Not at all what I was expecting but surprisingly good and well researched. enjoyable and real. Not read this author before but would be willing to read more

I was really looking forward to this book as the synopsis sounded great! I thought I was going to get a psych thriller with twists. What I actually got was a very clinical and detailed description of what it's like to live with a child with cystic fibrosis. I didn't finish this as I found it a very slow and depressing book to read due to the difficult medical nature of the story. This really is advertised in the wrong genre of book to really serve it well.

The Mother is a slow family drama about a mother who gives birth to a baby girl who is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Traumatized by the diagnosis, the woman embarks on a reckless affair with a man she meets at a support group. The author has researched the subject well but the novel was let down by unsympathetic characters and weak storytelling.

I have to say that this book was not was I was expecting at all. It was a well researched and very emotional, heartbreaking read.

An interesting read, looking at the effect of a sick/disabled child on a relationship.
The characters weren't always sympathetic, but perhaps that's reflective of the reality.
Overall, quite powerful, but not very happy.

This wasn't quite what I was expecting - it was so much more. Such emotional depth and a different take on the things and people that affect a marriage. Would recommend this for those who like to dig deep into the main characters' and find out what makes them tick, especially in these circumstances.

This book was heartbreaking but also held a sense of hope. The book follows the birth of a little girl born with cystic fibrosis and how the family tried to come to terms with the diagnosis. The book covered a really hard subject and has opened my eyes to something I had no knowledge on. Beautifully written

Loved this book! The level of description and detail during even the more 'mundane' scenes really helped to draw the reader into the mind of our protagonist. She was in a really difficult situation and made some very questionable choices, but because we were so close to her thought process and feelings, you couldn't really blame her.

Extremely gripping, especially when her relationship with Richard began to get a little questionable. Would highly recommend!

This novel is brutal, just as a novel about a child with a life-limiting condition should be. After years of trying to get pregnant, Cath gives birth to a baby girl. And just a few short weeks later, her daughter Mia is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, and Cath’s carefully built life is shattered. Cath and her husband react very differently to the diagnosis, with Cath spiralling into compulsive behaviour and starting an affair with Richard, a man from the cystic fibrosis charity she joins.

Cath and Richard’s affair is all-consuming and heartbreaking. They both have ill children – Cath’s a newborn and Richard’s a teenager – and they use one another as an escape, not discussing their children’s health when they are together. And when they are forced to, everything comes crashing down once again.

This is a harrowing tale told very well. It’s powerful and hard and layered, revealing truths about what it is to be the mother of an ill child, but also simply what it is to be a mother, and a woman.

Mother by Hannah Begbie.

5 Stars

Grief can be deadly.

Cath’s baby Mia lives for only 25 days before a deadly disease is diagnosed.

With her life hitting rock bottom she joins a Parental Group where she meets a dangerously handsome man, who is adamant there will be a cure.

They soon embark on an affair. The consequences of which will be devastating to her, her marriage and her child.

A very sad book, in which Mia has Cystic Fibrosis a deadly illness which affects many parts of the body with terrible pain and suffering.

It was easy to sympathise with Cath and the uncharacteristic way she reacted by having an affair and the way she tried to cope with her sorrow.

I knew very little about CF, but this book related well the problems and the suffering of all concerned and how the illness works.

Have your tissues ready as it’s a real tear-jerker.

Recommended.

Shesat

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This book is about a mother who finds her newborn daughter suffers from cystic fibrosis. I find it a bit of a lost opportunity what could have been a book exploring what it feels like a serious issues was turned into a chick lit story. There is lots of information about CF so the author is knowledgeable but the story did not grab me neither any of the characters. No, I don't normally dislike a book because I dislike the characters but in this case I could not relate to any of them.

Hmm I wasn't sure about this book tbh it dragged in parts and I found Cath seriously irritating and annoying!

Cath and Dave after years of IVF have a baby but after Mia’s birth, she is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. This obviously has a huge impact on their marriage and relationship in general.

Cath starts going to a support group and she meets Richard whos child also has CF, she falls for him and they have an affair and the story goes from there.

Won't say too much as don't want to spoil it for anyone so you'll have to read it yourself, it wasn't a bad book I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.

Until I received this book I had never heard of cystic fibrosis - this book was so informative about the complicated lives that the families face having children suffering from this. The descriptions of the characters are so realistic and it is easy to follow their emotions. Cath appears to not be totally realistic, however we all do silly things when under stress and so perhaps mother’s may well react in similar ways. I wanted to feel sorry for Cathy’s husband but I never felt he played his part well in the family and so deserved what happened. I loved the way that it ended in such a positive way.

This book is unlike anything I’ve read this year and at times I found it upsetting to find out the impact cf can have.
I wouldn’t say I enjoyed this read and I felt it was written more as an educational piece rather than a novel.
However, it does stay with you after you’ve read it.

different to what i was expecting, but a great, well researched read. I enjoyed it a lot and will be looking out for more from this author in the future

All in all I found this book depressing and not to my taste I'm afraid.. None of the characters were remotely likeable and the unfolding events left me cold.

Wow, what an incredible read. Took me through so many different emotions.would highly recommend this book. I’d been hearing about it for so long and can now see what others were raving about.

Thank you to net galley for the ARC of this book. I am not going to repeat in my review what can be found on the back of the book suffice it to say that it follows the different ways in which dealing with a diagnosis can Manifest itself. I thought the author portrayed the cataclysmic effects of such a diagnosis powerfully - the blame. guilt and desire to do everything possible. I think she also showed how underneath all that trying we are simply human and prone to mistakes. Each of Mia's parents go through this but in wildly differing ways, neither really helping the other. The characters were not particularly likeable but i think their human frailty shone through. each of them needing something and,yes, being selfish in how they found it. I felt there was a nice balance between the facts Of CF and the fictionalised account of living with it. I agree parts of the book were slow moving and sometimes i wanted to shake some sense into Mia but overall I enjoyed this book.

The world of new parents Cath and Dave is turned upside down when they receive a diagnosis that their baby girl has cystic fibrosis.

Struggling to come to terms with this life changing disease, Cath decides to try a support group for parents of children with the same condition. Here she meets Richard also a dad with a teenage daughter and she eventually falls for him and uses him as an escape from the strict regimes now in place in her life.

However these actions mean that Cath’s marriage falls apart and she is left on her own with a baby to look after.

I really didn’t like Cath’s character, especially her actions with another man while her child is so ill. I could however understand to some level how she may have needed to have this relationship to try and feel wanted and alive while dealing with such an awful diagnosis.

Overall this book did give some insight into what people face when living with a life shortening condition such as CF.

This book was certainly not what I expected. Learning about CF was actually quite scary for me as I didn't realise just what a difficult time families have keeping everything perfectly clean. It made me worry what I would do if a child I was expecting was diagnosed with CF and actually made me cry about it. There was literally nothing positive in the book, it was all misery and doom and gloom. I didn't like Cath, I thought she was extremely selfish and odd. Richard was a bounder. I didn't find anything in the book that comforted me in the sense that a child with CF can still live a full life of good experiences. All in all I found the book depressing and not to my taste I'm afraid.