Review of THE PUSH by Ashley Audrain (New Release)

 3 Stars

This psychological thriller focuses on motherhood.  Blythe Connor, because she had a distant, neglectful mother, worries about being a good mother herself.  When she gives birth to Violet, she doesn’t have the natural connection she expected to have with her daughter.  Violet seems distant and rejects Blythe’s affection.  She tries to express her concerns to her husband Fox but he is dismissive; he sees only an exhausted wife struggling with motherhood. 

Violet becomes a true Daddy’s girl.  She seeks attention from Fox and shows him affection, so Blythe starts to question whether she is just a terrible mother.  After all, her own mother told Blythe, “’The women in this family . . . we’re different.’”  Indeed, there are flashbacks to Blythe’s mother and grandmother and both would certainly not have won any awards for being nurturing. 

In school, Violet is disruptive.  She seems to lack empathy.  When Blythe gives birth to a son, she immediately feels an inseparable bond.  When tragedy strikes, Blythe’s relationship with Violet deteriorates even further and Blythe suspects that Violet is just a terrible person. 

The book can be commended for its examination of the challenges of motherhood.  It questions whether every woman will be a natural mother.  Does society create false expectations?  It is no wonder that Blythe feels guilt and shame and that she and Fox both pretend “that things weren’t as bad as they were.” 

Fathers do not receive as much attention; their perspective is not given.  All the fathers tend to be weak.  Blythe’s father does little to help his daughter.  A friend calls him weak for meekly accepting his wife’s behaviour, and Blythe agrees:  “I thought of all the times he never stood up for himself . . . Of the pills he never took away, of the smashed dishes he always cleaned up.  Of his quiet retreats to the couch.  I hated that my mother had left him, but I wondered if he ever really tried to stop her.”  Fox seems to be patient with Violet and gives her attention, but Blythe sees him as a dad who loses all levelheadedness and defends his child blindly.  It would have been interesting to get his direct thoughts.   

The only thoughts given directly are Blythe’s because she is the narrator.  She writes the story almost like a letter in which she addresses Fox as “you” throughout.  She calls what she writes, “my side of the story.”

The author tries to create suspense throughout.  The reader is left to wonder whether Blythe is a reliable narrator.  Does she see her daughter as she really is when she describes Violet’s empty eyes, contempt, “manipulative, premeditated coldness,” and her “icy looks [and] complete disdain”?  Or is Blythe just another in a long line of bad mothers?  Perhaps Fox is right when he tells Blythe she is just exhausted and when he dismisses Violet’s misbehaviour as “testing the boundaries” or the result of boredom or being provoked. 

Unfortunately, I found the plot predictable.  The book just seems another addition to the sub-genre about possible bad seeds.  The ending is not a surprise because the opening gives so many clues.  The scenes involving Gemma reminded me of scenes in The Wives by Tarryn Fisher. 

There seems to be a lot of hype around the novel, but I was disappointed.  Other than its examination of motherhood, it offers little that is original. 

Note:  I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.