I enjoyed reading this book, the storyline was interesting, although I wasn’t a fan of the main character, who came across as selfish sometimes. All the same, it was a good book and I would recommend it.

Cath and Dave has a new baby Girl called Mia. After a routine blood test Mia is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and both their worlds fall apart. With the stress of the diagnosis and the medication and the hospital visits. Both Cath and Dave cope with it in different ways.
Cath joins a support group to find out more about Cystic Fibrosis, the causes and how to cope with it and also the medical side. Hoping new drugs come out to help Mia. She meets Richard there, who has a teenage daughter with the same condition. He seems to understand her, more than her husband Dave who thinks that she should be with the family and not going to this group. She all goes onto radio to talk about her experiences. They have an affair. At the same time, Mia worsens and so does her relationship with her husband Dave.
Well what can I say about this book in my own personal view. I understand that we need to be more aware of Cystic Fibrosis, the causes, the strains and how to cope if a loved one is diagnosed with it. I understand that the author has a child with this. But for me I wondering why it’s been put in a book of fiction. But it some parts of this I thought I was reading a medical text book and not a book of fiction. I didn’t like any of the characters, Cath was self-obsessed, Dave didn’t see how the seriousness of CF and Richard ended up like a stalker and I just didn’t get the ending at all.
Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for a copy of this book.

Dave and Cath have been trying for babies for years. They had pictured a large house bustling with the noise and clatter of a happy family—several children, four perhaps?—and as the months and years of failed attempts build up the distance from their dreams feels suddenly shorter at the birth of their daughter, Mia. But Mia isn’t all right. Her little face grimaces at feeds. Her sweat tastes of salt.

At only a few weeks old, Mia is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

The doors between Dave and Cath, closed over the IVF disappointments and in the dark times after Cath’s father died, form more permanent barriers between the couple making communication, even seeing the other clearly, almost impossible.

Then Cath goes to a cystic fibrosis support group and meets Richard whose own daughter is a teenager. He is overflowing with positivity, hope and vitality. He works with CF charities and encourages Cath to do her part to fight for her cub in the wider world. It’s a fight that brings her into more and more contact with Richard.
To say much more would spoil the novel. Mother encapsulates all the unwieldy emotions of bringing children into the world combined with the despair, blame and guilt of bringing a sick child into the world. Cath’s relationship with her own mother takes the difficult CF diagnosis into a social landscape we can all relate to. To hone these complex emotions into such a compelling narrative is no mean feat and Hannah Begbie has done an excellent job.

Told from Cath’s perspective, filled with the stale hours of silence and regret, rooms empty of everyone but her beautiful young daughter struggling for breath, and flesh raw from endless bouts of cleaning, Mother is a powerful novel that forces us to remember the importance of communication and the need for honesty and self-forgiveness. It’s hard to write honestly about what motherhood feels like, the exhaustion and frustration as well as the love. In Mother, Hannah Begbie has managed to not only do that but also to write about mothering a child with cystic fibrosis. The subject matter won’t appeal to everyone, but if this peaks your interest you won’t be disappointed.

Not my usual style but it came with great reviews so l thought l would give it a try. I’ve never experienced anything thankfully like this the nearest l have come was having a puppy with severe epilepsy and l know that triggered me to learn all l could so l can imagine the impact this diagnosis would cause. I won’t say enjoyable reading but it certainly made me think and empathise and I’m glad l choose this book it will stay with me

I found this book incredibly thought provoking. It was quite a difficult read in some places as my instinct was that Cath should be doing everything she could to care for her child and sometimes her actions did not seem to do this however who can say how you would react? It was well written and really made me think.

This book is really well written throughout; from the CF diagnosis to the affair to the eventual acceptance of the diagnosis. The story is written from Cath’s perspective and even if the decisions aren’t the sensible ones you find yourself routing for her to get through it and make the right decisions.

Well i felt mixed emotions reading this book. Its a moving story about a young couple having a child with a life limiting illness. We see their struggles and feel their pain as they try to deal with what is ahead of them. One of them forms a "friendship" with someone from a help group, and this starts the change of everything. A well written story.

At first I thought this was [just] going to be about a new mum’s struggle when her baby is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and so it is but with emotional twists and chilling turns. It took a little longer than usual to get in to but once I did it had me well and truly hooked. The author has a child with cystic fibrosis and I find it amazing that she could write about something which is so close to her heart and yet give it such a sinister twist. Persevere, it’ll be worth it.

Not an easy read but a very believable account of how a mother learns to cope with a child's illness. Didn't always like the main character but I could understand her.

