Found it tedious.

I bought this book after reading the positive reviews (not noticing the negative ones) and also after loving Anatomy of a Scandal. I found the narration flat monotone and very slow so I upped the speed then found it too fast but better. However the minutiae of details and historical facts about different characters lives was for me utterly boring and also confusing as it swapped between characters and timelines almost to the point that I wanted to scream! Maybe that's how the main characters felt. Overall not a book for me. It has now gone back. But I appreciate that many listeners found it completely the opposite.

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Every parent's nightmare

This is a fast paced story of a group of yummy mummies and their other halves who meet at an NCT class. Naturally, in a book of this type, the characters have issues from their pasts which haunt them and the relationships between the group are not what they appear. This is a story of deceit and family secrets. Some of the characters are a bit obvious, for example the hard working but earnest career hospital doctor, the apparently perfect parent who is not quite what they seem and the intolerantly autocratic and bullying hospital consultant. This story comes together and is well paced and structured and will strike a chord with many people who have young children as it picks at the scab of many issues that will be uncomfortable for some.

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5 people found this helpful

Stunning outstanding listen

Anatomy of a scandal is one of the all-time favorites I love this author's style and her detail to character building. Her narrative is so crisp and concise and really helps to develop her characters who are always so real. This book was very different but equally good. It centers on Jess and Liz who met at anti-natal class and then developed a friendship over the years and babies. Everything starts to go wrong when Jess presents at A&E with a sick baby. What follows is a perfect depiction of the unravelling of a mother in the grips of depression and the lack of acknowledgment of her plight around her. The subject matter is handled very sensitively and as a listener, I had tremendous compassion for Jess. Like Scandal, this book will go onto my favorites.

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2 people found this helpful

Good read

Really enjoyed this book. Narration was good and the book was gripping from start to finish.

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Appalling narration

Good story but ruined by the dreary voice of Kate.
A very self righteous character.

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1 person found this helpful

More text book than story

Essential reading / listening for mothers - new or experienced - although if you're expecting your third child, you may do well to read something else!

It's certainly compulsive listening and makes a very strong case for understanding the terrible pressures on mothers, especially on those juggling work & motherhood, and those struggling (and failing) to cope with crying babies and sleep deprivation. The main story is about super-efficient Jess accused of hurting her non-stop crying baby, her third child. Betsy. We know of course that Jess didn't hurt her baby, but someone did. Betsy has a serious head injury and Jess has fallen apart after a traumatic birth experience, unable to soothe her demanding baby which makes her feel a freak-mother and a complete failure. Her friend Liz is a doctor (fortunately!) at the hospital where Betsy is taken and the story unravels the relationships between a group of women friends since ante-natal classes days which includes Jess and Liz.

It's good that it explores with sympathy and tender understanding the sufferings of women like Jess (and Liz's own mother it is later revealed) and it has an ultimately happy ending. Many readers will find it comforting and perhaps learn for the first time there are other mothers who are as worried and desperate as they are, and that there is a way through it all. This is all great, but it doesn't make for the best kind of fiction as the author's agenda is so obvious.

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Good book

I enjoyed the book and enjoyed the towards the end. I don't like the title of the book though as it doesn't, in my opinion, truly reflect what the book is about. I'd have called it something like - A dark secret.

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Loved it

Having read Anatomy of a Scandal (a brilliant story) I was tempted to try more from this author and Little Disasters is a great read too. So easy to be caught up in the story and narration is brillant. No spoilers here but just settle down and let yourself be drawn into a truly engaging story of friendship, love and betrayal. You will not be disappointed.

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Complex story average narration

If the story hadn’t been as good as it is, I’d have struggled with the narration which is incredibly dull in delivery. That aside, it’s a complex mix of drama of the domestic noir type. A group of friends with different backgrounds are challenged by events. Trust is tested and there are betrayals which challenge the ties that have bound a close knit group.

It’s a complex story, but very well told and I had sympathy with a couple of the characters when I understood how past life events had shaped their future. Interesting and a great story for discussion as it gives rise to numerous questions about the nature of friendship, loyalty, trust and more.

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Heartbreaking

A story about the strains put on relationships when the personal and professional worlds collide, when trying to do the right thing or what you perceive that to be. It was obvious but that didn’t detract from the narrative.

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