This has got to be one of the best yet most disturbing books I have read in a while!

Incredibly descriptive this is more of a narrative book, hardly any dialogue which in the past I've not really got on with but the authors writing style just drew me in.

The character development in this is second to none, I dont think I have felt such emotional attachment to a character in a long time. There are certain scenes throughout the book (no spoilers) that you can feel the raw pain and emotion that Marie is experiencing.

Right from the very first line, the prologue literally takes your breath away. It will suck your lungs dry and you won't come up for air until the very last word.

Thought provoking is an understatement, this has sat with me long after finishing. The author(s) have literally mastered this genre, I was blown away.

A haunting, harrowing, twisty novel that you won't be able to put down. At times you may feel uncomfortable but personally I think that added to the power of the story.

* CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIAL INCLUDING RAPE SCENES, ABUSE & TRAUMA *

An amazing debut, I'll definitely be looking out for the next book!

Huge thanks to netgalley and 4th Estate for the ARC.

The stewed apples are still sitting on the table but this little family is no longer there to eat them. Death has claimed them all.

A dark, disturbing and somewhat harrowing story, THIS LITTLE FAMILY by Ines Bayard opens with the disturbing scene depicting a family of three - Marie, Laurent and baby Thomas - all dead at the table depicted in horrific detail, having been poisoned by Marie herself. But why? What would lead a mother to take not only her life but that of her husband and baby son? What demons drove her to the edge until she could see no way other way out?

What unfolds is the story is Marie's story, beginning prior to the birth of Thomas who was a toddler at the time of his death. A career woman working as a financial advisor in a bank while her husband Laurent was a successful lawyer, Marie has come to the decision that it is time for her and Laurent to try for a baby and therefore stops taking the pill almost immediately. This is welcome news for her husband who would love nothing more than to share the joys of parenthood with his wife.

However, almost as soon as this decision is made, the power is then brutally taken from Marie when she accepts a ride home from her CEO boss. Driving her to within a walking distance from her front door he parks in a dark car park, locks the doors and brutally and mercilessly rapes her in every way possible. The narrative of the event is that descriptive that the reader can feel Marie's pain as well as her shame. Before driving off, he threatens her with losing her job and her husband if she mentions what took place.

Marie's life from then on spirals downward. She loses interest in anything and everything. She doesn't take part in conversations or makes any effort to connect with Laurent, who is oblivious to his wife's pain. Her emotions unravel as she goes through the motions of a life she now feels disconnected from until she stops altogether. The nausea she has felt since the attack has not subsided but if anything has gotten worse as she sees everything as related to her rape. But Laurent, who is blind to her pain, has the nous to suspect what he believes to be plainly obvious. That she is pregnant. He presents her with a testing kit and to her horror, it shows positive. Marie is that absorbed in her own pain that she sees no other outcome than this child is the spawn of that evil attack. But how can she tell Laurent that now when she never told him of the attack in the first place?

What transpires is Marie's continual downward spiral as she convinces herself that the baby growing inside her is the result of her rape and is not Laurent's child. Meanwhile everyone is thrilled for Marie, throwing her parties and celebrating the happy news...which she thinks is anything but. She tries to think up ways to get rid of the child. She even throws herself down the stairs, but the baby survives, although she is left with a broken leg. When the baby is born, she cannot even look at him. The sight of his nakedness horrifies her. She feels so alienated from everyone as they come to first see the baby, and then her. She was just an incubator for a child that she loathes.

Most women at the birth of their child, would bond with them as soon as they look at them. But Marie didn't. She hated Thomas. She hated the sight of him, the smell of him, the look of him and all he reminded her of. She found she couldn't escape him as Laurent went back to work and she was stuck at home with him. He would scream and she would ignore him until she she decided to see to him. She would not let another man - albeit a baby - dictate her life to her. And so she left him unchanged and unbathed so she would have as little to do with him as possible. She did not talk to him, she did not sing to him, she did not play with him. She pretty much ignored his existence for most of the day. Until attention was drawn to the fact that she had been neglecting him when he ended up in hospital with an infection. After that, Marie did only as much as was needed to keep Thomas clean and fed so as to not raise the issue of neglect again. But she found it difficult not to put her hands around his throat and squeeze...or to let him fall from their fourth floor balcony.

