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In Ashley Audrain's new novel, "The Whispers," neighbors overhear a mother berating her 10-year-old shortly before he falls from a third-floor window. Below, the best-selling author of "The Push" recommends other books about motherhood's dark side.
The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (2016)
This isn't a mystery, per se — we know from the first staggering pages that a nanny has committed a horrendous murder. But we read on, with bated breath, to learn why. I love that "The Perfect Nanny" brings out the danger lurking beneath an ordinary scenario — parents needing child care! I also love how it taps into a common fear: If we choose our own needs over our children's, will we inevitably be punished? Buy it here.
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Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho (2015)
In this searingly honest account of postpartum psychosis, Cho writes in alternating perspectives: the pressure-filled months of new motherhood before her breakdown, and the intense days of recovery in a hospital as she finds her way back to herself and her son. A brave, beautifully written story I wish every new parent would read. Buy it here.
The Need by Helen Phillips (2019)
This novel reads like a fever dream of maternal speculative horror. A mother of two young children confronts an impossible moral decision after an intruder appears in her home. The story is riveting, and terrifying, but there's also so much truth here about how wildly strange the challenge of daily motherhood can be. Buy it here.
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (2022)
In this celebrated debut, a Chinese-American single mother has one bad day with her 18-month-old that leads to surveillance and a yearlong sentence at an experimental rehab facility. It's a dystopian tale, yes, but too plausible for any woman's comfort, with a final chapter I'll never forget. Buy it here.
The End We Start From by Megan Hunter (2017)
This taut, captivating story parallels having a baby with the arrival of the end of the world: Amid apocalyptic floods, the narrator must escape London with her new baby boy, fleeing peril throughout the first year of his life. Buy it here.
The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker (2021)
How can you raise a good person if you weren't raised to be good yourself? That question fuels this fascinating novel, which alternates between the perspectives of an 8-year-old murderer and the same person at 28 as she raises a daughter of her own. Buy it here.
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