The men who built the asylums called them 'stone mothers': places of safety to hold troubled women and nurse them back to health. But no one wants a mother made of stone...Nazareth mental hospital has been converted to luxury flats, but it still has its secrets.Three women live in its shadow:
Marianne, who fled her home, her boyfriend and the body they buried. Now a successful academic, a loving mother and a loyal wife, she fears her secret being revealed, her world being ripped apart.
Honor, her daughter, who she will do anything to protect.
And Helen, her worst enemy - and the only person she can trust.Marianne can't tell the truth. She can't keep the secret. And none of them can escape the past...Moving back through time to reveal twists you'll never see coming, Stone Mothers is the gripping new suspense novel from the bestselling author of He Said/She Said.
Stone Mothers by Erin Kelly was published by Hodder in hardback on 4 April 2019, the paperback is due to be published in May next year.
I am a huge huge fan of Erin Kelly's writing. Her prose is beautiful and her stories are unusual and so wonderfully developed. I'd been looking forward to reading Stone Mothers for a long time. I read it whilst on holiday in Corfu and was able to invest so much time, just losing myself in the pages. It's really the best way to read!
Nazareth; once a 'stone mother'; the name given to mental hospitals many years ago. It's now known as Park Royal Manor, a development of luxury apartments and certainly not the place that Marianne would choose as a second home. When her husband surprises her by buying one of the apartments, she can do little else but burst into tears and invent a sudden phobia of old buildings. She can't show him how much she hates the place. She can't reveal that the walls hold secrets from her past that have haunted her since she left the area many years ago. Can Marianne deal with the ghosts from her past?
Erin Kelly has structured this novel so cleverly. The story is told over different periods and for me, it was the 1950s setting that really made an impact. Whilst at its core, this is a crime story, it is also so much more. It is a spotlight on how society viewed those women with mental health issues and the injustices of the class divide.
Marianne, her ex-boyfriend Jesse and Member of Parliament Helen Greenlaw are the central characters within this utterly compelling story. Three characters who are all quite difficult to like, yet there's something unsaid that link them together. The author slowly and surely reveals this back story which has formed and impacted on the lives of each of the characters. She writes with care and incredible insight and whilst her characters may not be the most likeable, they are certainly colourful and intensely compelling.
Once more, this author has produced a novel of the highest standard. Ingenious, perfectly plotted with unexpected surprises thrown in for good measure. An amazing storyteller, an extraordinarily talented writer; I loved every page. Highly recommended.
Erin Kelly is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Poison Tree, The Sick Rose, The Burning Air, The Ties That Bind, He Said/She Said, Stone Mothers andBroadchurch: The Novel, inspired by the mega-hit TV series. In 2013, The Poison Tree became a major ITV drama and was a Richard & Judy Summer Read in 2011.
He Said/She Said spent six weeks in the top ten in both hardback and paperback, was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier crime novel of the year award, and selected for both the Simon Mayo Radio 2 and Richard & Judy Book Clubs.
She has worked as a freelance journalist since 1998 and written for the Guardian, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, New Statesman, Red, Elle, Cosmopolitan and The Pool.
Born in London in 1976, she lives in north London with her husband and daughters.
Website : www.erinkelly.co.uk
Twitter : @mserinkelly
Author Page on Facebook
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