Marie's journey into a downward spiral of depression that is both harrowing and heartbreaking to read, is only compounded by the existence of her baby son whom she is convinced is the child of her rapist. From the moment he was born she vowed to make him pay...despite the fact he is an innocent baby. She didn't see him that way. He was the reminder of something so horrific and so brutal that she decided there was no way she could ever love something borne from such an abhorrent act. Her self absorption and self loathing was merely a mirror as to how she felt about herself since that night. How could Laurent love her now? How could anyone love her? Look at her...fat and stretched out of shape thanks to the spawn of evil that came out of her. Her self destruction only gets worse when she discovers that Laurent may have discovered her secret. And it is then that she makes that final decision...

THIS LITTLE FAMILY is an extremely difficult and harrowing read. It explores abuse and the trauma it leaves behind, as well as the emotions of self loathing and ultimately the self destruction of oneself as Marie drives herself to madness. This will not be a story for everyone, and while I thought it was a clever debut, I was also shocked by some of Marie's actions which I really didn't understand. And the sometimes vulgar narrative I found a little unnecessary and uncomfortable. I didn't understand why it was there, given Marie's experience it just didn't make sense to me. And I abhor vulgar expressions used so flippantly as it was here occasionally. To me, there is no need for such expressions.

THIS LITTLE FAMILY is a dark and disturbing read with hardly any dialogue (not one of my favourite styles) being as it is more narrative driven. The narrative is extremely powerful whilst also incredibly brutal and shocking. As the author is French, this book has been translated into English and I have to wonder if some things were lost to translation.

A haunting story that will definitely not leave you in a hurry, THIS LITTLE FAMILY is a fast read (if you can put yourself through the harrowing tale for long enough) and I read it in one sitting.

I applaud the author for the coup-de-grace in the final chapter. That final lines sent chills through me for the words that Laurent will never hear. A good ending.

Again, I must reiterate that this book WILL NOT be for everyone. It is incredibly descriptive, dark, disturbing and extremely harrowing.

I would like to thank #InesBayard, #NetGalley and #4thEstate for an ARC of #ThisLittleFamily in exchange for an honest review.

# This Little Family #
What a sad story of love fear and betrayal. The police find the bodies of Maria her son and husband all poisoned by Maria. Or is she the one who as poisoned them. Yes everything they find plus a note it’s looking that way. I know the encounter she had was a shocking one 2 years prior to her killing her family. I had to ask myself while I was reading why wait 2 years so as I am reading it sounds a bit suspect to me. However more twist and turns come along that suddenly I didn’t know what to believe. With a final twist you can not imagine at the end it’s a must read

Wow! This is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read. What an amazing book for your first release as well!

This opens with a scene of devastation, Marie has poisoned herself, her husband and her infant son at the dinner table. The rest of the book takes us back from the beginning, with Marie and her husband happy and excited to start a family and then the devastation of Marie’s rape which she doesn’t share with anyone and the tragic toll it takes on her mental health. Its harrowing, dark and traumatic both from the perspective of someone living it but also for the reader.

Bayard makes some excellent commentary with lots of subtle questions, do we care for the pregnant mother as much as for the unborn child, nobody seems to ever ask if Marie is alright despite it seeming obvious that she is struggling. Marie is continually paranoid that someone else will know what has happened and will call her out on it, partly fear of them finding out and no doubt she would feel relief at being able to share and have some of the pressure taken from her.

This has some very graphically described scenes that are difficult to read. You will question why she has done things or not and wondered or thought of what you might do in such a horrific situation. Definitely a difficult read, not only covering Marie’s rape but also the neglect of her son and the oblivious nature of those around her.

