"A Good Enough Mother"

“A Good Enough Mother”

Written by Bev Thomas

Review written by Diana Iozzia

“A Good Enough Mother” is one of those cautionary tale type thrillers. We have a main character who becomes quickly wrapped up in a dangerous scenario, that they could have easily prevented, while the villain is enjoying this manipulative, cat-and-mouse game, seeing how far they can push boundaries before the final culmination of the story.

This book is the first that I have read by Beverly Thomas, and I thoroughly enjoyed maybe 50 percent of it. Beverly Thomas has a great way of writing a dramatic narrative, but perhaps the actual plot became a bit too muddled for me. Her main character, who is absolutely a protagonist and an antagonist in one, Ruth, is a director in a mental health ward of an English hospital. Ruth was troubled, by her son disappearing in his early twenties, and now is disturbed by a new patient of hers that is very similar to her son.

Now, we are introduced into further depths of the mental health facility, providing sharp insight into the shortcomings of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (the NHS). The most interesting aspects of this novel are Ruth’s communications with patients, her work colleagues, and about the NHS in general. We are provided interesting fictional accounts and patients that Ruth has tried to help, with certain patients being failed by her. She is a very sympathetic character, but she makes incredibly unethical choices. She does not call the police, does not contact any emergency room doctors, and leaves herself in highly precarious positions with him alone. Every part of us is screaming, “My God, woman, just stop doing what you’re doing and call for more help!” As she becomes more unraveled by this patient, Dan, the stakes become higher and higher. Ruth connects with her son’s child and the child’s mother, her job is at risk, and we are safe to assume that her life could be at risk by this mentally unstable patient.

I think that creating a narrative that includes a mental unstable patient as the villain could set a negative precedent. Yes, they exist. Yes, they have been used in thriller storylines since the beginning of hospitalization in literature. Some of the great classic thrillers include this premise, but it always feels a little off. Is this a negative portrayal of the mental illnesses described?

To continue, I’d like to touch on the writing style and mechanics of the book, rather than just the plot. When reading this novel, I felt myself engaged in it about half the time. There would be some interesting chapters sprinkled in, but then there would be endless portions to read through. I personally found Beverly Thomas’s writing wasted on this “psychological thriller”. However, I believe she could create fantastic hospital drama fiction, like “Grey’s Anatomy” instead. I felt this story to be very predictable in a sense, without any engaging red herrings or twists. There is a shocking aspect to the climax, but I was sorely disappointed with it.  I felt that this book had a very unsatisfying end, due to a main aspect of the conclusion, but I did not feel myself asking for more. Well, move on to the next book.

In conclusion, this book was a mixed bag for me. I liked the medical aspects of it, but the psychological thriller and villain aspects of it wore me down. I found myself struggling through the book, rather than engaged and not wanting to put it down. I do recommend this author, because of her writing style and the NHS commentary. I would like to read more by her.

I received a free advance proof of this book from Faber & Faber for reviewing purposes. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity.