that's a good sign. 😆

Rating: I loved it! (5)

Clove has done everything she can to restart her life and keep her past to herself. She has the perfect life as a mother and wife but it all starts to unravel when she gets a letter from a women’s prison.

I loved this one! It has the perfect female perspective of motherhood with a serious backstory that comes out more and more as the pages turn. There are some major surprises towards the end as well. Major triggers for domestic abuse.

“Every woman’s got to save herself. That’s what no one tells you. But it’s the whole truth.”

Madwoman comes out 9/3.

Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker was an interesting read for me. At first, I wasn't crazy about it. I found the obsessiveness of the main character (especially regarding health issues) irritating, though I appreciated that she was coping with a lot in her past. As the story developed, though, I was more involved with trying to figure out how things fit together, especially the sudden intimate friendship she develops. I questioned whether such a thing could actually happen, but definitely bought it by the end of the book. Bieker's writing was strong throughout, and I appreciated the way things were tied together at the end. In all, this tale of motherhood, childhood trauma, and how the talons of generational trauma can grip you but perhaps be broken was a satisfying read.

This was chaotic but I loved it.

Clove has started her life anew after a traumatic childhood and just when she’s wiped the slate clean and life is settling in nicely: a good husband, wonderful children and a lifestyle that would make any wellness guru jealous. But one day a letter from a women’s prison shows-up setting into motion a series of events that has Clove spiralling, determined to keep things buried deep and nothing will get in the way of her perfectly cultivated life.

Soon we learn the darkness that Clove has outrun, an abusive father and battered mother, years of ER visits and near death experiences, a childhood full of fear and torment and eventually murder. Her mother wants Cloves help to reopen her case for self defence, but Clove hasn’t told anyone where she comes from and the lies would destroy her life.

Torn between right and wrong, truth and traumas, the past and the future and all the gritty in between, Cloves life implodes this book is the journey through and the one that brought them all here to this very precipice.

Bieker writes in the style of someone like Audrain or Kilroy where motherhood isn’t always a neat package but full of multitudes. She explores the repercussions of domestic abuse, and the voices we find so hard to listen to. The writing is full of suspense and tension, a certain chaos brews beneath the surface that was dark, sporadic and full of desperation. I particularly loved how anxiety inducing parts of this were but then I’d turn the pages and we’d hit a plateau, it reads to me how it must feel to be inside someone’s mind who’s been through something like Clove a messy mix of emotions.

Madwoman is the kind of book that sheds light on women stories that we crave to be told while also holding the readers attention with plot and dynamic characters. Please check trigger warnings on this one there are several graphic references in regards to domestic violence.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an early copy all opinions are my own and I am officially a Bieker fan.

Madwoman is a stunning, harrowing examination of a woman's valiant effort to end the cycle of abuse she experienced as a child and the consequences of her methods.

Clove's life is carefully controlled by her meditation apps, her supplements, and her docile husband, so controlled that she doesn't have to relive any of the memories or patterns of her childhood. But when a letter comes to her from a women's prison in California, she's forced to address the events of her childhood that lead to the most defining day of her life. As memories flood in, we follow Clove as a child growing up in Waikiki while she sorts through her present life as a mother and wife. Told with unflinching details about the horrors of motherhood, anxiety, CPTSD, and domestic violence, Bieker's prose cuts to the emotional bone.

I was captivated by Bieker's writing from the very first chapter, and so impressed by her depiction of life as an adult with childhood trauma. The very distinct fear Clove has of becoming her mother or her father adds a layer of emotional suspense to every chapter, and you deeply feel her near constant hum of anxiety. I appreciated Clove's very nuanced journey of discovering who she was outside of her trauma, and the way her character arc allowed her to integrate all the fractured parts of her self. And on top of the literary beauty of this story, there are some truly satisfying twists that unravel in the last 25%.

Fans of character driven literary thrillers like The Push will really love this one!

A portrait of a girl who lives life under the violent shadow of her father's abuse of her mother. The story is told in two parts, in Hawaii where the abuse takes part, and later in California.
We see the push and pull of the relationship between husband and wife. Clove/Calla Lila is very protective of her mother but also powerless to stop the abuse as she sees her mother put her marriage before her own safety or that of her daughter, It was emotional but well told. Her mother was the enabler, clearly wanting to break free but always going back. It was a dynamic that we have seen time and time again and was very well told. The frustration and anger that Clove felt could be felt coming off of her in waves. The story transitions between two different time periods, Clove as a child and her as an adult. As a result of all that she endured, she becomes a woman of extremes. As she doesn't want to be associated with the notorious story of her father's murder by her mother, she changes her name and hides her past. Clove will do anything to keep her family and children safe. She cannot let her children out of her sight. Her household consists of only natural, organic items, things that Clove considers safe. It is painful to see the results of the past traumas weigh so heavily on her. As the story continues we learn little by little more of her history and the details surrounding her father's death.
When her mother tries to get in touch with her to help exonerate her the story ramps up. The ending provides quite an unexpected twist. I felt that the portion of the story when Clove was a child held truer than the second half when we see her as an adult. That felt a little forced.

A neurotic, health obsessed, stay-at-home married mother is confronted with her mother, from prison, after 17 years. Her mother, severely abused by her father, is imprisoned for killing him. Through this reconnection, Clove is confronted with her past and its impact in unraveling the deception from her present. I enjoyed this book. I was thankful for the comedic relief of the health food and homeopathic schitck and her obsession with it. The neatly done ending also kept it from being too heavy of a book. I understood her obsession and mission to have the perfect family life motivated from her traumatic childhood. I also like the twist at the end even with the foreshadowing. Definitely will recommend. Thank you NetGalley and and Little, Brown and Company for giving me the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

This was a unique read that had my anxiety flaring and my interest piqued. Clove was such a dynamic character - a devoted mother, a strong feminist, self-aware, and yet totally consumed by the hauntings of her past.

Flashing back between past and present, we learn of Clove's history and how some of her anxieties have come to be. An abusive father, a mother in jail for killing said father, and a past that doesn't exist to her current family, Clove is deep and mysterious and wildly flawed.

Seeking answers outside of herself for stability and safety, Clove prefers the safe choices - with her husband, her abstinence from alcohol, and her insulated world. She protects her children the best way she knows how which is to pretend her past never existed and do everything exactly opposite the way her mother did. But when her mother contacts her from jail and risks exposing her in order to give herself a fighting chance at freedom, it seems as though Clove will be forced to confront her demons and come clean to her devoted husband. Instead, she further retreats and finds solace in a random woman she rear-ends and then befriends at the local supermarket.

What transpires is a dark look at motherhood and the ramifications of our choices on those we love. Deep and complex, this novel is thought-provoking and at times challenging to read.

Admittedly, it was fairly slow moving and I didn't become fully invested or involved until Jane became a more prominent character and the plot livened up a bit. This was about halfway through. The ending was incredibly strong and there were some total surprises so I'm glad I stuck with it and I definitely recommend!

Thank you to Little Brown for the advanced copy. Madwoman is a powerful debut and I'm excited to see what Bieker comes up with next!

Madwoman is available September 3, 2024.

Madwoman follows Clove, a mother who is hiding her childhood secrets to protect her perfect family and life. She received a letter from a women's prison in California and everything is threatened.

This was great! A literary thriller that keeps you guessing.

An expertly written story about intertwining lives, motherhood, grief, rage, and what it means to heal. The end felt a tiny bit rushed to me, but I loved the characters and was all in from page 1!

Chelsea Bieker is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors - I’ll read anything she puts out! Thank so much to Netgalley and Little,Brown for giving my the pleasure and privelege of reading this one!