This is a brilliantly written book, well thought out plot, difficult subject matter and a devastating ending. A harrowing take on how life can change in an instant with long-lasting consequences.

Devastating, devastated. Like a punch taken at the gut. I’ll be thinking about this story for a long time. Extremely sensitive subject matter, I was like a puppet being play with, my emotions were all over the place. I’m still thinking about this long after I’ve finished it... that’s how I know it’s gotten under my skin.

Thank you to netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for the arc of this sensational book.

This follows a family which includes the wife husband and their son, the woman ends up killing herself, her husband and EVEN their small son. In which she poisoned all of their food.... They are a well-off Rich Parisian family with a successful husband and lovely kid living in a beautiful apartment! why would she want to kill herself and them....

4 stars very dark, mysterious and thrilling love this! great one i read quickly and would highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read This Little Family, which centres around Marie and Laurent, a happy couple who live in Paris and who decide to start a family. The book opens with the ending, Marie, Laurent and their son have been poisoned; by Marie. The novel takes you on the journey from Marie's downward spiral from happiness and excitement at the idea of starting a family into almost madness after she suffers a horrific sexual attack.
The novel is not for the faint-hearted; it's dark, haunting and disturbing to read at times. Unfortunately the blurb on NetGalley did not identify a trigger warning for the brutal attack on Marie and had I know the detail the book would go into about Marie's experience I may not have chosen to read this.
This Little Family is well written and the character development was fluid and highlighted the trauma of surviving rape and what survivors go through. This heart-breaking exploration of Marie's trauma highlights what can go on behind closed doors even when outwardly, all seems "normal". This book definitely got under my skin and it's one I won't forget anytime soon.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. I was drawn to This Little Family due to the comparisons to Lullaby by Leila Slimani one of my favourite reads of 2018, so was intrigued to dip into this twisty, literary thriller. Overall this did leave me feeling frustrated and my expectations fell short.

The opening scene is a harrowing one. Set in Paris we see Marie, who has poisoned herself, her husband and her toddler son. Why? The story then rewinds two years ago and we meet Marie living happily in Paris with her lawyer husband. Marie works for a bank, as a financial consultant. They are both in their early thirties, blessed with good jobs that pay well and are healthy and happy, ready to have a baby. One evening on her way home from work Marie sees her bicycle has been dismantled in a robbery attempt. She calls her husband, who's having dinner with his colleagues and will return home late and tells her to get the Metro home, which is what Marie intends to do until the CEO of her bank pulls up in his car and offers her a lift. She accepts. Shortly afterwards he horrifically rapes her in his car and warns not to tell anyone or he'll make her and her husband's life hell. So Marie keeps this traumatic event to herself and quietly gets on with her life. But a few weeks later she finds that she's pregnant. Her husband is thrilled, but Marie is distraught. She's convinced the baby is the rapist's. Slowly, slowly we witness the breakdown of Marie's mind as she's consumed with rage and spirals into a depression...

I think my problem with the book was that overall it doesn't have much plot. I found Marie a passive character, and couldn't understand why she wouldn't tell her husband or her family about her trauma instead she'd have these murderous thoughts about her family members and neglected her baby which was heartbreaking to read. She becomes this messy character and gradually I did find that I couldn't empathise with her anymore and just wanted someone to realise that Marie has mental health problems and to intervene and get her some help. In the end I just wasn't sure what the author's intention was and what the message of this book was. This is a bleak, frustrating and difficult read about a woman having a mental breakdown following a horrific trauma.

This Little Family is a disturbing but extremely gripping page-turner, about how a family is torn apart by a horrific crime. It's one that's very hard to put down.

This is a harrowing novel depicting the outcome of a brutal attack and the inability to tell those you love about this event.
The story follows Marie and Lauren a young couple in Paris who on the surface have everything they could want following the birth of their son. In reality Marie is living in turmoil, unable to tell her husband the truth and equally unable to love her son.
This is not an easy read and the subject matter may be disturbing for some. However it is well written and thought provoking.