Overall this a good read. I expected it to be more dramatic after reading the description. I really felt for Cath and Dave. I totally understood Caths need to have the house as clean as possible.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Cath and Dave have 25 days of pure bliss with their newborn baby, Mia, and then the phone rings and their lives are changed forever. After a routine blood test Mia is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Cath and Dave have a steep learning curve of physio, medication etc which would put a strain on anyone’s relationship. Who would you cope in their situation ?

Soon it all becomes too much and they drift further and further apart. Unable to communicate with each other Cath suddenly finds herself in a situation that could not only destroy her marriage, it could also endanger Mia’s life. What will she do ?

This is a real eye opener about the implications of living with Cystic Fibrosis and the impact this can have on the families involved. A great book with some really emotional parts. A story of family, love, lies, betrayal, illness, and so much more.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

3.5 stars

A completely different read to my usual stuff... glad I picked it up.
Really quite heart breaking that parents go through things like this,with babies so young too... I could see why it might turn somebody slightly ocd. 
It did a good job of showing the reckless and the regret and the huge guilt of possibly contaminating Mia... and a good job on the family dynamics too.
Interesting read.

Cath and Dave's daughter is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Dealing with the diagnosis in different ways Dave becomes the practical one while Cath starts going to support groups. It is here that Cath meets Richard, the dad of another girl with CF.

An interesting story about love, responsibility and coming to terms with long term illness.

What happens if your much longed for first baby is born with an incurable, life limiting disease? This is the situation facing Cath and Dave when their daughter is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Soon their already shaky relationship is put under tremendous strain.
It is a well written story, but it does not make for comfortable reading and none of the main characters are particularly sympathetic or in any way likeable. For much of the book, the story proceeds at a torturous pace, as it is bogged down by the medical minutiae of caring for such a sick child and the mother’s inability to cope.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I must admit that I was expecting something a little more dramatic going by the reviews. Instead, not a lot happens to a couple of unpleasant people.

Slow moving with one dimensional characters, I couldn't even bring myself to care about the children.

Not the best book I've ever read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation to review.

A fantastic read. Thoroughly enjoyed this and it is not something I would usually pick up. Will look for more from this author in future.

An interesting book that takes you into the lives of parents whose children have cystic fibrosis. It shows that life does not always turn out as you expect to. Highly recommend read

Cath has just 25 days of 'normality' with her newborn baby, before Mia is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections.

It's easy to see how a couple faced with such a frightening diagnosis would retreat into a corner, as if in war, preparing for battle, apportioning blame on the only ones they can - each other.

Cath and her husband Dave, find it impossible to talk to each other any more (difficult to be in the same room as each other) so Dave finds solace in football matches and a pint with his mates, while Cath joins a CF parental support group. It's here that she meets Richard, who’s daughter also has CF. Richard is handsome and charming and they begin a passionate love affair that puts not only their already precarious marriages in danger, but baby Mia's life in peril too!

This was so well written that it’s difficult to say you didn’t like the characters very much, Cath in particular. She knowingly puts Mia’s life in danger, preferring to put her role as a woman and mistress significantly higher than her role as a mother. She’s undoubtedly selfish, which also happens to describe Richard too, though his selfishness goes off the radar!

The narrative is written entirely from Cath’s perspective, and although we are given a sense of her immediate family’s feelings, it would have been good to see it from Dave’s point of view.

Motherhood can be a difficult and exhausting time anyway, without the stress and anxiety of that precious little bundle who you’ve waited 9 months to meet, being diagnosed with a life limiting disease, and in that respect it’s a distressing and moving read, but the author made this journey so compelling, and so informative, that there was no putting this one down!

* Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for my Arc. I have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *

An interesting read, particularly in terms of the details of cystic fibrosis, and the implications for the family of a sufferer, of which I was unaware. It truly is a terrible condition to have to deal with and I think the author handled this very well, However, I found the characters of Cath and Richard to be thoroughly unlikable and thought they were both very selfish in their actions. Overall, an informative read and I did enjoy it.

Mother by Hannah Begbie a four-star read that will strike you. I was so conflicted with my rating of this story as in some ways it was a great read and in others it was sorely lacking. The thing that swung me was the fact that the book was about cystic fibrosis a topic that you don’t see written or talked about as much as it should be. Cath was someone I didn’t ever warm to, I didn’t care that she had an affair, lots of married women do especially women with circumstances that push relationships apart. For me is was the lack of maternal instinct, as a mother you have one job, put your child first and she did that while her baby was healthy, but ones she got that diagnosis it started to drop off. I don’t know if I am bias towards Cath, but I felt for her husband so much more than I did her. I will say this, this is just my opinion and others may love the book, if you want a book that will give you drama then this is it. I will watch for the authors next book and if I like the blurb I may give it a go, it’s a complex book to rate.