Her Mother's Lies by Rona Halsall
Genre: Psychological thriller, domestic thriller
Read: 4th November 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(Publication: 23rd October 2019)
★★★★ 4 stars
Rona Halsall is fast becoming one of my go-to authors. HER MOTHER'S LIES is just the second book I have read of hers and while it was a little slow to begin with, the pace soon picked up turning it into a twisty ride right through to the conclusion.
What if the person you trust most in the world has been lying to you your entire life? This is the question Martha is faced with when cracks start to appear in the safe and quiet life her mother has created for them both...and thus begins to unravel.
Martha is 24 and lives with her mother Fran in a "forgotten corner" in Cornwall having moved to the isolated area after Martha's father Greg left them 15 years ago. Their house, a semi-detached cottage, belongs to their friend Anna who lets them live there for a very low rent and is the perfect place for Fran to draw on her creativity and work as a freelance graphic designer. As well as being their landlord, Anna is also their occasional neighbour in the other attached cottage though she spends most of her time living abroad in Spain, often returning to refresh as well as to collaborate with Fran who provides illustrations for her children's books.
Martha lives a very sheltered life in the isolated cottage - not even having a licence which would give her the little more freedom for which she craves - and often resents her mother for keeping them in the back of beyond. She works as a vet assistant with a local practice with dreams of going to college to train to become a vet. But she is tied to her feeling of responsibility towards her mum, who is diabetic and an alcoholic and sometimes unable to look after herself. Martha fears what would become of her should she leave.
Her world begins to unravel when she turns up to an empty practice one morning - no staff, no animals, no nothing. When she knocks on the adjoining cottage door, she is then told that her boss Pete, her friend and mentor, had died in the night of an aneurysm leaving Martha devastated. Now without a job and her mother's sporadic design work, Martha doesn't know how they will make ends meet. Fran has always taken care of the bills but Martha suspects enough to know that money is tight.
As much as she loves her mother, the women share a difficult relationship. Martha wants nothing more than to leave Cornwall and be independent but feels that Fran is keeping her tied there. Her mother doesn't look after her health and Martha feels somewhat responsible for her. Things come to a head when Fran falls into a coma after and is hospitalised, leaving Martha feeling guilty for having argued with her that night. It is then that she realises everything has changed and her future becomes imminently clear as Martha finds herself facing her new role as her mother's permanent caregiver.
Fortunately, Martha has a wonderful best friend in Izzy with whom she chats to almost everyday via Facebook video messenger. She is grateful for Izzy's friendship and feels so connected to her, as if they were soulmates, knowing that if it wasn't for Izzy, she doubts she would be able to cope.
Then when Martha discovers a text message on her mother's mobile phone from her father Greg, she is suddenly faced with the possibility that her mother has been in contact with him all this time. Deciding to head to Wales and confront her father for the first time in 15 years, Martha is grateful that Izzy offers to drive down from Leeds and be there as moral support. But Martha elects to go a day earlier and face him on her own. But nothing prepares her for what she's confronted with.
Heading back to Cornwall with Izzy, the journey seems to take forever at the snail pace her friend appears to be driving while Martha is anxious to return to her mother to find out the truth. But before she can get there, Fran suffers a massive heart attack and Martha fears she may lose her. It becomes clear that changes have to be made to Fran's lifestyle so Martha and Izzy endeavour to clear out the cottage that seems to be filled with so much junk in preparation of the assessment that will determine whether Fran can return to her home of 15 years or move into residential care. But as she pours through her mother's papers, Martha discovers the depth of their debts as well as uncovering several confusing payments going back years...and stopping when she was 21. What did it all mean?
But for her friendship with Izzy, all would have gone well...until Martha discovers that her entire life has been a lie.
Now Martha doesn't know who to trust or who to believe as this complex tale of secrets unravels a tangled web of lies.
The title itself - HER MOTHER'S LIES - alludes to the lifetime of secrets Fran has been keeping from Martha...but who else is caught in the same web? And who else is keeping the truth from her? Who can she trust?
The story unfolds through Martha and Fran's perspectives primarily in the present day and occasionally jumping back to key points in the past, but it is easy to follow throughout and necessary by way of explanation which will become clear by the story's end. With so many secrets, so many lies, as each one is unveiled still it leaves more questions.
HER MOTHER'S LIES is slow to start with and while I have realised that I prefer a book to hook me from the first pages and moving at a fast pace, I discovered that this book soon reeled me in and its pace picked up sending me on a twisty journey for the truth.
A multi-layered, complex and emotionally-charged thriller, HER MOTHER'S LIES is cleverly plotted with skill and suspense that had me on the edge of my seat and reading well into the night unable to put it down till I finished. While I did have several key points worked out, others I did not, and some not until just before they were revealed.
HER MOTHER'S LIES is filled with surprises and characters that are not really all that likable. I found I wasn't trusting any of them to tell the truth and began questioning their motives almost from the start. While it is a thriller, HER MOTHER'S LIES is also a domestic drama that is heartbreaking as well intriguing.
I thoroughly recommend anyone who enjoys psychological and domestic thrillers.
I would like to thank #RonaHalsall, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #HerMothersLies in exchange for an honest review.
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