Book Review: The Better Mother

By Jami Denison

Women surrender their bodily autonomy when they become pregnant. From strangers patting their belly without permission, neighbors asking about the cat, in-laws weighing in on daycare decisions, mothers are considered public property and everyone has an opinion. The best-case scenario is nosy baristas commenting on coffee orders. The worst case is women like Adriana Smith, whose doctors ignored her headache until she was braindead, then used her corpse as an incubator until the baby was born months later, premature and desperately ill. No wonder motherhood is prime real estate for fiction, from historical to horror and every genre in between. 

Into this fertile territory, debut author Jennifer van der Kleut has delivered her first thriller, The Better Mother. The mom is question is Savannah Mitchell, a 34-year-old marketing account executive in San Francisco. She was ready to become a mom, but her longtime boyfriend balked at the prospect and left her. Months later, she finds herself pregnant by a casual fling, Matt… and when she gives Matt the news, he announces that he just reconciled with his ex-girlfriend Madison. Instead of being angry at Matt’s infidelity, Madison is excited about the baby and wants to help Savannah in any way she can.

Madison is a perky Stepford wife in green-and-pink plaid and headbands. She criticizes Savannah’s eating and exercise habits, the state of her apartment, and her job, insisting that all she cares about is the health and well-being of “their” baby. At first Savannah is merely annoyed, but when someone breaks into her apartment and important text messages disappear from her phone, she starts to suspect that Madison has more sinister motives in mind. If Madison can prove that she’s the better mother, will Savannah lose her baby to her? 

The Better Mother has the elements that domestic suspense fans love: babies, boyfriends, best friends, and the slow burn in the beginning where the protagonist questions her own reactions.  The twist is in its perspective: ordinarily, this book would be told from the point-of-view of the cheated-on wife/girlfriend, with the pregnant mistress the villain character. Flipping this genre expectation on its head provides a refreshing take.

While the tone was off at times—the first scene is funny, not scary, and later on characters go so far off the deep end that it becomes comical—the book delivers the roller coaster ride that readers want. It’s predictable, but that doesn’t lessen the fun. The only thing that was missing for me was an “a ha” moment for Savannah and a confrontation. 

Sadly, the current political environment toward pregnant women provides ample material for thriller writers like van der Kleut. At times, Madison seemed like a stand-in for big government, wedging itself into a woman’s most personal choices and judging her for them. Unfortunately, domestic suspense writers can continue to get inspiration from government and health policies that treat women like possessions. For women like Adriana Smith, their real-life horror is more terrifying than anything that fiction writers can create.  

Thanks to BookSparks for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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