The Perfect Mother is that perfect blend of breezy plotting, chilling subject matter, and addictive interpersonal drama that makes for what I like to call 'popcorn reading': an utterly addictive, can’t-get-enough kind of read ... The Perfect Mother no doubt delivers a story of motherhood that will resonate with women who themselves have children and have faced up to the societal and personal pressures this entails, but it will also appeal to readers looking for a book that is just plain fun and addictive to read.
There’s so much to love about this book, which is hard to compare to anything else on store shelves right now. First of all, Molloy’s plot feels honest and real, and most everyone will relate to at least one of the characters. There’s no doubt that being a mom in today’s world bears added stress and pressure thanks, in part, to unfair expectations ... Molloy’s novel is still, at its core, a delicious suspense thriller that dazzles with its ability to shock readers over and over again.
It’s an engaging read, but never riveting or chilling, and the mostly privileged status of this group makes them hard to relate to. But the story does psychologically pick away at the common threads of motherhood. And with its populist topic...it’s bound to press familiar hot buttons and unnerve many readers.
The Perfect Mother is a novel about internalized sexism, specifically as it relates to motherhood. And I do mean motherhood, not just privileged, gentrified Brooklyn motherhood, though I wish that weren’t the book’s context. The Perfect Mother could have been set nearly anywhere else in the United States, and should have been. Still, I hope its message will resonate as far past Park Slope as Molloy clearly intends it to. She seamlessly integrates commentary on the wage gap, on unpaid maternity leave, on male abuse of power in the workplace. Each protagonist has a demon of her own to fight, and with it, a new angle on the fundamental question of how a woman can reject the world’s beliefs about who she should be.
The Perfect Mother shines in its social commentary. Yet it's less adroit as a thriller. The entire novel is compulsively entertaining and readers will speed through to reach the resolution. Throughout Molloy also plants subtle pieces of evidence that coherently fall into place. This invites rereading to fully understand the intricacies of the plot's details. Without providing too many spoilers, the actual resolution is disappointing. Molloy relies on gimmicks including cliffhangers or narrative jumps to engage the reader. There are too many easily identifiable red herrings while their connection to the plot seems formulaic. Once the novel ends, the coincidental red herring is laughable. By no means is The Perfect Mother the ideal thriller. But in the sake of subverting perfection, it is enjoyable. That meritoriously stands alone.
Overall, the women are imperfect in that very real way that we all are. Some are more finely rendered than others, and somewhat intentionally so, as they’re all hiding some kind of secret meant to keep us guessing ... we get a front-row seat as the other parents cope with the tragedy, the pressure, and the suspicion that follow Midas’ disappearance. We do hear directly from the person whodunit, but their identity is revealed in the denouement ... It’s marginally satisfying in the way that tough endings always are. Some things are cleared up, other red herrings are left to rot.
Molloy, a master of clever misdirection, deftly explores the expectations, insecurities, and endless judgement that accompany motherhood in this fast-paced thriller featuring a bevy of strong, smart, and realistically flawed women who, refreshingly, have each other's backs when it counts the most. Mesmerizing.
The mystery of Midas’s disappearance may be the skeleton on which Molloy’s plot hangs, but it’s her characters’ anxieties that give the story life and substance. Molloy doesn’t fully earn her book’s big twist, but her clever narrative structure heightens tension and creates uncertainty while spotlighting the solitary struggles of motherhood.