This book was a gripping and disturbing portrayal of a perfect family torn apart by a hideous crime. It touches on what happens when a victim becomes the monster in quite interesting ways and shows the ripple effect on a woman's life after sexual assault.

An interesting read but it left me slightly disappointed by the ending and it's not lingered in my mind in the way Lullaby and Adele by Leila Slimani did (this novel has been compared to her work).

Definitely a good read for a book club though.

We open with a scene of devastation - Marie has killed her husband, her infant son, and herself; poisoned them all at the dinner table. Marie sits in her chair ramrod straight, the baby’s head on his plate, the husband on the floor. Why would a loving wife and mother do such a thing to her family?

Soon, we are pushed backwards through time to see the lead up to this tragic event, and how Marie came to take this decision. It’s harrowing, it’s traumatic, and it’s so so dark. Bayard makes some excellent commentary, and poses subtle questions to the reader on moral issues, social expectation, and how others accept us.

Bayard explores what makes women women; not the male ideal, but the female experience and independence of choice. She shows us Marie’s persona and power being stripped away from her, and makes some stunning comments on pregnancy, and how an unborn baby is often, if not always, placed in a higher position of priority than the mother, as though she were merely a walking womb.

It’s a difficult read, made so by Bayard’s raw and stark writing style. Despite the obvious emotion affecting each of the characters, we read a stark, factual account of events. It mirrors Marie’s mental state, that simplistic, monochromatic outlook on life and tragedy that can happen after trauma. This is how things are, and this is what I must do, this is what I will do. It only adds to the horror.

A truly awful yet important tale of consequence and chaos converging after trauma. It spoke to me as a woman, left me numb, and reminded me of the importance of speaking out, no matter what people may think.

This was quite a difficult read in terms of the emotions involved throughout the story.

It was well written and the plot was well thought out. I was left guessing what was coming next.

A great read even despite the subject matter

Thank you for the advanced copy of This Little Family.
Marie is happy until early on an event takes place that completely turns her world upside down and alters her whole perception on life.
A downward spiral that any of us could so easily find ourselves in with devastating consequences.
An easy but understandably uncomfortable read which pays testiment to the quality of the authors writing.

Enjoyable read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.

This book is creepy and terrifying and it's interesting to read to follow how the family ended up where they did. I enjoyed this a lot, it made me think and made me question myself. Great enjoyment was had even though I felt uncomfortable throughout.

Thanks to netgalley for an advanced copy.
I loved the author and hope there are more books to follow.
The book was easy to read and I found it difficult to put down. Laurent and Marie seem to have it all until an incident changes all of that. It is very graphically described and I felt the tragedy was well written even if the ending was sad. The book portrayed a variety of strong emotions and I felt saddened that Marie buried this ghastly secret for years.

I read This Little Family in one sitting, despite its shocking depiction of rape. It was distressing to witness the complete breakdown of an ordinary young French woman, contented with her life and happy in her marriage following this act of violence perpetrated upon her. The fact she felt she couldn't confide in anybody was as shocking to me as the rape itself. The fear that engulfs her when she becomes pregnant and gives birth to her son, leading to the ultimate tragedy for her whole family is heartbreaking.

A difficult read and perhaps not one for women who have experienced rape, but nevertheless, very thought-provoking.

Where do I even start. First I cannot believe that this is the authors debut. I'm absolutely blown away. It wasn't an easy book to read and not in a negative way but it was so thought provoking. A terribly difficult subject to write about yet the author did it with a stroke of genius. A massive 5 star review from me and I'm already raving about it to friends and family

Trigger Warning
This was an incredibly difficult book to get through as the graphic description of sexual abuse is very disturbing. The journey Marie and her family follow after this is sad and heart-wrenching. It is a powerful book but I do wonder whether the level of detail was necessary.