The Wrong Mother

Sophie Hannah’s The Wrong Mother (2008) is a psychological suspense novel with a twist. Sally Thorning is a young wife and mother who has grown weary of parenthood and life in general. Her counterpart, Geraldine Bretherick, was similarly afflicted. Geraldine was a stay-at-home mom who, like Sally, sought a respite from the constant grind of motherhood and the inane routine of caring for hearth and home. Early on, readers discover the gruesome truth that Geraldine drowned her young daughter and killed herself. Although Sally has not resorted to Geraldine’s extremes, she is not wholly innocent. The narrative is told primarily through Sally’s eyes.

A year before the present story, Sally, desperate for a reprieve from domestic life, has a brief affair with Mark Bretherick. In the present, as Geraldine Bretherick’s murder-suicide makes the front page of all the newspapers and inundates the television news cycles, Sally is appalled to discover that her lover is not who he claimed to be. Since the husband is always the first suspect in such grizzly crimes, Sally suspects Mark’s involvement. However, something doesn’t seem right; before Sally has a chance to alert the authorities, another mother and child turn up dead. Only then does Sally, realizing something more far-reaching is at play, begin to fear for her own life.

While the novel’s first chapter focuses almost exclusively on Sally’s point of view, providing glimpses of the affair between her and “Mark” and setting the stage for the suspenseful plot twists to come, the second chapter juxtaposes Sally’s story with Geraldine’s. A collection of journal entries is discovered on Geraldine’s computer, revealing her struggles with motherhood. Her daughter is rambunctious, as most little girls are, and being a full-time mother is not always idyllic. As Sally and Mark attempt to piece together what happened, readers discover that Mark is closed off, impetuous, and mysterious.



Hannah’s novel provides plot twists and various storylines that branch off in different directions but never culminate in a denouement that satisfactorily answers all the reader’s questions. Also, Hannah’s approach to law enforcement and its involvement in the murder cases is a bit too technical for the average reader. The only familiarities here are the cops who feature in Hannah’s previous novels. While some critics insist that Hannah’s books can be read out of order, that might not be the best strategy for gaining a clear understanding of Hannah’s intent in The Wrong Mother.

Hannah also imbues her characters with traits unbefitting their age. As one reviewer puts it, there were some “seriously grown up tendencies written into 5-year-old girls.” So, while the story with all its twists and turns is a compelling read, the author takes one too many liberties with her characters, including having Sally narrate her own story. Geraldine is a compelling character, one who deserves more exposure. There is something to be said about the power of a woman speaking from the grave, especially one as complicated as Geraldine. After all, the reader never discovers whether or not Geraldine knew about Sally and Mark’s affair, or what her response would have been. And yet there is a certain sense that she may have been spared the pain of such knowledge and the collateral damage it would undoubtedly have caused. But Hannah does not shine the spotlight on this unsung heroine often enough for the reader to adequately discern her point of view. Instead, her voice is lost in the cacophony of police officers, investigators, and Sally’s own paranoia.